Millbrook Mattress

New to the Millbrook mattress range is the Rennes mattress. This is a mattress that is ideally suited to both divan beds and bed frames.

Technically, this is a middle of the road, easy-to-understand mattress with no outrageous bells and whistles. Here’s what you get:

• A range of sizes between Single and Super Kingsize.
• 800 pocket springs.
• A hypo-allergenic interliner.
• Hand tufted design
• Woven damask cover

So what does this mean for the average sleep-deprived, worn-out mattress owner?

First of all, the Millbrook Rennes is a well-rounded mattress for its price-point (£250 for the Double). Millbrook have mastered the art of building a medium tension mattress that feels soft and offers unparalleled support, right across the sleeping surface.

Secondly, the Rennes has a couple of add-on features you don’t have to have, but are great nonetheless. A prime example is the hypoallergenic fillings – great for keeping dust mites at bay and excellent for asthma sufferers like me.

Thirdly, the Millbrook Rennes mattress looks amazing. Millbrook have spent extra money including jiffy tie tufts with felt washers and a premium damask cover, making the mattress feel a lot more exclusive than its price suggests.

My overall verdict? I enjoyed sleeping on this mattress. I think Millbrook have come up with a great value product with a high-end feel that anyone would be happy sleeping on.

According to the Met office, the summer of 2009 is going to be one of the hottest on record. This is partly because of the ever impending doom and gloom of global warming, and partly because we had such a cold winter.

As overheating is one of the major contributors to a bad night’s sleep, you need to make sure you keep cool through the summer heat. Here are a few pointers to stop you getting too hot in bed:

• Lighten your load. We all like the idea of being snuggled up in a heavy duvet or blanket in the middle of winter, but in summer it’s just not necessary. Replace your winter duvet with a lighter summer one, or simply lie under a sheet to keep cool.
• Get some fresh air. See those things on the wall called windows? Try opening one slightly when you go to bed. A summer breeze will really help to keep you cool and comfortable. Try and keep the breeze from blowing directly on to you in bed though.
• Waste some water. If like me, you’re on a fixed monthly fee for water because Yorkshire water can’t be bothered to install a water meter on your house (excuse the rant), try taking a cool shower before going to bed. This refreshing approach will leave you feeling very comfortable.
• Use a hot water bottle. This may seem like a strange idea, but nobody said hot water bottles had to be used only for hot water. Fill a hot water bottle with ice cold water and place it in your bed.
• Spend some time apart. Try sleeping further away from your partner. Body heat from another person is not going to help keep you cool, so moving apart by a few inches will help cool you down.

Because it’s Friday and I’m not really in the mood to review the Millbrook Utopia I’ve been sleeping on this week, I’ve decided to take a lighter look at other people’s bedding problems, and discuss the annoying issue of getting rid of a mattress once you’re done with it.

I found this question posted on the Internet while searching for websites related to beds and mattresses:

I’ve got a 10-year old mattress I need to get rid of. Anyone know what I can do with it?

The answers were as follows. Sadly only the first 3 answers were sensible. The rest are just plain daft.

1. Ring up your local council. They will send someone round to pick it up.
2. Phone your council’s ‘cleansing department’ and ask them to come and pick it up. On the morning of collection, throw the mattress out of the window.
3. Sometimes, the company you buy your new bed from will agree to take your old bed away and recycle it.
4. Put on a yellow coat and knock on someone’s door with a clipboard in your hand. Tell the person who answers they’ve won a mattress in a competition, but they need to arrange collection.
5. Get an angle grinder and cut the mattress up into small chunks. Load a couple of these chunks into your bin each week until there are none left.
6. Take it to the tip – preferably with your wife/girlfriend still asleep on it. That way you can kill 2 birds with one stone.
7. Put it outside on the pavement with a sign that reads ‘for sale – £30’. Someone will definitely steal it.
8. Wrap your old mattress up in the plastic that the new mattress came in, and leave it out on the street overnight. In most neighbourhoods, it’ll be stolen by morning.
9. Drop it off at a local art gallery proclaiming it to be ‘Norwegian landscapes – an abstract perspective’.
10. Wait until November then sneak the mattress on to the local bonfire.

While some of these answers are clearly ridiculous, the first 3 are your best bet. You could also try getting rid of your old mattress on Freecycle or speaking with a local charity organisation (if it isn’t in particularly bad condition).