Heritage Upholstery was established by Matthew & Alison in 2004. Matt (a member of the Association of Master Upholsterers) has worked in the trade since leaving school. Heritage specialises in all aspects of traditional & modern upholstery, supplying a range of services to clients all over the south east.

A former colleague of Matt’s, who also works in the trade, approached him to ask if he would be interested in a very old machine used for the carding of horsehair. As Heritage Upholstery are keen to recycle materials of the trade where possible (and the machine is a perfect assistant in the carding of horsehair) Matt eagerly bought it. The carding machine itself was made by "Saunders Sanitary Bedding Mill" in Bournemouth. Matt and Alison were intrigued to find out all they could about the history of this antique contraption and discovered that it is no longer made in Bournemouth.

Apparently the manufacturing of the machine ceased in the 1930’s and never started again after that. "We have tried looking for further information but to no avail. We even drew a blank at Horsham museum. As far as we know the machine is likely dated from 1900 – 1930’s but not later".

The Saunders Sanitary bedding mill works in this way: The old, dusty, compressed horsehair from the traditional furniture interiors is fed into the top of the machine where it is cleansed & teased into clean re–usable plumped up horsehair, thus removing the expense of purchasing new hair & therefore benefiting the environment as well as the customer’s pockets.

So you see, even before the war upholsterers were at the forefront of recycling!