Put a topper on your mattress, or bring home one of the deep pocket-sprung beds, and the protector you already own stops reaching round the sides. The corners ride up, the elastic sits on the edge of the mattress instead of underneath it, and by morning the whole thing has crept towards the middle. Woolroom sells its own answer to that, direct to you: the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Mattress Protector (Extra-Deep Skirt), a thin quilted pad of British wool in organic cotton with a 45cm (about 18in) elasticated skirt that goes round a thick bed and well under it. It's the deep version of the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Mattress Protector, the same in every layer apart from the skirt, which on the standard is 35cm. Lie on it and you get a soft, faintly crisp layer under the sheet that warms up fast and then holds an even temperature all night.
Buy this one if your mattress is deeper than about 30cm (12in) on its own, or if a topper of any thickness sits on top of it. That's my rule of thumb, and it's the whole decision. Under 30cm with nothing on top, buy the standard, because the extra cotton here has nowhere to go but into folds under the mattress. Know one more thing before you order: it isn't waterproof. The wool soaks up sweat and lets it go, which is the reason I'd have it on a bed at all, but a knocked-over mug of tea or a child's accident will reach the mattress, and Woolroom doesn't sell a waterproof protector with this deep a skirt.
The 45cm skirt is for beds over 30cm, toppers included
Stand a tape measure against the side of your mattress, from the base to the top edge, then add the topper as it sits with nobody lying on it. That total decides which protector you buy. Plenty of pocket-sprung mattresses with generous natural fillings come in over 30cm, and pillow tops add more. A 7cm topper takes an ordinary 25cm mattress past the line on its own.
My rule is at least 5cm of skirt left over to tuck under once it has gone round the sides. On that reckoning the 45cm skirt covers anything up to about 40cm (16in), mattress and topper together, and it has room to spare from 30cm to 35cm. One owner runs it over a 30cm mattress with a 7cm topper on top, which leaves about 8cm underneath, and says the elasticated skirt "all the way round was easily enough to keep it firmly in place". Weeks later it hadn't moved. Another bought it after an old protector "couldn't fit to the bottom of the mattress", which is the exact job this one is built for.
There are no corner straps here: the skirt is one deep wall of cotton with elastic running the full hem. It's the same unbleached 200 thread count cotton as the top, and it's sturdier than the skirts on cheap quilted protectors. One owner, who has had skirts you could poke a finger through while making the bed, calls this one "robust", and says it "tucks right under the mattress (30cm) and doesnt move about".
A skirt that's too shallow is the worse mistake
Get the depth wrong on the short side and you'll know about it every morning. The elastic can't reach under the mattress, so it grips the side instead, and every time you turn over it pulls the pad a little further up and in. An owner of the 35cm standard who put it over a topper describes exactly that: it's "untucked most mornings". On a deep bed the standard is the wrong buy, however much you like it.
Get it wrong on the long side and the cost is small. On a slim mattress the spare skirt folds under itself, and the sides sit a little loose and baggy. One owner of this deep version calls it "a little bit long for my bed" and says it made no difference to how it works. Even so, on a bare mattress under 30cm the standard gives you the neater fit, and that's the one I'd send you to.
If you're right on the line, buy deep. The same owner chose this version on purpose "so I'll always have the tuck-in-ability of the skirt, no matter what size and combination of mattress and toppers I have", and if you might add a topper next winter, that's sound thinking. Bed-making is optional in my book: leave it unmade to air, because a tidy bed traps moisture. A protector that stays tucked on its own suits that way of living, and the one with too little skirt has you stripping the bed to straighten it. One owner finds the Extra-Deep stretches a little after a few weeks on the bed, enough for the edging to creep over the side of the mattress, so give the skirt a firm tuck when you change the sheets.
Over a topper, it goes on top
The protector goes over the topper, never under it. Woolroom's own staff tell topper buyers the same, and the reason is practical: a protector is far easier to wash than a topper, and it keeps the topper clean. Plenty of this version's owners bought it to go over a topper, one of them straight after adding a 3in topper to the mattress.
If the topper is the Woolroom Deluxe Wool Mattress Topper, this pairing makes even more sense, because that topper is dry clean only and this protector goes in the washing machine. A topper is for a mattress that's too firm, never for one that has dipped, so be sure firmness is your mattress's only fault before you buy the pair. And remember the fitted sheet: it now has to clear mattress, topper and protector, so a deep-pocket sheet is a must over about 30cm.
Under the sheet, it's the same thin wool as the standard
"Extra-Deep" describes the skirt and nothing else. The filling is the standard's 250gsm of carded British wool, the cover the same organic cotton, so what you feel lying down doesn't change. Your sheet sits on a soft, quilted layer a little crisp from the cotton, and the mattress under it stays exactly as firm as it was. One owner says it "adds a layer of soft comfort without changing the firmness of my mattress", which is the right expectation. Another wanted something thicker and says as much, and if it's the bed itself you want softer, buy a topper.
The wool is there to deal with heat. I'm not a protector person, because most of them seal a mattress in and stop it breathing. Wool lets the bed breathe, so for Woolroom's I make an exception. Wool draws the damp off your skin and lets it escape into the bedroom air, so a foam bed stops going clammy halfway through the night. One owner was overheating on a memory foam mattress and "waking many times in the night" until this went on. It works the other way in winter too: another owner keeps it for the warmth in a cold Victorian cottage. Wake up clammy on a synthetic protector and wool is what fixes it. Woolroom's is the one I'd buy.
The wool is all British, traceable to its farm through Woolroom's Wool ID lot number, but the sewing is done in the EU. Owners who bought it as a British product have been caught out by the label, and you needn't be.
Wash it cool, dry it on the line
It's ready to use out of the bag, according to Woolroom's staff, so it can go straight on. When it does need a wash, set the machine to a wool cycle at 30 degrees with a wool detergent. The label says 40, and I'd ignore it: 30 is the figure in Woolroom's care guidance, and the standard version came out smaller for an owner who went with the label. Wool normally felts in a washing machine, and Woolroom gets round that by treating the fibre first. As the brand puts it, the wool is "bathed in a chlorine solution" to smooth down the tiny scales that make it shrink and mat, and the solution is then rinsed out twice.
All that skirt is extra fabric in the drum. One owner gets a king into a 9kg machine with no trouble and finds it dries faster than the cotton protector it replaced. It has to dry on the line, never in a tumble dryer, so wash it when the forecast gives it a full day out there. Off the bed, store it in the calico bag it came in and keep it out of vacuum bags.
Is the deep skirt worth paying extra for?
On a bed that needs it, easily. Next to the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Mattress Protector, the extra money buys ten more centimetres of cotton skirt, and on a deep bed that skirt is the difference between a protector that stays put and one you straighten every morning. On a slim mattress it buys you a baggy hem, so keep the money.
What to buy instead
If your mattress is under 30cm and there's no topper on it, buy the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Mattress Protector. It's the same wool and cotton with a 35cm skirt that sits neatly on an everyday mattress.
If a deep bed needs protecting from spills more than from sweat, the Teflon Supreme Care Mattress Protector costs far less and has a 45cm stretch skirt of its own, with a stain-repellent top that makes spills bead up so you can wipe them off. It isn't wool, and it can go in the tumble dryer on a cool setting, which wool never can.
If it's accidents you're guarding against, from a child or a pet, buy a protector with a waterproof backing instead. The iGel Perfect Partner Mattress Protector has one under a Tencel cover, and its 40cm skirt covers a mattress and topper up to about 35cm.
