There are many styles of iron bed frames available, such as American and European antique reproductions, modern and custom designs, as well as cribs and cradles, childrens’ beds and daybeds.

Some companies specialize in restoring real antique cast iron furniture, since items made of this durable material exist dating back to the 1700s and 1800s. Since bed sizes used to be smaller, original twin and full size beds can be converted to king and queen sizes. Many of these antiques are canopy beds, exotic and stylish, especially if draped in fabrics to match the decor of the bedroom.

The term wrought is the archaic past tense of the verb to work. As the English language changed over time, the word has been changed to “worked”. Therefore, wrought iron literally means “worked iron”. The process of making these products is quite precise and complicated. Some mass-produced, light-weight ornamental metal work is not made of iron, but is actually milled steel.

True wrought iron is a very pure form of commercial iron with a low carbon content. It is tough, bendable and easy to weld. It is too soft to be made into high-quality knives or swords, and rusts easily. For the purpose of weapon-making, societies which discovered how to carbonize iron and mix it with other metals to make steel had a great advantage in warfare over their more primitive neighbors. Because wrought iron is a more basic and universal product, it is the “iron” referred to throughout history.

Archeologists find evidence of iron smelting as far back as 3000 BC in China. Wrought iron was originally made by a method called bloomery. Bloomeries employed small charcoal smelters, often pots or ladles, into which iron ore (iron oxide, or rusted iron) was placed and covered with a thin layer of charcoal. The charcoal was lit and air was blown onto it with a bellows, causing the ore to melt partially. During this process, the oxygen atoms would be released from the iron to bind with the carbon in the charcoal, releasing carbon dioxide which would bubble away. Therefor, little of the carbon entered the melted iron.

Using this old method, the fire does not get hot enough to melt the iron completely, so a spongy mass is produced containing iron and silicates from the ore, called iron bloom, which is how the technique gets its name. The bloom is then manually worked to remove the slag and impurities, giving rise to the term “wrought”, as the iron was pounded, twisted, and folded. Hammering a piece of wrought iron compacts the fibers, increasing the strength of the product, though it lacks the carbon content necessary for heat-tempering. During this process, many thin layers of slag are mixed into the metal, producing a distinct “grain”, and a fibrous appearance when broken or bent. Old, rusted pieces of wrought iron have a very distinct grain and resemble reddish-brown wood.

Producing iron by hand in a bloomery was a slow, small-scale and labor-intensive process. Iron production began on a much larger scale with the introduction of blast furnaces, which date back to approximately 1100 to 1300 in Europe. These furnaces produce bars of pig iron, a brittle compound with a high carbon content. By the 1750s, a number of oxides had been discovered to remove the carbon as carbon dioxide, similar to the process in a bloomery. Because blast furnaces completely melt the iron, the metal can be molded into cast iron products at this stage. However, cast iron is too brittle to be worked into shapes as is possible with wrought iron.

Wrought iron would be further processed by faggoting, a method whereby the iron bars would be bundled together like sticks of firewood and hammered into one piece, just as iron was worked by hand in medieval times. Each time the iron was folded and stretched, it became a bit stronger. Wrought iron which had been faggoted twice was referred to as “Best”, and had a tensile strength of 23 tons per square inch; if faggoted again it would become “Best Best”, then “Treble best” with a strength of 28 tons per square inch. With each processing, impurities would form as long thin inclusions, just as with hammering.

Due to the unique grain of wrought iron, it is difficult to work with; like wood, if stressed too much, it will split along the grain. Working with wrought iron is an art form that can take years to perfect. Unlike mass-produced milled steel items, a wrought iron product is a piece of art.

Wrought iron can be painted in any color, and many manufacturers do custom painting and design. Cast iron can be formed into any shape, so if you have a design or picture you want replicated, bring it to a cast iron shop and they will work the image into your furniture. Buying wrought iron will give you a unique piece of furniture, and helps support local artisans and industries.

About the Author:

J Schipper loves iron beds Washington DC Storage Luxury Toronto Real Estate

Written By: J Schipper

The First Beds

Ten thousand years ago, in the Neolithic period, the first “beds” were made. They were probably straw or hay on large stones. In 3400 BC, the Egyptian pharaoh King Tut had a bed of ebony and gold, while the common people slept on palm bows stashed in the corner of their rooms. The first true luxury beds came along with the Roman Empire.

