Our second featured material is probably the most high-profile element of a European Sleep Works mattress. It’s the material that provides the most obvious support and cushioning, and therefore attracts a large amount of attention and many questions:

Latex.

All five of our mattress models include a latex top layer that comes into intimate contact with your body every night. Consequently, we want to make sure our latex is both of the highest quality possible and as healthy as possible. We use two kinds of all-natural latex in our mattresses, Dunlop and Talalay, sourced from two factories–one in the Netherlands and one in Malaysia. We’re proud to do business with both companies because of their high-quality products and established commitment to good business practices. Here are their stories.

Talalay

Located in the city of Maastricht in the province of Limburg on the very southeastern tip of the Netherlands, our Dutch suppliers began production in 1950 making rubber bicycle tires. The company has 90 employees, some of whom have been working for this manufacturer for 47 years.  The company website says that they hope to celebrate a few 50th anniversaries in three year’s time.

This company has spent years perfecting ventilation with the open-cell structure of their Talalay latex. They’re  very proud of their product, which “helps body heat evaporate more easily and keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer.” Mattress manufacturers all over the world use their latex, including companies in Sweden, Scandinavia, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Korea, and the United States.

All of our Dutch suppliers’ latex is Oeko-Tex certified as clean and chemical-free.

Dunlop

Our Malaysian latex comes from the city of Kajang. This supplier has cultivated a business philosophy based on full disclosure, long-term partnerships, stringent quality control standards, and strict policies for environmental protection.

Our Malaysian manufacturer produces natural latex using the Dunlop process, which results in firmer, denser latex in comparison to the softer, more elastic latex produced by the Talalay process. In our mattresses, we use Dunlop latex as a secondary  base material and Talalay for the topmost layer closest the body.

This family-run business has been making mattresses for over 40 years. During that time they’ve gained a reputation as the leading manufacturer of natural latex and bedding products in Malaysia.

The company has a close working relationship with their suppliers, and ensures that they get their latex from a consistent group of well-run rubber plantations.

Our suppliers keep a close eye on latex production from start to finish, and regularly visit the plantations where the rubber sap is harvested. Every trained worker there is in charge of 1000 trees. The responsibility of tending to the health of “their” trees falls on the shoulders of each harvester. Each tree get tapped every other day, which means 500 trees a day. For the sake of sustainability, it’s important to stay consistent–if a tree is tapped too often, too early, or too hard, the rubber content in the latex milk is reduced or inconsistent and the life of the tree is shortened. This manufacturer only works with rubber famers who consider sustainability a top priority.