Full foam, not a sponge: why a cloud bed keeps its shape

Two cloud beds can look alike in a photo and age completely differently. The whole difference sits in something you cannot see: the foam.

Density before firmness

The two get confused. Firmness is what you feel when you press. Density is how much material sits in a given volume.

Foam can be firm and light. It resists at first, then crushes and never comes back. That is what happens to cheap sofa seats after two winters.

On a cloud bed, the foam is not there for comfort alone: it is the structure. There is no wood and no metal behind it. If it sags, the silhouette of the bed goes with it.

Full, not open-celled

Get close to ordinary upholstery foam and you will see holes, like a sponge. Get close to ours and you will see nothing: the surface is full and closed.

That detail has two practical consequences. The foam returns to shape instead of keeping the imprint. And it offers fewer cavities for dust to settle in than a fibre filling.

What the certifications actually say

Two labels appear on our beds.

CertiPUR covers the foam. It frames its composition and its emissions into the air, and excludes a list of substances, among them certain flame retardants and heavy metals.

OEKO-TEX covers the textile that wraps it, and verifies the absence of harmful substances in the finished fabric.

These labels do not say a bed is made without chemistry, which does not exist for foam. They say its composition has been tested and meets defined limits. That is more useful information, because it can be checked.

The real test comes after two years

The question to ask a cloud bed is not whether it is comfortable on the first night. It is whether it still is after two years, in the same spot, the one where you sit every morning to put your shoes on.

Dense foam comes back. Light foam keeps the mark, and the mark never leaves.

And the upkeep

The covers come off and wash. That is the part of the bed that lives, stains and catches the light. The foam does not move.

To feel it under your hand, the beds are on show at our depot near Brussels, by appointment. All ten fabrics are there too, side by side.

To understand where the silhouette comes from, read what a cloud bed really is.