30 DIY Mattress Ideas: No. 8 No-Sew Hemp Hull + Fitted sheet Mattress
Important note: We are not advocating that you actually make these mattresses. They have not been tested and are not approved mattress kits. This is an exercise of the imagination for entertainment purposes only. Think of this as our private design notebook, now opened for everyone to see!
No-sew Hemp Hull + Fitted Sheet Mattress
(some links below will take you to a product on Amazon.com)
This design was what we tried when we made our first hemp hull mattress many years ago, which was more of a "fix" for your existing mattress (before we found these zippered Organic Mattress Topper Covers).
The original "topper case" was made from a Jersey Cotton Fitted Sheet, held by Bish's Tear Mender, which is basically liquid latex.
You can find the step by step tutorial here on Instructables.
The crinkles of the elastic edge on a fitted sheet creates an abundance of surface area which makes the bond as good as sewing the case closed with a sewing machine. The process of using Bish's Tear Mender is easy; squirt a line on one side and carefully press the two sides to be seamed firmly together, holding them down for about 10 seconds before moving down the elastic seam.
Sorry for the vintage quality photos, these were taken quite a few years back :)
It's fun to take a walk down memory lane and we thought this may help inspire someone to do something similar. It can also be easily adapted for pet beds by using this crib size jersey cotton fitted sheet.
Once we had our huge bladder of hulls, we got on our stretchy yoga pants and wrestled it around until it completely smothered our old mattress and was spread smooth like sand on a beach.
Certified Organic Hemp Hulls were the only filling used.
Our sample: We made a queen (60 X 80) which was quite thick!
How did our sample feel? This has been hands down our second most comfortable mattress, our current hemp sand mattress concept being number one.
What we like about this mattress idea: Why shouldn't every night feel like a beach vacation? It really does fix most mattress problems except if you are trying to make a too firm mattress softer, that won't work as you do need a soft base for the hemp hulls to contour to.
Negatives: Once the Bish's Tear Mender is applied, the hulls cannot be accessed. So this is a more temporary fix, but still would potentially extend the life of your current mattress at least a few more years. The Tear Mender is a bit messy and turns a yellow color once dried - best to use in an area that won't be seen, like under your mattress toper!
Future possibilities: The idea of a topper that can fix most mattress problems is a golden ticket in our minds and we are actually surprised that more people have not used hemp hulls to smother their old mattress in a new, thick layer of comfort.