Inside our workshop: how a latex mattress is made

Our workshop is on the floor above the shop on Mavoor Road, and customers are welcome to see it on weekday mornings. Every mattress we sell is made there to the size of the customer’s bed. This is what happens after you order.

It starts with the measurement slip. Shabna, who runs the cutting table, checks the size in centimetres and chalks it onto the latex core. Natural latex arrives in standard blocks, so most mattresses need trimming. She cuts with a long electric blade, guided along a steel straight edge, and checks the corners with a carpenter’s square. Offcuts become pillow fillings and cushion pads.

For a coir and latex mattress, the next step is layering. A sheet of rubberised coir from Alappuzha forms the base, and a 5 cm latex layer is fixed on top with a water-based latex adhesive. It rests overnight before the cover goes on. The cover is sewn to measure on our industrial machines, from Kannur cotton drill with a quilted top. Two people slide the mattress into it on a long table, smoothing it so the corners sit square. The zip is closed and the edges checked for gaps.

Finally, the mattress is labelled with its size, firmness on our one-to-ten scale and the date, wrapped in a cotton dust cover rather than plastic, and goes out on our own van. From order to delivery takes 7 to 12 days, most of which is waiting for the latex to come from Kottayam.