Mattress Forum

As Budgy mentioned, biofoams replace some of the oil based polyols used to make polyfoam (regular and memory) with (usually) soy or castor bean derived polyols and this rarely goes above 30%. Typically it is less than 20%. Two examples of "alternative polyols" for foams are Cargil and Bayer.

There are tons of different names used by different foam manufacturers or mattress manufacturers (who rebrand the names) for foams that use "green" polyols.

There is a certification called CertiPur which tests foams for offgassing and durability and many of the major foam manufacturers now belong to this (Carpenter just joined this month). Information and a list of foam manufacturers that belong are here http://www.certipur.us/products.html I personally would prefer a polyfoam (including a memory foam) that came from a supplier that was part of the CertiPur program.

Oeko-tex is another testing program that tests for harmful substances (Oeko-Tex 100 class 1 tests for substances that could be harmful to babies up to 36 months) but the tests are different and apply to more than just foams. http://www.oeko-tex.com

I think there are several issues with memory foam and some are more important to some than to others. One is the offgassing issue (addressed to some degree by CertiPur) and how this affects different people to different degrees. The second is the degradation issue. The dust that is created when a polyfoam breaks down (long after the offgassing is no longer noticeable) is also a health issue to some. Of course durability of even the better memory foams is quite a bit less than latex. Heat issues and comfort issues are other areas that are are unique to each individual.

The issue of how somebody feels about memory foam is very personal and leads to some pretty extreme opinions. I personally like the feel of memory foam under something else like latex for example but tend not to like sleeping directly on it. I also personally tend to avoid memory foam because even though I am not normally a "sensitive" person ... for some reason sleeping on memory foam affects my breathing even after I can no longer smell it and I tend to sleep hot on it (this would be reduced or even eliminated by something over it of course). With other polyfoams I have no problem. I have no specific explanation for this.

So the issues involved with all poly foams ... as with so many other things ... are partly issues of personal sensitivity, partly personal preference, partly health, partly environmental, and partly perception.

Phoenix

When I went to look at the Oeko-Tex site, the only North American Oeko-Tex certified manufacturer of anything in the category "mattresses and fillings" on their website was Latex International. There were no certified polyfoams in North America. There were European and Asian Foam manufacturers that were certified but their database is really confusing because they mix categories up a lot when you do searches so its difficult to tell how many of these are certified for use in a mattress and exactly what foam is certified.

A quick search only a page deep showed that Bedinabox and Garme both say or imply that their memory foams are Oeko-Tex certified. In the case of bedinabox they use Purecel which is their trademark re-branding for BASF foam and I really doubt that it is certified because there was absolutely nothing on the Oeko-Tex website for BASF, North Carolina Foam Industries or any of their foams I searched. Garme was not listed either so they probably get their foam from someone who is in Europe or Asia. Seems strange ... or maybe not ... that there is so much outright lieing going on.

Phoenix

Added later: Bedinabox make it clear on their website that their foam certified by Certipur and this is confirmed on the Certipur website.

Phoenix

Apologies for reviving an old thread, but we have been trying to de-stink a Carpenter memfoam topper, and I recalled this post. Following the link to the Certipur site I was interested to note that the Certipur certification for Carpenter DOESN'T include their mem foams! So it is safe to assume that, certification aside, Carpenter memfoams still have the bad old stuff in them (otherwise why wouldn't they have certified them too?). 

Ours certainly has something nasty in it - after 4 days of airing with a fan on it, it still has a "burnt coffee" sort of smell, which fills the entire room.  We wouldn't dare sleep on it like that, so if it doesn't clean up its act in a couple more days it is back to the store.

Phoenix wrote:

It's impossible to know for sure but in the case of memory foam especially, I think it's safer to make that a working assumption. There are other certifications besides CertiPur and there may be some memory foams that have other certifications but given that there is so much choice, I personally would make sure it was certified by some organization that somewhat satisfied me. I couldn't find any certifications for Carpenter's Isotonic memory foam on their site or anywhere else. Even though the CertiPur certification isn't as stringent in it's testing chemical wise ... I do like that it includes quality testing and that they re-test every 6 or 12 months.

Phoenix

They too though seem to be "riding on" the popularity of Dr Breus which I find questionable since it seems pretty clear to me that he has "sold out" to the commercial value of his name.

Phoenix

A surprising number of individuals and companies fail to understand how much info is in domain's WHOIS listing... I once called a gentleman up at home and suggested that it was REALLY time for him to quit badmouthing me on his anonymously-run "review" site... since the next step was for officials to visit him at (read off his home address to him). :D

Sometimes when there are several "linked" websites that you might want to know about, they will be on the same server for example.

Another great source of information for finding sources you don't know about (as opposed to rating the ones you do) is a BBB search for a certain category in a certain city. I was amazed at what showed up sometimes that didn't show up in a google search.

Sites like Thomasnet and Manta can also be very helpful.

Love your story (laughing)

Phoenix