(Photo: Danny Kim/New York Magazine)

You sell natural, metal-free mattresses. Where did that concept come from?
The company founder is from a small seaside village in Greece. One day he took a nap on a big pile of seaweed—and it was the deepest sleep he ever had.

How do you mimic a pile of seaweed in mattress form?
Our beds are made by hand in Greece, using cactus and coconut fiber, real seaweed, horsehair, and wool. The materials are sterilized and sprayed with natural rubber.

What makes that better than a regular mattress?
Rubber is one of the most hypoallergenic materials in nature—except for those allergic to latex, of course. And because these have organic cotton and wool covers, you won’t get dust mites.

What about bedbugs?
That’s the great thing: Natural rubber is inhospitable to bedbugs. They don’t like the smell.

Are they mold-resistant?
Mold is the only enemy; these mattresses don’t do well in places with consistently high humidity.

Is a cactus-fiber bed actually comfortable?
Of course. It has great elasticity and won’t sag over time like a foam mattress.

Can you customize orders? Say, more seaweed, less horsehair?
Yes. We’re very flexible, especially when accommodating special dimensions like extra-long beds, round beds, and mattresses for yachts.

What’s the most unusual request you’ve received to date?
A triangle bed for a designer who had a diamond-shaped room. He was a bit eccentric.

Interview by Lauren Murrow.

Related:

• Archive: “Ask Shop Clerk”
• Table of Contents: Apr 16, 2012 issue of New York | Subscribe!