Freshbed vs. Hästens

Those who sleep well can focus better during the day, have more energy, are more creative and less prone to stress. So a good bed is important. So is a Hästens bed the best choice?

The fact is that Hästens, along with brands such as Vispring and Harrison Spinks, have been among the best for decades. But time does not stand still, and new developments are also putting Hästens at the cutting edge.

Take the newer Freshbed, which is on a very different footing: a high-quality bed with a quiet but active, proprietary mini-climate in which you do not perspire, thus keeping mold, particulates, pollen and dust mites in the bed at bay sooner.

Several top hotels worldwide already have this bed and the well-known retail chain in the USA called "RH" with 70 luxury showrooms have the Freshbed in the showrooms and in their hotel group.

The prices between Hästens and Freshbed do not differ much in the initial collection, but the Hästens collection goes further to above 400,000.- euro per bed where Freshbed stops at 39,000.- euro

Conclusion:

Can a younger brand (10 years old) with a completely different concept compete with a renowned prestige brand? Hästens is a household name, building top quality beds with natural materials. Hästens has many fans, but also some specific drawbacks. 

The deep sinking, in retrospect, sometimes turns out to be less pleasant than previously thought, and the many layers can cause pitting in the mattress. And those who do not massage the topper regularly will see its comfort quickly disappear.

Freshbed is a younger brand that combines an innovative underbed with an active climate system with specially developed mattresses from, for example, Harrison Spinks,and Kuperus. Very comfortable beds in which you sleep better and more hygienically. The better hygiene also makes the mattress last longer.

There is no arguing about quality with either brand. But with innovative thinking you can quickly establish your own position in this day and age! Freshbed is going to achieve that, in my opinion.

Research shows that the sleep environment in bedrooms is the second biggest sleep disruptor after stress. The problem is temperature, humidity and ventilation. Each person releases an average of half a liter of perspiration to a mattress at night. How
well can a bed handle all that? Each brand does that in its own way. So do Hästens and Freshbed.

Hästens. Nice reputation.

Sweden's Hästens was founded back in 1852 and has been a family business for five generations. I like that, because at such companies more passion is felt and better policies are implemented. Initially, Hästens was a saddle maker and filled those saddles mainly with horse hair. In Swedish, Hästens therefore means 'of the horse' and the animal is still included in the logo.
Horsehair was also used in mattresses and soon that production became leading at Hästens, with craftsmanship and quality as core values. Today, Hästens is among the top brands in beds. Marketing-wise, too, there is little to fault Hästens. The brand enjoys a high reputation worldwide and also has an excellent image. The exclusive Hästens brand stores certainly contribute to this.

OF COURSE HÄSTENS

Hästens uses almost exclusively natural materials. The more luxurious versions are made up of three parts: a spring base, an intermediate mattress and a cover mattress (topper). Beds and mattresses are filled with cotton, flax fiber, pure wool and horsehair. These are applied layer by layer by hand. The box springs are made of solid Swedish pine and the springs of a Hästens are made of Swedish steel, in the quality of piano strings. And despite the blue block design that makes a Hästens so recognizable, it is also green: all fabrics are woven and dyed in an environmentally responsible manner. Incidentally, optional colors other than blue cubes can be chosen.

 Hästens in practice

Now to practice. As Bröring, we were one of the first to sell Hästens beds in the Netherlands, and we built up a lot of experience with both the beds and the users. The handmade Hästens beds are among the best natural beds in the world and have been produced in the same way for many decades. The strong, pine frame has a 25-year warranty, but frames of such beds are actually indestructible. What is striking is the large number of built-up layers you find above the springs in a Hästens mattress, which helps the mattress breathe and absorb moisture. The disadvantage of those many layers is that pitting may be more likely to occur.

Hästens is known for the "nesting feeling": sinking deep into the mattress. And indeed, that feels wonderful at first. On the other hand: the deeper you lie, the more enclosed you are, and that means lying warm and therefore sweating more. A Hästens bed therefore sleeps best with a window open, but many people cannot, do or dare not. Moreover, when replacing their Hästens, it turned out that many people wished for a somewhat more stable bed, especially at the edges when getting out of bed. In and around the Hästens mattress and topper, a beautiful quality of cotton was used that has limited ventilation because it has to be (horse) hair dense, but does feel wonderful on the skin. This cotton absorbs perspiration well, but you cannot separate it from the mattress/toppers so it is not washable. Especially for people who perspire a bit more at night, this is a concern.

Another important consideration is Hästens' topper: it is filled with horsehair. Remember to massage it regularly to keep it soft. Most people forget this and within a few years the topper will harden.

Then about the looks of a Hästens: they are beautiful and striking beds. This is certainly also due to the recognizable but also somewhat dominant cube design. Of course, that has to match the style of your bedroom and is mainly a matter of taste. Hästens beds are also often a bit higher than average. There is a choice of round and rectangular models, and three different firmnesses (soft, medium or firm).

Freshbed. born of innovative thinking

Freshbed is an innovative Dutch invention by top engineers, based on medical science. The starting point was the fact that after stress, sleep climate is the biggest sleep disruptor and that especially optimal skin temperature can improve
sleep quality by up to 50%. According to the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, this has also been scientifically proven that optimization of skin temperature can double quality sleep. Other studies, including that of a Hotel Group, mention improvement of sleep quality up to even 63%.

With a completely new concept bed, the inventors of Freshbed wanted to prevent rather than cure. Thus they arrived at a bed with individually adjustable climate control and air purification. Combined with mattresses specially developed for Freshbed by Harrison Spinks, or Kuperus. Luxury international hotels such as Amanpuri, The Dylan, the Mandarin Oriental, Metropole Monaco, Raffles Paris, Bau Rivage Lausanne, Fouquet's Paris, The RH Guesthouse New York, and Lanserhof, Pebble beach CasaPalmero have already fitted their more luxurious suites with Freshbed. With very rave reviews from their guests.

Freshbed in practice

In a Freshbed, you create your own mini-climate under your own comforter. Even if you perspire extra much for all sorts of reasons (hormones, alcohol, outside temperature), Freshbed keeps you dry and protected from mold, particulates, pollen and dust mites. The adjustable active climate control ensures this, with individual temperature settings and continuous ventilation of the mattress. You have your own microclimate in bed, with constant temperature and humidity. The
medical Hepa filter in the climate system continuously purifies the circulating air. The climate system is incorporated into a specially designed bed base and does its job silently.

Freshbed is also an extremely comfortable bed, thanks in part to the craftsmanship of the specially developed mattresses by Harrison Spinks or Kuperus. Take the one from Harrison Spinks, for example: a pocket spring mattress with customized ergonomic support. Zoned and with six progressively constructed spring layers (unique 4K spring technology). As with Hästens, a Freshbed mattress incorporates almost exclusively natural materials.

Freshbed's construction allows it to be a lower bed and can also be built into an existing bedstead if desired. As a result, the bed becomes less dominant and fits better into an existing bedroom environment.

Does a Freshbed last longer than a traditional bed system? Yes, because the climate system prevents perspiration (and therefore contamination) of the bed and mattress. Many high-quality beds are replaced for reasons of hygiene rather than
due to wear and tear. The Freshbed is guaranteed for ten years, the built-in technology for five years. Even after that, moving parts can easily be replaced or the system refurbished.