Does anyone have good advice fr an organic mattress?

[oxband]

So, I was all set to buy foam and thne i started reading stuff online about the carcenogenic element of these mattresses. im now thinking of getting an organic mattress. They all seem so expensive though! Anyone have a good suggestion?

 

[IanS]

Hello and Welcome,

First, please do not let yourself be caught up in the ridiculous marketing schemes of mattress companies. Every mattress is man (or robot) made and all foam products, including latex, are man made and contain artificial substances in some form. Calling any mattress "organic" is a joke. Mattresses are not food and what kind of fertilizer used on the rubber tree plants or the cotton or what is fed to the horses has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the mattress or if it is healthy for you or not. Frankly I would stay away from almost any company advertising "organic" mattresses.

That being said, there are mattresses that are more natural then others. At the top of the chain are companies like Hastens of Sweden and VI-Spring of the UK that use primarily horsehair and cotton for their comfort layers. They are hard to find and very expensive ($5000 to $55,000), but are the best combination of luxury and natural you will find. Very popular and much less expensive are the New York State made C.H. Beckley mattresses. The Beckley Bristol is made out of horse/pig hair and cotton. It is nowhere near as comfortable as a Hastens (you will need a topper), but about a third of the price. Another mattresses to consider would be the wonderful McRoskey mattresses of California. These are not all natural, but only contain some polyester fluff mixed in with the cotton and a small fire barrier made out of a fire proof material, so it can pass CA's fire codes. No cheap PU foams in any of these mattresses.

There is no doubt that the custom made latex mattresses are what's popular on this forum, and there is something called natural latex, but please be aware that by law a latex mattress only has to be 71% natural to be called natural. It is debatable if it is possible to make 100% natural latex (though several companies make this claim), but it is absolutely impossible to make 100% pure natural latex. If you decide to go the latex rout, I would stick with a proven company like Flobeds (who still claim to be natural) and buy whatever is comfortable to you, and not worry about if it's 20%, 70% or 90% pure.

Best Wishes

www.hastens.com
www.vi-spring.com
www.chbeckley.com
www.mcroskey.com
www.flobeds.com

 

[IanS]

The sites above do work if you type them in. This forum just hates Macintosh computers when you try to edit anything.

Sorry if they are broken.

 

[oxband]

Thanks for the tips. I will say one issue i heard is that the fire protective coating on many mattresses is a big problem, and that many organic mattresses don't have that. any opinions on that?

thanks!,
noam

 

[IanS]

Hi,

I PM' ed you. All mattresses must meet the strict fire codes in some way and most use chemicals. Hastens claims to use sea water, Mcroskey has their barrier and there are several mattresses that can only be purchased at medical supply with a doctors prescription. Several latex mattress companies make the claim that latex is "naturally" fire retardant, but these are also the companies that claim latex is "natural". Latex is about as natural as a Tang and Twinkie breakfast.

 

[terminator]

Natura claims that their organic mattress line meets the fire code without the use of any chemical additives.

 

[chihiro]

Natura uses boron, and wool in their eco/organic line. Natura tends to "cut corners" and be dishonest about certain things in my experience. Not to say all their products are bad, just be careful. Boron is "natural" harmful in great quantities, most likely safe in small quantities. I belive its boric acid that is used in rat poison...

 

[cloud9]

Boric acid makes a great eye wash, but all of the sudden it became a "controlled substance." You used to be able to pick it up over the counter. Who knew you could kill rats with it. I thought rat poison was actually blood thinner.
But speaking of fire retardants-- I emailed Spring Air to inquire about the flame retardant used in my mattress and never got a reply back. Apparently Spring Air is only eager to provide customer service before you buy their products. Afterwards they couldn't care less.

 

[beaner]

Don't forget to add Relyon to that list