Sleep naturally

This article first appeared in our summer ’18 issue of MyGreenPod Magazine, The Natural Revolution, distributed with the Guardian on 03 Aug 2018. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox

Once upon a time, in a faraway land that didn’t use chemical flame retardants, everything we slept on was made from natural materials. Industrialised farming changed that world completely, but a niche company in West Wales wants to give its customers a chance to experience the sort of sleep our ancestors enjoyed.

Rhiannon Rowley founded Abaca after 15 years in the mattress industry, where she witnessed the chemicals it used. We spend more time on our mattress than we do in any other single place, so Rhiannon used her experience to create natural mattresses that wouldn’t expose us to chemicals or introduce pollutants to our bedrooms.

‘I am always keen to remind people of the importance of wool and the effect that re-introducing it to all sorts of interior furnishings has further down the line for the farmers actually involved in producing the priceless animals that come up with this material. It is this virtuous circle that I am trying to encourage.’

HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES

Organic mattresses are made with materials that have grown or been produced without the use of chemicals. Abaca’s craftsmen take the best of them and create handmade mattresses from beautifully woven organic cotton, stuffed with wool – a natural flame retardant – and horsehair. The upper layers are pure organic Welsh wool, with no flammable synthetic fibres or chemicals.

Though most of today’s mattresses are made by machines, their production used to be a craft – a skill that was passed on from generation to generation. When one person makes something for another, there is a connection that goes far beyond a commercial transaction.