Types of mattresses are named for what holds you up at night: steel coils, foam, latex or air. A hybrid, the fifth type I'd list, puts coils under thick foam or latex. No type suits everyone, and how a bed feels under you counts for more than its label.
A mattress is a pad of springy material sewn inside a fabric cover, the ticking, and each type is named after the material doing most of the lifting. Pocket coils, euro tops and Talalay latex are parts of a mattress, and a mattress in a box is a way of shipping one.
I'm Michael Ruhr, co-owner of Merit Home Furniture, and I work out of our Duncan store. Merit lists 68 mattresses for Vancouver Island homes. The 20 listed for our Duncan store are Restwell, Restonic and Natura beds, and 19 of those 20 have coils under their foam or latex. Nearly all are pocket coils. The all-foam beds, the boxed beds and the one Bonnell-coil innerspring we list are carried at our Campbell River and Port Alberni stores.
What are the different types of mattresses?
The different types of mattresses sort by the support core, the thick bottom layer that carries your weight. The layers on top change the feel, and the core decides the type. Here they are with where each turns up on Merit's listings.
| Type | What holds you up | On our listings |
|---|---|---|
| Innerspring | Steel coils wired together, under a thin top | One Bonnell-coil bed, at Port Alberni |
| Pocket coil | Coils sewn into separate fabric pockets | 18 of the 20 beds listed for Duncan name them |
| Memory foam | Slow, body-shaping foam over a firmer foam base | 14, at Campbell River and Port Alberni |
| Latex | Rubber foam that springs back quickly | The Natura Majestic, listed for Duncan |
| Hybrid | Pocket coils under several inches of foam, latex or both | Most of the Duncan list |
| Airbed | Air chambers filled or emptied to change the firmness | None listed |
| Mattress in a box | Foam or coils, squeezed and rolled at the factory | 20, at Campbell River and Port Alberni |
Counted by core, there are four types of mattresses: coil, foam, latex and air. Hybrids mix two of them, and the box is packaging. Firmness and size aren't types, since each type comes soft or firm and in twin through king.
What is a mattress?
Canada's Mattresses Regulations define a mattress as an item meant for sleeping on that "contains resilient material enclosed within a ticking". Crib, cradle and bassinet mattresses and mattress pads are left out of that definition. The same regulations set a fire test with a lit cigarette. A mattress fails if more than one sample melts or chars more than 50 mm from the cigarette, or keeps burning 10 minutes after the cigarette goes out.
Innerspring and pocket coil mattresses
An innerspring mattress has a core of steel coils with a fairly thin layer of padding on top. Sleep Foundation's guide to coil types names four kinds. Bonnell coils are hourglass springs wired to their neighbours, so the whole unit moves together. They were the original mattress coil and are among the cheapest. Offset coils are a squared-off version of the Bonnell, and continuous wire coils are rows bent from one long wire. Pocketed coils are wrapped one at a time in fabric, so each spring moves on its own, and that is the core of pocket coils versus a wired innerspring.
Wire thickness is the gauge. Sleep Foundation puts most mattress coils between 13 and 17 gauge, and the lower number is the thicker, firmer wire. It gives 400 to 1,200 coils as the usual count in a queen and suggests steering clear of anything under 400. A high count alone doesn't make a mattress last, it adds.
The one plain innerspring Merit lists is the Ashley 6 inch Bonnell coil queen. It's built on 13.5-gauge tempered Bonnell coils with 1 inch of high-density foam. It's carried at our Port Alberni store, where a call gets our best price.
Pocket coils are where the Duncan list sits. The Restwell Canary is a firm tight top on a 1,200-count, 5-zone pocket coil, with firmer coils under the lower back. It's listed at $799.00 to $849.00 before applicable taxes, in a double or a queen.
Sleep Foundation says Bonnell units are cheap and usually firm at the edge, but can be noisy, pass movement across the bed and sag in the middle. Pocket coils cost more and offer more motion isolation for couples, keeping a partner's turning mostly on their side. Heat, edges and price are weighed for each build in how coil beds stack up against foam and hybrids.
Memory foam and the other types of foam used in mattresses
Memory foam is a viscoelastic foam: it sinks slowly under pressure and comes back to shape once the pressure is gone. NASA dates its origins to 1966, when it was developed to absorb shock in airplane seats.
Three types of foam used in mattresses turn up again and again on spec sheets. Memory foam is the slow, hugging layer near the top. Plain polyurethane foam, listed as support foam or high-density foam, is the firmer, quicker base under it. Gel foam has gel mixed in, and makers describe it as cooler.
An all-foam mattress stacks those layers with no springs. Merit's 14 all-foam beds are all at Campbell River or Port Alberni. The Seva Sleep Hotel Collection 10 in. is a plain example. It has 2 inches of gel-infused memory foam, then 2 inches of transition foam, then a 6-inch high-density core. Tempur-Pedic's ProAlign 12 Medium is all foam too, made from Tempur's own material. The Seva is carried at Campbell River and Port Alberni, the ProAlign at Campbell River, and a call to either store gets our best price.