The Emperors, with all their wealth acquired beds decorated with gold, silver or bronze with mattresses stuffed with feathers, hay, wool, or reeds. The Romans were also the discoverers of the most-famous waterbed. They would lay back on a cradle of warm water until almost falling asleep to then be lifted onto another cradle with a mattress next to it, where they would be rocked asleep.

Modern Beds

The Dark Ages came and mattresses pretty much followed suit. But then the Renaissance came along and made bed making a bit more sophisticated. They would stuff mattresses of coarse tick with pea shucks, straw, or feathers to then be covered by rich velvet, brocades and silk. In the 16th and 17th centuries, mattresses were placed upon a latticework of rope. That is how the expression “sleep tight” came around, for the tighter the rope, the more comfortable the bed would be.

In the 18th century the iron bed structure was invented along with the use of cotton for stuffing mattresses. These two inventions together provided an almost bug-free sleeping environment. At that time, bed bugs were seen as completely normal even in the most luxurious beds. In 1865 the first coil spring bed structure was patented.

Beds in the 20th Century

In the 1930′s innerspring mattresses were introduced to the North American market along with upholstered foundations. Since then they have become contenders for the dominant position in North America.

In the ’40s, the Japanese couch-bed named a futon was introduced into the American market. It was a tremendous hit due to its practical utility.

In the ’50s foam rubber mattresses and pillows entered the bed and by the ’60s the modern waterbed was introduced.

Adjustable beds were also a big hit amongst consumers. The 1980s were ultimately modernity-obsessed as the airbed exploded into the market. This practical item is greatly used while camping or traveling.

In the 1990s space became a big issue once again, as it was in the 16th and 17th centuries. Twin size beds were outsold by queen size beds.

Now in the 2000s we have a brilliant mattress-making future ahead of us. With all the technology in our hands, beds can become just another extension of the human body. There are now beds that have built-in TVs, computers, videogames, trays, adjustable inclinations, “memory foam” that reads the shape of your body to fully attend to your orthopaedic needs. The top luxury choice nowadays is the pillow top mattress, which has an extra-soft layer of cushioning.

Everything just for the best bed!

About the author:

Michael Russell – Your Independent guide to Beds

Written By: Michael Russell

12,000 years ago before mattresses, people slept in caves, on the ground, on stone beds covered with animal skins while dreaming of touching the stars. In Scotland, primitive stone beds can be found in the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, with its advanced stone astronomical calendar. The development of the first cotton mattresses in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Babylonia, around 3,000 BC, brought with it a turning point in mattress evolution until the end of Antiquity around the year 529 AD, with the plunge into the Dark Ages.

In the eastern civilizations of China and Japan, the futon continued to evolve, as well as the tatami, but western culture seemed to be more interested in dry weeds, hay, wool, feathers and reads until the beginning of the age of rebirth around 1432 AD, with the death of Joan of Arc. Her sacrifice in La Place Rouge in the city of Rouen, not only echoed through the royal courts of France, but carried with it the cry for an age of reason throughout the entire known world. The Renaissance revived the passion for comfort and the value of a good nights sleep.

The passion for dreaming and enlightenment that fueled the Renaissance, survived all the way up to the 19th century with such works of art as the hand carved beds in the fantasy castle Neueschwanstein in Bavaria. But insect and mite free mattresses as we know them today began to appear as early as the late 1700s with the first cast iron beds, with cotton mattresses. The need for hygiene and comfort led to the invention of springs. NASA brought about the invention of memory foam mattresses, which have shown time and time again to be far more efficient than the conventional spring-cotton design inherited from the Industrial Revolution.

In a quickly globalizing world, much can be learned by getting a good nights rest. In the dawn of civilization, humankind first learned to value their sleep and look to the stars. During the Middle Ages, western civilization slowly began the rebirth of its dreams, until 1969 when the first man landed on the moon, and they became reality. Now, in a rational world, made of glass and plastic towers, the race for comfort and a good nights sleep, depends on the mattress we use to face, this basic human need.

About the author:

Thomas Jay Wacker is the General Manager and V.P. of www.simplepedic.com. Wacker has over 20 years experience in the home furnishing industry and leads the Wacker Management Team in Denver Colorado.

Written By: Thomas Jay Wacker