According to a recent Bloomberg article, which cited Centers for Disease Control data on body metrics, the average American is heavier now than at the start of the 21st Century…and edging ever closer to being obese. Despite the statistics—and the sheer number of sleepers who consider themselves to be plus-size—larger size customers have great difficulty finding the right mattress.
John Merwin, owner and chief executive officer of Brooklyn Bedding, recently took on the challenge of creating a plus-size sleep solution to help bridge the gap for customers of size, attributing at least part of their issue to a recent surge in one-size-fits-all beds.
“Many plus-size sleepers have difficulty getting the personalized attention they need when it comes to shopping for a mattress,” Merwin said. “They’re often told the best option is to simply choose a firmer version of a bed that was really intended for an average size sleeper. We wanted to take a very thoughtful approach at Brooklyn Bedding in addressing and solving for each of the pain points our larger size customers described.”
What exactly are the pain points experienced by plus-size sleepers? Below are the top seven issues customers of size reportedly experience—followed by the solutions that were engineered to make the Titan Hybrid mattress by Brooklyn Bedding a more ideal sleep experience.
More middle sag in the mattress
Sag in the middle of any mattress is a common sign that the sleep surface is past its prime. The center of the mattress will naturally begin to dip where a sleeper’s body weight is most concentrated. The heavier the body weight, the quicker this aging progression occurs. Faster than normal deterioration in a mattress can often be linked to poor layer quality and low-density foams.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
The Titan by Brooklyn Bedding is designed as a hybrid mattress, featuring three high-quality foam layers and a 6” layer of up to 1,024 individually encased TitanCaliber™ coils. The coils are designed to provide industrial strength as well as deep compression support, coupled with superior motion isolation. An extra 2” layer of high-density base foam works to reinforce the core each time the coils are compressed.
More softening of the entire sleep surface
Mattresses that are constructed with lower quality materials will break down more quickly over time. This gradual corrosion has not only a negative effect on the alignment of the spine, hips and neck, but also impacts the overall quality of your sleep.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
One of the hero layers in the Titan by Brooklyn Bedding is TitanFlex™: a hyper-elastic foam, featuring immediate response technology that adjusts to your body each time you move. It is designed to contour the human body, much like visco-elastic memory foam but features the higher responsiveness and pressure point relief of latex. TitanFlex™ foam can be paired with additional foam layers to create a more customized sleep experience, or coupled with coils to achieve the deep compression support that is the hallmark of hybrid mattresses. In this case, TitanFlex™ has been thoughtfully paired with a 1” layer of quilted gel memory foam that helps resist body impressions over time.
TitanFlex™ foam is also available in multiple firmness levels, ranging from soft to firm. The Titan mattress was engineered with a firmer layer to ensure both superior support and longevity.
Decreased edge support
Edge support is an industry term that describes the amount of resistance around the perimeter of a mattress. A higher support level delivers a sturdier encasement with a stronger edge, while a lower support level will cause the border of the mattress to sag and fall. This issue becomes more noticeable throughout time, and is exaggerated by a heavier body weight.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
Edge support is defined by its body contouring and supportive properties. The Titan by Brooklyn Bedding brings together two of the strongest foams and up to 1,024 industrial coils. This combination creates an edge rigid enough to support a plus-size person, whether sitting or sleeping, while still maintaining an adequate amount of responsiveness.
Uneven distribution of support across the surface
Traditional mattresses are designed to have extra firmness in zoned areas or just around the perimeter for edge support. This is problematic for someone who doesn’t fit the intended body composition for a particular mattress design: most general market mattresses lack the necessary pressure point relief or support for essential joints that plus-size sleepers need.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
TitanFlex™ foam provides the best of both worlds by evenly distributing pressure across the mattress with just the right amount of conformability and responsiveness. The result is exceptional pressure point relief that can help reduce joint and muscle pain. An infusion of TitaniumGel™ not only stabilizes cooling molecules, helping to maintain their flexibility and uniformity, it fortifies the cell structure—providing greater strength, support and durability to the mattress.
Decreased comfort and support over time
As stated earlier, there is a natural progression of aging that occurs with all mattresses over time—the speed of that deterioration process depends mostly on the quality of mattress materials, frequency of use, and the weight of the sleeper. Telling customers to rotate the mattress to prolong its life merely circumvents the real issues in quality construction and the unique challenges faced by plus-size customers.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
In accelerated aging studies, TitanFlex™ foam drastically outperformed other foams in several strength and durability tests—including tear strength over time, tensile (or tension) strength over time, and elongation strength over time. Each area of strength contributes to greater longevity for the life of the mattress.
More frequent night sweats
Plus-size or not, a common nighttime issue involves overheating. Certain types of memory foam or latex can exacerbate the issue by trapping body heat within the mattress. Other factors that influence your body temperature while you sleep include the fabric of your sheets, the number of blankets on your bed and ambient temperature settings. That said, your body mass is one of the most critical factors in determining how hot you sleep—typically, the higher your body mass index, the more heat you produce.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
The Titan by Brooklyn Bedding offers a trifecta of cooling features. At its core, individually encased coils and open cell technology in each foam layer of the Titan ensure greater airflow.
Within the TitanFlex™ layer, a phase change molecule (PCM) surface infusion of TitanCool™ also works to maintain an ideal skin sleep temperature of 88 degrees. Cooling gel beads liquefy at higher temperatures to deliver cooling relief; those same beads solidify at lower temperatures to ensure an ideal sleep environment.
Meanwhile, cooling gel particles in the top layer of quilted gel memory foam group together as the foam is compressed, creating a pathway for the heat to escape and disperse. This process is particularly important to ensure cooling in areas of deep compression support, like shoulders and hips. A premium smooth top weaves delivers all of these cooling benefits on contact.
Increased motion transfer between sleep partners
Motion transfer occurs when one sleep partner moves, and the other person can feel that movement, regardless of proximity. Motion transfer is one of the main causes of sleep disturbance—the heavier you are, the more obvious the problem becomes for you and your partner.
The Brooklyn Bedding Solution:
When it comes to addressing motion transfer, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Superior motion isolation is achieved in the Titan Hybrid mattress through the combination of higher gauge, industrial strength coils—their combined force offers higher resistance to stress and plus-size compression. Because each coil is individually wrapped, motion is also contained rather than dispersed across the sleep surface. Moreover, the high-density quality of the upper foam layers offer just the right amount of responsiveness to individual movement without creating the bounce effect that can transmit motion.
Addressing the demands of a niche market can be challenging. As Merwin is quick to point out, the plus-size market—like the mattress industry—continues to evolve. “Customers of size are impacted daily,” said Merwin, “by the engineering and design choices of manufacturers and retailers alike. Because we own the factory, we get to own the solution.”
