The 10 cm trap: 3 ft Single is not a Super King half.
Beds.ie's size guide (9 September 2026) puts a Single at 90 × 190 cm and a Super King at 180 × 200 cm. Zip two ordinary Irish Singles and you get Super King width with Double length. A 6 ft zip-and-link Super King pair — the Dreamworld Opal contract listing is W180 × L200 cm — uses 90 × 200 cm halves. Measure the mattress, not the word "single" on the box.
The short verdict
If someone in a Dublin shop asks "just tell me which 6 ft to buy," the one-piece Super King is the default. It is the size on our Irish size chart and it drops onto a standard 6 ft frame. Zip-and-link is the right buy when the one-piece physically will not come up the house, when you need two tensions, or when the room has to run as twins. That is a setup call. It is not a mattress ranking.
Choose zip-and-link if…
- One of you wants firm and the other wants medium — beds.ie names this as the domestic reason for 6 ft zip-and-link.
- The stairs or landing will not take a 180 cm slab, and you are not buying a boxed Super King.
- The room needs to split into two 3 ft beds — hotels, B&Bs, Airbnb, a spare room that earns its keep.
- You will buy the matching split divan with linking bars, not drop two halves into a one-piece 6 ft ottoman.
Choose the one-piece Super King if…
- You already have a standard 6 ft frame or divan cut for 180 × 200 cm.
- You want one surface — no zip, no centre join, one Super King sheet.
- You both sleep fine on the same tension. Split firmness is wasted money if you do not need it.
- Access is the only worry and the mattress ships in a box. We have carried an Emma Original Pro Super King that way — see mattress in a box.
Format comparison
Figures from beds.ie's size guide, 6 ft Super King range, and 6 ft zip-and-link contract listings, checked 9 September 2026. Where a cell is one SKU (the Opal W180 × L200 spec), the note says so.
| Factor | Zip-and-link | One-piece Super King | Irish buyer note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined footprint | 180 × 200 cm when the halves are Super King length | 180 × 200 cm (6'0" × 6'6") | Same Irish Super King rectangle — if the zip-and-link halves are actually 200 cm long. |
| How it is built | Two mattresses + zip at the long edge | One mattress | Split contract vs one slab. The sleep surface is not the same even when the cm match. |
| Each half | 90 cm (3 ft) each × 200 cm on a 6 ft Super King pair — not the 190 cm Irish Single | Not split | Beds.ie describes each half as a 3 ft (90 cm) single by width. Length is the trap. |
| Irish Single on the size chart | A 3 ft Single on beds.ie's size guide is 90 × 190 cm | Super King is 180 × 200 cm | Two ordinary Irish Singles (90 × 190) zip to 180 × 190 — 10 cm short of a Super King. |
| Base | Matching zip-and-link divan: two 3 ft bases with linking bars or straps | Any standard 6 ft Super King frame or divan with a 180 × 200 cm well | A one-piece 6 ft ottoman or a solid-side frame is usually the wrong well for two halves. |
| Stairs and doorways | Carry two 90 cm halves up the stairs separately | Need ~180 cm clearance through doors, halls, and stairs unless it ships in a box | Beds.ie: check 180 cm width for a one-piece; zip-and-link can go up separately. A boxed Super King is a third option. |
| Different firmness | Each half can be a different tension | One feel across the whole bed | The domestic reason people buy zip-and-link. One-piece cannot do this without a dual-adjustable base and two mattresses anyway. |
| Twin / Super King switch | Unzip for two singles (hotels, B&Bs, guest rooms) | Cannot split into twins | Why Irish hotels and B&Bs stock split contract 6 ft. |
| Where beds.ie files it | On beds.ie, 6 ft zip-and-link lives under Contract | On beds.ie, this is the standard 6 ft Super King-size range | Contract is the hospitality grade (Crib 5 / Source 5). Standard 6 ft is the domestic Super King run. Contract 6 ft also exists as a one-piece (beds.ie listed 5 of those). |
| Sleep surface | A join down the middle; zips sit under the long-edge seams | No centre join | Retailer copy calls the join barely noticeable. That is their claim, not a score from our bedroom. |
| Sheets | Super King fitted sheet when zipped; two Single sheets if you split as twins — and only if the halves are the right length | One Super King fitted sheet | A Super King sheet is cut for 180 × 200. It will not sit right on 180 × 190. |
| Beds.ie room hint | Same 6 ft bed in the room once joined | They want ~4 m of room width for comfortable access; size guide min 3.6 × 4.2 m | The format does not shrink the bed. Measure the room either way. |
Green cells flag the format that wins that row for a typical Irish home — width, access, or sheets — not a comfort rating.
