New memory foam pillow made my a little nauseous
Aug 5, 2011 10:51 PM
Joined: Jun 2, 2011
Points: 481
So I just bought this new 'Martha Stewart Collection' memory foam pillow from Macys this afternoon.  I took a short nap on it a couple hours ago.  Tell ya what, I felt a little strange after that nap.  No headache, but a bit queasy and a little odd.  I could smell a slight smell from the pillow, so it's off-gassing.  Card says to let it air out for 24 hours.   I just don't know about those VOC's and off-gassing with chemical laden petroleum derived foam products. 

Maybe this is a message for me to ditch anything memory foam and just go organic latex or at least latex mattress and pillow.

This message was modified Aug 5, 2011 by slpngoc
Re: New memory foam pillow made my a little nauseous
Reply #1 Aug 6, 2011 2:33 AM
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Joined: May 13, 2011
Points: 170
A memory foam pillow is bound to be worse than a memory foam mattress.  With the mattress, you probably have a mattress protectory/pad, sheets and a pillow between you and the mattress.  With the pillow, you probably have a thin protector and pillowcase.  Everything is a chemical; it just a question of which ones will kill you.  Memory foam does indeed smell bad.  I'm not sure if there have been any independent studies of how toxic memory foam is to humans and in what quantities it takes to cause problems.  So many of the products we purchase are treated with so many chemicals, it's disgusting.  It's clear that many people have adverse reactions to memory foam and I find that scary.  I'm happy that with my organic latex mattress.  While it may not be 100% natural, it has to be a lot better than many of the alternatives.
Re: New memory foam pillow made my a little nauseous
Reply #2 Aug 6, 2011 8:23 PM
Joined: Jun 2, 2011
Points: 481
sleepswithcats wrote:

A memory foam pillow is bound to be worse than a memory foam mattress.  With the mattress, you probably have a mattress protectory/pad, sheets and a pillow between you and the mattress.  With the pillow, you probably have a thin protector and pillowcase.  Everything is a chemical; it just a question of which ones will kill you.  Memory foam does indeed smell bad.  I'm not sure if there have been any independent studies of how toxic memory foam is to humans and in what quantities it takes to cause problems.  So many of the products we purchase are treated with so many chemicals, it's disgusting.  It's clear that many people have adverse reactions to memory foam and I find that scary.  I'm happy that with my organic latex mattress.  While it may not be 100% natural, it has to be a lot better than many of the alternatives.


Where did you get your organic latex mattress from?
 

Re: New memory foam pillow made my a little nauseous
Reply #3 Aug 6, 2011 9:31 PM
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Joined: May 13, 2011
Points: 170
It's a Savvy Rest Dunlop.  I've had it for a month and it feels better each time I sleep on it.  I think part of it is adjustment from my old saggy waterbed and the latex softening up a bit. I've tried sleeping on both sides of the bed as well as at an angle to soften it up evenly.  I'll probably attempt to rotate it every six months.  I no longer wake up several times a night; I either sleep through the entire night or wake up once.  I'm very, very happy with my choice.  Hopefully it will last many years!

My second choice would have been a SleepEz, but I got 20% off because I purchased a gorgeous reclaimed douglas fir platform bed in addition to the mattress.