50 years of luxury: Dreamwool Beds
This year marks half a century of hand-crafted comfort and a luxurious night’s sleep every time.
Dreamwool Beds, the family-owned business, celebrates 50 years. Owner and director David Henderson reflects on their journey so far. “We started with a range of baby chairs, prams, and kapok mattresses,” he says. “In 1978, my father, Edgar, an ex-farmer, came up with the idea of replacing the kapok with wool and making the first woollen overlay.” 
Over the years that followed, the Dreamwool Woollen Overlay went from being a mattress topper to being incorporated into the mattresses. “As the market has become more sophisticated,” David says, “we’ve been able to go through many versions and improve them incrementally over time.” Dreamwool now boasts comprehensive latex and pocketspring mattress ranges that combine an international supply chain of components with superior New Zealand materials. “We made the shift to merino in 2018,” David remembers.
“We initially connected with a clothing supplier who had merino wool, but they had a fire that rendered theirs unusable. Rather than backing away from the idea, we decided to source our own merino directly from South lsland farms. Merino sheep are genetically perfected to cope with huge changes in temperature and humidity. Using their wool took us from being the best in the market to being second to none in all the categories where Dreamwool competes: quality, performance, and feel.” Buyers have since connected with the story of local merino wool and embraced the superior sleep experience it provides. “Our customers love what we’re doing with the quality product, and the story behind it matches the outcome of an even better night’s sleep.”
Looking to the years ahead, David hopes New Zealanders will better acknowledge and invest in the true benefits of a good night’s sleep. “Sleep is the last frontier of health to be fully understood,” he says. “l hope more people grow to understand its power to aid in the recovery of our bodies. Dreamwool customers know that we’re pioneers in this space, and they have been coming back to us again and again over the last 50 years. We are constantly innovating and improving to ensure that we remain at the top. Even Edgar agrees that our new mattresses are the best Dreamwool has ever made; there’s no comparison.”