Honest trade-offs
Length — 190 vs 200 cm
Winner: the mattress that actually matches the frame.
Irish/UK Super King is 200 cm long. Irish/UK Single and Double are 190 cm. King is 200 cm, same as Super King, just 30 cm narrower (150 vs 180). Beds.ie's zip-and-link copy talks about "a standard 3 ft single (90 cm)" — that is the width. Confirm length on the product spec. The Opal 6 ft zip-and-link they sell as contract Super King is listed W180 × L200 cm. A 180 × 190 pair on a 180 × 200 divan leaves a 10 cm gap at the foot. That is a returns job, not a "it will do."
Getting it upstairs
Winner: zip-and-link — or a boxed one-piece.
Beds.ie is blunt: Super King one-pieces are large and heavy; check that doorways, stairwells, and halls can take 180 cm. Zip-and-link halves go up separately and join in the room. If the mattress is vacuum-packed, a one-piece Super King can still make a terraced house — we have done that with the Emma Original Pro. A sprung, unboxed 6 ft slab is the one that gets stuck on the return.
The join, and the base
Winner: one-piece, if you do not need to split the bed.
On the Opal listing, the zips sit under the long-edge seams at head and foot, and the seams fold over them. Beds.ie says the join is barely noticeable. That is their listing copy, not a number from our bedroom.
The quieter deal-breaker is the base. Two 3 ft divans with linking bars. Not a one-piece 6 ft ottoman. Not a 5 ft King. If you keep the frame you have, buy the mattress that frame was cut for.
Contract grade vs domestic 6 ft
Different job, not a quality ranking.
Beds.ie puts 6 ft zip-and-link in Contract: hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, student rooms, care homes. They say the difference from domestic is durability and fire retardancy — Source 5 / Crib 5, which commercial premises in Ireland need. They also stock a short one-piece 6 ft contract run (5 listings when we looked) beside 39 zip-and-link contract 6 ft listings, so "contract" does not always mean split.
For a master bedroom, Crib 5 is a spec line to read, not a reason to assume a better night. Warranties vary by SKU. The Opal 6 ft zip-and-link showed a 1-year manufacturer's guarantee on 9 September 2026. Do not assume every 6 ft zip-and-link is that short — and do not assume a domestic Super King is automatically 10 years. Open the listing.
Room, not format
Beds.ie wants about 4 m of room width for a 6 ft bed, and the size guide lists a 3.6 × 4.2 m minimum. Zip-and-link does not make the bed smaller once it is zipped. If the room is tight, the honest downgrade is a King at 150 × 200 cm, not a split Super King jammed between two wardrobes.
What beds.ie actually publishes
This page uses their public size guide and category copy, checked 9 September 2026. Live prices move; we are not reprinting them.
| Name on beds.ie | cm | Imperial they print |
|---|---|---|
| Single | 90 × 190 | 3'0" × 6'3" |
| Double | 135 × 190 | 4'6" × 6'3" |
| King | 150 × 200 | 5'0" × 6'6" |
| Super King (standard 6 ft) | 180 × 200 | 6'0" × 6'6" |
| 6 ft zip-and-link (joined) | 180 cm wide; Opal SKU listed L200 cm | Two 3 ft halves |
Their Super King category copy also says each sleeper gets 90 cm — the same width as a Single — and that Super King is 30 cm wider than King and 45 cm wider than Double. That is width arithmetic on the size chart, not a comfort score.
Zip-and-link vs Super King — common questions
Bottom line
Standard 6 ft Super King is one 180 × 200 cm mattress. Split contract 6 ft zip-and-link is two 90 cm halves that zip to that width — when the halves are 200 cm long. Buy the split if you need two firmnesses, twins, or a 90 cm carry. Buy the one-piece if the frame is already Super King and you want one surface. Confirm cm on the listing. The word "single" on an Irish size chart is 190 cm long; a Super King is 200.
Last updated September 2026. Size chart: Mattress sizes in Ireland. If the Super King you want is an Emma hybrid, Original Pro vs Original is the scored buy-or-skip call.
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