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I have been reading with great interest the threads on this forum. My wife and I are looking for a mattress for one of our sons (we have six kids) who has very bad allergies. He is currently 8 years old and weighs around 70-75lbs. We are going to put the mattress on a solid wood base of his bunk bed. The bottom bunk is full and the top if twin. We have an older "My First Sealy" twin on the top bunk. The bottom bunk base is one ich thick planed plywood with a thick maple veneer. I called SleepEz and spoke with Shawn after reading all of the glowing reviews. He seems like a nice man. The think that concerns me is that MANY people speak of being able to swap cores many months after they have been sleeping on them. I am concerned that latex cores that we would receive could have been in someone elses home and contain allergens, etc. I don't want to think about bodily fluids. Either there is a HUGE margin in latex cores so that Shawn can dispose of returned cores or people are getting layers that have been used by someone else. Does anyone have any insight into this? As for the mattress itself, do you think a firm, medium core of the 7000 series would be a good choice? I know he does not weigh much now, but we hope this mattress will last until he is ready to go to college. His younger brother will eventually be sleeping in this bed as well. He is currently only 19 months old so he has at least 6-9 months before he will also be sleeping on the latex mattress. Would the 7000 series also be strong enough to support an adult? I weigh around 200lbs and when we have bad storms the kids sometimes ask mom or dad to sleep in their room. I really don't want to bottom out. We can't afford much more than the 7000 series. We want something without flame retardants, but we don't have a lot of money either. Thank you to all in advance, |
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I personally have no problem with Silica as it is a "natural ingredient" and the main component of quartz and diatomaceous earth. While inhaling the powder can cause some problems, I believe in the form it is used in the fire barriers there is little potential for harm and is certainly the least objectionable of any inherent or added material. Naturpedic (and probably others as well) uses it in their Ultra crib mattresses which is one of only 3 North American mattresses which are GOTS certified and USDA organic (the other 2 are OMI and Lifekind mattresses without latex). I also don't have a real problem with cellulose type of fabrics (viscose/rayon) even though they are not the most environmentally friendly in their manufacture. Many of them such as the bamboo blends are being falsely touted as being "green" just because they come from a plant. To me it doesn't mean they're "bad" (I like bamboo blends) ... only that we may as well use the facts when we make our decisions. This wikipedia article calls them "artificial fibers" neither natural or synthetic which I think is closest to the truth. Naturepedic's fire protection, designed by an expert environmental scientist, contains no wool or borate powder and is instead made of baking soda and hydrated silica bonded to cellulose fiber. Baking soda can be found as a naturally occurring compound, but is generally made from other naturally derived materials. Silica is a natural mineral that comprises about 70% of the earth's crust. Clay, rocks, sand, etc. are all made primarily of silica. It is a major constituent of human tissue, bones, teeth, skin, eyes, glands, organs and is even available in food supplements. The cellulose fiber used is derived primarily from eucalyptus and poplar trees and has a low carbon footprint. Visil is a trade name for a cellulose fiber manufactured by Sateri Milliken makes something similar called Paladin It seems that visil/wool blends don't do very well in fire tests and that even the weave pattern can make a difference. From my research different types of wool have different fire retardency qualities. Similar thicknesses/processing methods/compression of different types of wool could very well have different outcomes. The lanolin content also makes a difference (lanolin can be flammable). How it is treated and manufactured, and how much wool and how compressed it is are also factors. I also think it is quite likely that some mattress manufacturers are only repeating what they have been told about the wool in their covers and may not know for sure. In other cases they (some "organic" manufacturers) will independently test for chemicals but I doubt that silica is one of the chemicals they test for. In regards to the Strobel claims ... OMI disputes this on their website here under "PULLING THE WOOL OVER OUR EYES" I also checked and Silica is not one of the specific "chemicals" that are tested for in GOTS certification I also know it is not cheap to test an individual prototype so it passes the fire regulations so there would be some pressure on smaller companies to do "whatever they could to pass with the least possible cost". In the end I guess we all have to decide "how pure is pure" for ourselves and decide on the level of uncertainty we are willing to live with in our mattress. Phoenix This message was modified Nov 12, 2010 by Phoenix
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From the limited info on the web, it seems that there are different formulations of silica. Some are considered to be more benign than others, some come with health warnings. It would be great if a complete list of ingredients, and info on the treatments that those ingredients have undergone, were available with all products we purchase, including mattresses. It would certainly make our jobs as consumers easier. As that is not the case, it makes our purchasing decisions more difficult. This message was modified Nov 20, 2010 by jasmine
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I don't think that silica is a perfect ingredient but I do believe that it is better than anything else commonly available besides compressed wool and wool that is thick enough to act as a fire retardent comes with it's own disadvantages in certain applications. I am not aware of any health warnings for Silica as it is used in a mattress. Of course as it is used in diatomaceous earth (as a crystaline powder) there would be a warning not to inhale it as it could cause respiratory problems. Exposure to crystaline silica as used in drywall for example can lead to silicosis. Could you direct me to any warnings you have seen that are specific to how it is used in a mattress? If my beliefs are based on faulty information, I would certainly like to correct them :). Phoenix This message was modified Nov 20, 2010 by Phoenix
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Unfortunately, I do not have specifics as to any particular mattress company, only have seen warnings re: certain types of silica used. I also wonder that if silica and other "natural" products are safe and effective fire retardants, why don't all companies use these safer methods rather than other chemical methods? It must come down to cost and the flammability of certain materials. This message was modified Nov 20, 2010 by jasmine
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