None of the beds listed for Duncan is all foam, though several use memory foam as a comfort layer. Foam is quiet, and a partner's movement mostly stays where it starts. The usual complaints are heat and a stuck feeling when you try to roll over. Sleep Foundation adds that synthetic foam is more prone to off-gassing, the chemical smell of a new bed. It says most of that smell clears within a few hours of unpacking, though traces can linger for days.
Latex mattresses: Talalay vs Dunlop latex
A latex mattress uses foam made from the sap of rubber trees, and it pushes back faster than memory foam. Talalay and Dunlop are the two names printed on labels, and they're methods of making the foam.
Sleep Foundation's page on the two processes says Dunlop was first developed in 1929. It's the simpler method, so Dunlop latex usually costs less, and it comes out denser and firmer, which suits a support core. Talalay was developed in the 1940s and adds two steps: the mould is vacuum-sealed so the latex expands, then frozen fast before baking. The result is softer and less dense, which suits the comfort layers.
The Natura Majestic is the all-latex bed listed for Duncan. It's 11 inches tall, with two 2-inch layers of NaturaLatex over a 6-inch latex core and a wool layer under the cover. It's listed at $2,499.00 to $4,849.00 before applicable taxes, by size. Our listing doesn't say whether its latex is Talalay or Dunlop.
Four Restonic beds listed for Duncan name Talalay outright. The Restonic Vernazza has 1 inch of Talalay latex over pocket coils, at $2,099.00 to $3,099.00. Latex beds sit near the top of our price list, and they can feel bouncier than people expect.
HealthLink BC says allergic reactions to latex, which is natural rubber, can range from minor to life-threatening. Anyone with a latex allergy should ask their doctor before sleeping on a latex bed.
Hybrid mattresses: the type most of our Duncan beds are
A hybrid mattress puts a pocket coil core under several inches of foam, latex or both. Some add a layer of micro coils, small springs about an inch tall, between the foam layers. Of the 20 beds listed for Merit's Duncan store, 19 have coils under foam or latex like this. The table gives a spread of them, with the price range by size before applicable taxes.
| Listed for Duncan | Build and price by size |
|---|---|
| Restwell Robin | Plush euro top; zoned gel memory foam over a 1,200-count pocket coil; $799.00 to $1,199.00 |
| Restonic Notte | Medium euro top; copper memory foam and nano coils over 1,188 zoned pocket coils; $1,488.00 to $2,088.00 |
| Restwell Starling | Medium euro top; zoned latex and micro coils over a 5-zone pocket coil; $1,399.00 to $2,299.00 |
| Natura Green Spring Serene | 4 inches of NaturaLatex and wool over 9.5-inch zoned wrapped coils; $1,649.00 to $3,199.00 |
A hybrid gets lift and an edge you can sit on from the coils, and pressure relief from the layers on top. The downsides are price, weight and height. A 15-inch euro top needs deep-pocket fitted sheets. On a tall frame it can also put the top of the bed higher than some people find easy to climb onto. The rest are in the hybrid mattress collection.
Airbeds, adjustable firmness and mattress-in-a-box beds
An airbed holds you up on air chambers. Sleep Foundation's firmness guide says adjustable-firmness mattresses are usually airbeds whose chambers are filled or emptied by hand controls, a remote or an app. We don't list airbeds or waterbeds at Merit.
The nearest thing on the Duncan list is a split mattress, one feel on each half. Four Restonic Revive models, the Marissa among them, can be ordered split, firm or medium-firm on one side and plush on the other. Unlike an airbed's, a split bed's feel is fixed once it's made.
A mattress in a box is a foam or hybrid bed squeezed flat, rolled and boxed at the factory, and it swells back to size once it's opened. The Ashley Bonnell queen above ships that way, and its listing says to allow 48 hours for it to expand fully. Merit's 20 boxed beds are Primo, Ashley and Seva Sleep models carried at Campbell River or Port Alberni. What a boxed bed gives up next to a regular one is covered where we compare boxed and regular mattresses.
None of the beds listed for Duncan is in our boxed collection, and pickup at the Duncan store is free. A mattress going a long way across the Island may need a different shipping method, and we'll say how yours will travel when we book it.
Mattress terms explained, from pocket coil to ILD
Mattress terms on a spec sheet describe a layer or a part, and most of them fit in a line. These are the ones on Merit's listings, in plain words.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pocket coil | A spring sewn into its own fabric pocket; Sleep Foundation says these are also called Marshall coils |
| Bonnell coil | An hourglass spring wired to the ones beside it, the oldest coil design |
| Coil gauge | Wire thickness; 13 gauge is thicker and firmer than 17 |
| Tight top | A flat top with no extra layer sewn on |
| Pillow top | A soft layer sewn on top with a small gap under it, so the top looks puffed |
| Euro top | A denser added layer sewn flush with the sides, so the bed looks squared off and feels firmer at the edge |
| Talalay latex | Softer, lighter latex made with vacuum and freezing steps, used near the top |
| Dunlop latex | Denser, firmer latex from the older, simpler process, used in cores |
| Zoned support | Coils or foam built firmer in some areas, often under the lower back |
| Foam density | Weight per cubic foot of foam; the Polyurethane Foam Association says it's separate from firmness |
| ILD or IFD | The force in pounds to press foam down 25% of its height; a higher number is firmer foam |
Sleep Foundation calls the difference between a pillow top and a euro top fairly minor next to the rest of the build. And density isn't firmness: the Polyurethane Foam Association says a high-density foam can be soft and a low-density foam firm, depending on its IFD. The Association calls the test IFD, Indentation Force Deflection. Sleep On Latex, a latex mattress seller, says ILD and IFD are used interchangeably in the mattress industry.
