IanS wrote:
I'm sorry,
They got you with one of the oldest tricks in the book. 100% latex "core" means that somewhere in the middle of a bunch of PU or other cheap foams is a layer of latex. You could be sleeping on anything.
There are certain latex terms that are pure marketing. Anyone who tells you their mattress is 100% Natural, 100% Organic, 100% latex "core" only mean there is some kind of latex in your mattress, nothing more.
There are three things I try to remind everyone about latex hype.
1) There is nothing in nature or science that is 100% pure. Even refined gold is only 99.999 pure and latex is NOT an element nor 100% pure, EVER!
2) Latex is ALWAYS a man-made, processed, substance. It is about as natural as plastic. While it is true that latex can be made from natural ingredients like zinc and rubber tree sap (and plastic is made from decayed dino juice!), it also contains vulcanizing chemicals, fire retardant chemicals, cleansers, and a host of impurities. You are at the mercy of the manufacturer as to how much of these things are in your mattress because.........
3) The manufacturing companies don't have to prove it. Mattresses are NOT food or drugs and are NOT subject to the same standards. A very big mistake is to assume "natural" and "organic" mean the same thing to a mattress as they do for food. The government set the standard for "natural" latex years ago, 71% sap and zinc, 29% other stuff. If companies can prove that their latex is 71% natural, they can call it anything they want. Some folks believe Latex International makes a higher quality latex and I have no proof against that, but I have asked many times to see independent third party testing of latex claims (particularly the 100% stuff) and have not seen that ether.
I am not saying that Latex International or the folks who manufacture with their products are scammers, I am just reminding folks to use common sense when dealing with latex products.
I agree with your assessment of what this company means by "100% latex core". It's pretty obvious that's what's going on here.
As for the rest of your rant - I think people distinguish latex manufactured from stuff that comes from trees as opposed to stuff made from petroleum. Sure, nothing is 100% anything but 97% is a lot different than 20% or 40% from the plant source. Anyone who can read can figure that out. And, of course all latex is man made in the sense that you can't go into a forest and chop down raw slabs of latex to sleep on. People with chemical senitivities might want to go as far from something like memory foam as possible. "100% Natural Latex" might be a marketing term and not absolutely, literally accurate but the term does distinguish it from latex that is blended with petroleum products in a specific ratio and products that have a lot of cheap fillers that affect the quality and texture of the latex. Some sources say that good quality latex has to have a least a little natural latex. Sealy created a latex that contains no natural latex and claims it is superior. It is up to consumer to decide what they want to buy. Different things are important to different people.
Lots of things like maple syrup are certainly more "natural" and taste better than varieties of syrup that have a lot more additives, etc. Of course, all syrup has been processed, bottled, distributed, etc. You can't go in your backyard and tap a maple tree and pour it over your pancakes. But the "natural 100% maple syrup" could be considered more natural relative to other syrup type products that only have a little actual maple syrup or synthetic flavoring. You just have to decide whether or not you care about something being natural. It might be more important to some people and not to others.
Of course, there is no such thing as organic latex. That is a technical and legal definition for some products. Some companies do play fast and loose with the terminology but it isn't rocket science to read between the lines and decide what is important to you.
So latex may not be a "natural" end product, very narrowly and literally speaking but some latex comes from a more natural source. There are lots and lots of reasons to prefer a product with a higher percentage from a plant source over a mostly petroleum product.