FAQ about futons:
What is a futon?
A futon mattress comes in two main variations 'traditional' and 'western'
The Traditional Futon
The original futon comes from Japan. It would be laid on the floor as a thin mattress only (unlike our western version which is normally thicker and comes with some sort of wooden or metal futon sofa frame) and then in the morning it would be rolled up and placed in a cupboard or closet. The futon normally included three pieces, a Shikibuton, Kakebuton and a Makura. It consists of a combination of cotton, wool and man made materials.
The traditional futon mattress would also be taken outside on a regular basis to be beaten with a stick and to be aired and dried to stop deterioration of the mattress.
Traditional futons are still used in Japan with specialist futon shops available in most towns and cities but the western sprung bed and mattress and even the western style futon are making in roads into the Japanese market.
The Western Futon
The western futon really first appeared as just the traditional futon from Japan, in fact you could say it was a carbon copy , but then people begun to play around with the design of the mattress. In Japan the futon is quite thin but the western version of the futon began to have extra layers of filling added to it which gave the extra comfort that those in the west were looking for. The drawback to this was unlike the Japanese futon that was folded up each morning and placed in storage the large futon could not be folded and stored as easy.
So people began to design beds and sofas that have the mattress sitting on them all the time, the sofa that did this became known as the 'Futon Sofa' It became a piece of furniture for your home during the day and if required converted into a bed at night.
During the last two decades quality futon mattresses were sold by layers for example you could have a 4 layer up to a 9 layer or beyond. Unfortunately there was no one to regulate this market so each manufacturer would decide on the thickness of each layer and the materials used. This bought great confusion to the customer because some manufacturers were taken advantage of there being no regulation and advertising 9 layer futons that were in fact no better then a quality 6 layer futon.
So most manufacturers are moving away from this system of grading mattresses and are now talking more about the quality of the fillings. For example emphasising the wool and cotton fillings and talking more about the choice of a Trifold (5 to 6 layer) and Bifold mattresses (7 to 9 layer)
It would be worth mentioning here that at the cheap end of the market you can obtain what looks like a futon mattress but it is in fact full of crumb foam and can not be compared with either the traditional or western futon. It offers no comfort and support like a normal futon mattress and will not last or give value for money.
Copyright - Glenn Khan
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