I can see exactly who the Sanderson is for. You've got a back that likes a firm bed, you want springs and a tufted top with no foam anywhere in it, and you'd like it made in Britain by a shop you already know. The Dreams Workshop Sanderson Traditional Spring Mattress is made with you in mind: a traditional open coil from Dreams' own factory in the West Midlands, which you can only buy from Dreams, with polyester fillings under a woven damask cover, a Firm grade and two sides to sleep on. Dreams Workshop is the traditional-spring end of the shop's own beds, with the pocket-sprung Dream Team range a step above it, and the Sanderson is one of its firm, turnable models. I lay on it at a Dreams store at the end of October 2026, on my back, my front and my side.
Back then the label said Dingwall. Dreams has since renamed it the Sanderson, and the build it publishes is the same under the new name, so what I found stands. The deep fillings softened the coil more than I expected: on my back and then my front the padding took the edge off the springs, and it felt fair enough. On my side, at 61 kg, the firm coil pressed hard into my shoulder and I never got comfortable. Underneath, it's basic, open springs and polyester under a tufted damask cover made to a price, yet better put together than I expected for what it cost back then, and it turns, so it lasts longer than a one-sided bed. At that price I thought it would do for a spare room on the tightest budget.
To my mind the springs are where it goes wrong for the money. An open coil is one unit of hourglass springs wired together, so a press in one spot drags the springs around it down too, and I'd always rather have pocket springs, where each spring moves on its own. Dreams has put the price up with the name, and at the new ticket the Sanderson costs pocket-spring money. The Dream Team Maidstone 1000 in the same shop is firm, it turns over, and it puts pocket springs under the same sort of tufted polyester top. So skip the Sanderson at its ticket price. If you love a firm open coil and your heart is set on this one, buy it in a Dreams sale and not before.
Back sleepers get their firm bed, side sleepers get a sore shoulder
Back and front sleepers of average weight who sleep alone are the people the Sanderson suits. Dreams grades it Firm, the fifth of its seven grades, and back and front are the positions where it treated me best. Dreams' staff put the limit at 18 stone (114kg) per sleeper, and under that a back sleeper gets the flat, held feel the grade promises. One owner who bought it as the Sanderson had come off a memory foam mattress that had started to sag, and found it "Firm, supportive, and comfortable without feeling too hard." Another put the whole case in one line: "I ordered the Sanderson mattress, because I like a firm bed".
Side sleepers should skip it, the lighter ones above all. On your side your shoulder and hip carry most of your weight, and a firm coil under polyester gives them very little room to sink: that's the pressed shoulder I couldn't get past. Under about ten stone, where I am, you don't weigh enough to get past the fillings and into what give the springs have. The tufts add their own texture too. One owner liked the bed but noticed "pronounced dips where the buttons are", which is tufting doing its job, pulling the top down in little pits so the fillings can't wander.
Owners argue about how firm it is
Most of the reviews are for an earlier model still, which Dreams sold as the Turner, and they're worth reading for the feel of a firm Workshop coil. They land at both extremes. One owner said it was "like sleeping on a piece of plaster board", and another found it "Much firmer than in the shop". At the other end, a buyer who "Came in for a firm mattress and was told it was" signed off with "not firm enough sorry". The owners in between keep calling it firm and supportive, so I believe the label here: it's firm. A few of the happy ones softened it with a topper ("Very firm and added a mattress topper to it."), which tells you where the grade sits.
Share it and you'll feel each other move
This is the open coil's oldest habit. Because the springs are wired into one unit, your partner turning over moves your side too, and two people of different weights drift towards each other through the night. Asked about a bed that won't roll you together, Dreams' own staff point buyers to pocket springs over traditional springs, and I couldn't agree more. Owners of the earlier model describe the noise as well: "Springs pop when moving on the bed and do so at night very loudly." Another found that after six weeks it was "starting to sink and soften on the side where the heavier person sleeps." If you share a bed, this isn't your mattress.
The sides are soft, too. There's no edge support on the Sanderson, so when you sit on the side to get dressed it sinks under you, and one owner found "little to no support on the edges of the mattress." On a double that costs you a strip of sleeping room down each side. Plenty of owners of the earlier model bought it for a son's or a daughter's bed, and I'd stop them there: an open coil is never a child's main bed for me, whatever it costs.
It turns, and it wants turning often
Credit where it's due: the Sanderson has two sleeping sides, which I like on any spring mattress, because flipping it shares the wear between both faces. Turn it over regularly and spin it head to toe every week for its first three months, then monthly after that. A double weighs 27kg, so that's a job for two, and owners of the earlier model missed having handles on the side to help with it. At 21cm deep it takes ordinary fitted sheets. It doesn't come rolled, so it arrives flat and wrapped in plastic: measure your stairs and the corner at the top before the van comes. Put it on a solid base or sprung slats, and keep it off an adjustable bed, which it isn't made for.
Wait for a Dreams sale
Price is what turns a decent firm bed into one I'd send you away from. The earlier model behind most of the reviews spent long spells in Dreams' sales, and its happy owners keep mentioning the discount: one was "pleased to have got it half price in the sale", another called it a "Good buy at Sale Price". I'm with them. At sale money it's a fair firm bed for a back sleeper who sleeps alone. At its ticket you're paying for pocket springs and getting a linked coil, backed by a one-year guarantee. Should it turn out wrong for you, the 100-Night Comfort Guarantee means you can exchange it for a different mattress.
What to buy instead
Buy the Dream Team Maidstone 1000. It's the firm bed I'd steer any Sanderson shopper towards: firm, double-sided, no foam, a tufted top much like this one's, and pocket springs underneath that keep a partner's tossing and turning closer to their own side. The 1000 in its name isn't the double's count, which is 858: on the low side for me, and still fine for the money because they're pocket springs. Catch it in a sale too if you can.
If firm was your guess at what a sore back needs, and you sleep on your side, try the Dream Team Tadley 800 in a sale instead. Memory foam over pocket springs gives your shoulder somewhere to go. The foam holds a little warmth and the edges are soft, and it's still the kinder bed for a side sleeper.