Firmness has no standard scale either. Sleep Foundation notes that no measure is universally accepted and uses its own 1 to 10, soft to firm. Makers use words like plush, medium and firm instead, and one maker's medium can be another's firm. Each feel word is matched to that scale where we explain what firm, medium and plush mean.
Best types of mattresses for back pain, and what the research found
For back pain, I haven't found research showing one type of mattress beats the others. The research I can point to compares firmness. In a 2003 trial in The Lancet, 313 adults with chronic low-back pain slept on either a firm or a medium-firm mattress. After 90 days, the medium-firm group did better on pain lying in bed and on getting up, and on disability.
HealthLink BC's page on sleeping with back pain goes as far as saying someone on a very soft mattress may be more comfortable on the floor. A sore back goes to your doctor or physiotherapist first, and a mattress comes after. The other studies, and the medium beds we list, are in what a mattress can do for a sore back.
Which type of mattress is right for the body?
The right type for the body keeps your spine level in the position you sleep in, without pressure building at the hips and shoulders. Any of the types above can do that at the right firmness, so I'd choose the feel first and the type second.
Signs of a bad mattress, and where each type falls short
The signs of a bad mattress are mostly ones you feel. The Better Sleep Council, an industry-funded group, lists waking up with stiffness, numbness, aches or pains, and sleeping better somewhere else, like a hotel. It adds visible sagging or damage, and feeling tired after a full night. Its rule of thumb is that a mattress set has reached the end of the line at seven years.
How often a mattress needs replacing depends on its type and its use, and lifespan by type is set out in how long a mattress lasts and how to tell.
Each type is wrong for someone. A light sleeper sharing a bed may mind a wired innerspring, and a hot sleeper who turns a lot may not get on with memory foam. Latex is out for anyone with a latex allergy until a doctor says otherwise. A tall hybrid can be hard work for someone who struggles getting in and out of bed. A boxed bed suits people who are fine not trying it first.
Merit's listings have limits too. A firm Restwell and a firm Restonic won't necessarily match, and none of our listings gives an ILD figure.
If you're torn between two types, I'd spend ten minutes on one of each, lying the way you sleep, before reading another spec sheet. Bring the pillow you use at home. Whichever leaves your hips and shoulders comfortable is the type for you, whatever it's called.
Where the mattress type facts come from
- Justice Laws Website, Mattresses Regulations (SOR/2016-183), definition and combustion test, checked November 2026.
- Sleep Foundation, Mattress Coil Types, gauge and coil count, checked November 2026.
- Sleep Foundation, Dunlop vs. Talalay Latex, checked November 2026.
- Sleep Foundation, the difference between a pillow top and a euro top, checked November 2026.
- Sleep Foundation, Mattress Firmness, the 10-point scale and adjustable mattresses (updated July 25, 2025), checked November 2026.
- NASA Spinoff, Forty-Year-Old Foam Springs Back With New Benefits (2005), checked November 2026.
- Sleep Foundation, Off-Gassing (research methodology), checked November 2026.
- Polyurethane Foam Association, Foam Performance, density, IFD and support factor, checked November 2026.
- Kovacs FM and others, mattress firmness and chronic non-specific low-back pain, The Lancet 362:1599-1604 (2003), abstract checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Sleeping With Back Pain (current as of November 9, 2022), checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Allergy to Natural Rubber (Latex) (current as of February 27, 2023), checked November 2026.
- Sleep On Latex, What is ILD?, checked November 2026.
- Better Sleep Council, Replacing a Mattress, checked November 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture's 68 mattress listings and the makers' descriptions on the 20 listed for the Duncan store, with prices, read November 1, 2026. Also the Duncan store's delivery terms.
Lying on different mattress types at our Duncan store
The Duncan store is at 107 Ingram Street and keeps 9 to 5, Monday to Saturday. The Restwell, Restonic and Natura beds above are listed for Duncan, and the floor pieces are display models. A call first tells you which types are set up to try, and nobody hovers while you lie on them.
From Duncan, delivery across the Island is $150 with setup. Old furniture can go away with the crew at delivery, usually for $25 to $50 a piece, so ask whether that covers your old mattress. Delivery to some Gulf Islands can be arranged; the Duncan store has the details. The all-foam, boxed and Bonnell beds are at Campbell River, (250) 286-0868, and Port Alberni, (250) 724-6644. Each of those stores quotes our best price and its own delivery terms.
Call the Duncan store, (250) 746-5527
Sizes, sleep positions and makers, the next questions after type, are covered on the hub page for Merit's mattress guides. Every listing is in all 68 mattresses on one page, and many of the beds with latex in them are gathered in the latex mattress collection.