---
title: "Spring Tension"
description: "What spring tension means on a mattress label, how wire and coil shape set it, and why it differs from the soft or firm surface feel."
url: "https://bedguide.co.uk/glossary/spring-tension/"
category: "glossary"
primary_entity: "spring tension"
date_published: 2026-10-21
date_modified: 2026-10-21
---

# Spring Tension

> Spring tension is how hard the spring unit in a mattress pushes back when you lie on it. Wire thickness and coil shape set it. Comfort feel is different: it comes from the padding and foam on top. Firm springs can sit under a soft quilt. Mixing up the two is a common reason for early buyer regret.

**Definition.** Spring tension is how hard a mattress spring unit pushes back under weight. Wire thickness and coil shape set it.

Also called: mattress tension, soft, medium or firm tension.

Some mattresses are sold in more than one tension, such as soft, medium and
firm. The top layers may stay the same while the springs change.

Read tension and comfort layers as two separate specs. Split tension mattresses
use a different tension on each half.

Full guide: [spring tension vs comfort
feel](/mattresses/spring-tension-vs-comfort-feel). Also: [split tension
mattresses](/mattresses/split-tension-and-dual-firmness).

---

Source: https://bedguide.co.uk/glossary/spring-tension/ · BedGuide — independent UK bed guide; paid links are labelled (see /how-we-make-money/). Facts checked against official sources where possible; see https://bedguide.co.uk/editorial-policy. Report an error: https://bedguide.co.uk/corrections.