ITC: Cornell Testing Machine
When it comes to the life of a mattress, the rear is front and center.
And that's exactly what the Cornell Testing Machine acts as. The machine forces a buttocks-shaped platen onto the mattress, at any desired amount of force, to determine firmness and surface deformation.
Capable of accommodating twin through king size of bedding, the machine evaluates a 100,000-cycle test of the platen forced 230-lbs. onto the bedding. Readings are taken at 200, 6,000, 12,500, 25,000, 50,000, 75,000, and 100,000 cycles. The data collected is then used to calculate the change in support firmness and preload height change. There are no pass/fail parameters in the current ASTM procedure but the historical guidelines are referenced to put your test in perspective.