The
Materials
When we went looking for a bed for our dog, Lilly, we kept being disappointed by what was inside. So when we made our own, we started from the inside out. This is what the stone nest is made of, and why we chose each part.
The core
Most dog beds are filled with shredded foam, or with foam chips glued into a slab. It's what is left over when foam is cut for furniture, and it's cheap, which is why it's everywhere. It also flattens where your dog sleeps and never quite comes back.
We wanted the opposite, so we went to the material furniture is made from. The core of the stone nest is high-resilience foam, cut from block foam, the kind made for mattresses and upholstered furniture. No chips and no shredded fill. It's made in Poland, and the rounded edge is built up by hand.
It springs back
Press the core with your hand and it pushes back. That was the quality we cared about most. A bed that sinks leaves a dent your dog has to climb out of; this one lifts with them, so getting up takes less effort. Your dog feels that from the first night, and it matters more with every year. It supports your dog's joints, and it keeps its shape, night after night in the same spot.
It doesn't hold heat
Memory foam softens where it's warm, which means it holds on to body heat. Dogs run warmer than we do and cool down mostly by panting, so a warm hollow is the last thing they need. High-resilience foam is open-celled. Air moves through it, it doesn't build up heat around your dog, and the bed feels the same in August as it does in January.
The cover and the liner
We wanted a cover that could sit next to our sofa and go through the wash without losing its looks. We chose a performance linen weave made in Europe, with the dry, slightly grainy feel of linen and a water-repellent finish. It's woven tight and flat rather than looped, so claws don't snag or pull it the way they do on a bouclé, and it's rated for heavy commercial use, which for a dog bed is about right. The base is a suede-like fabric in the cover's color that grips the floor on its own, so there are no rubber dots to peel off. A zipper runs around the full perimeter of the base.
Under the cover is a fitted liner in soft cotton terry backed with a waterproof membrane, the same cloth used for infant mattress protectors. It takes whatever gets past the cover. Both come off and wash.
Made to be kept
Every material is tested for restricted substances by an independent European institute before it reaches us. Every bed comes with a cover and a liner, and both can be bought again on their own, so a worn cover, or a change of color, means a new cover rather than a new bed. The core stays. Built for years, not seasons.
The details
- Core
- high-resilience polyurethane foam, cut from block foam. Made in Poland.
- Thickness
- four inches, in every size.
- Resilience
- at least 50 percent (PN-EN ISO 8307), the supplier's specification. How much of its height a dropped steel ball gets back; memory foam sits near the bottom of the scale.
- Compression set
- no more than 8 percent (PN-EN ISO 1856), the supplier's specification. The most the foam is allowed to lose for good after being compressed and released.
- Cover
- performance linen weave, 95% polyester / 5% linen, 520 g/m², water-repellent finish, woven in Europe. 50,000 Martindale abrasion cycles; 40,000 counts as heavy-duty commercial use.
- Base
- suede-like non-slip fabric, in the cover's color.
- Liner
- cotton terry, 80% cotton / 20% polyester, laminated to a polyurethane membrane.
- Testing
- every material tested for restricted substances by an independent European institute.