Natural materials create a comfortable, safe and eco-friendly mattress
Buying a mattress for your bed is one of the biggest purchasing decisions you can make for your home. Unfortunately, manufacturers don’t always make it an easy process either, creating products that look very similar to one another, but are constructed differently and have a variety of price points.
While comfort is a matter of personal choice, there are some basics you can look for that are not only environmentally sound, but safe as well.
Safe, you say? That’s right! Over the years new fire codes have caused manufacturers to increase their reliance on fire retardants, including boric acid, formaldehyde and melamine. Not exactly something you want to sleep on every night.
However, there are natural options that are not only fire retardant, but eco-friendly as well.
Wool mattresses
One of the most environmentally sound alternatives is organic wool. The wool is sheared from sheep that are raised in organic pastures. The entire wool cleaning process is done without additives, bleaches or solvents.
Wool is hypoallergenic and naturally fire retardant. It is also very resilient, so a wool mattress will form fit to you while allowing air to circulate freely around you.
Unfortunately, organic wool mattresses are pretty expensive. If you want to get something a little less costly, opt for “pure wool” or “all natural” instead of organic.
Organic cotton
Available only with a doctor’s prescription, organic cotton mattresses aren’t 100% cotton. Instead, they have to have to incorporate a fire retardant material such as wool to meet federal safety standards.
One of the great things about organic cotton is that it breathes. The material allows air to circulate through the entire mattress, which promotes a healthier rest. You also don’t have to worry about inhaling any toxic chemicals while you sleep.
Rubber
Made from the milk of the rubber tree, rubber contains a natural substance that repels dust mites. It is extremely stable and flexible and offers great air circulation. Rubber is a terrific natural material that is mold and mildew resistant, has excellent heat and moisture control properties and is completely biodegradable. So when the day finally arrives where your mattress heads for the landfill, it will won’t add to our pollution problem.
Hemp
Hemp has been used as a bedding material for centuries. It’s mold and mildew resistant and is extremely strong. In fact, it is three times stronger than cotton, creating a mattress that is very firm. To meet modern safety standards, the cover of a hemp mattress is often made of wool to make it fire resistant.
As you can see, there are plenty of mattress options out there today that are eco-friendly yet will still offer you the comfort and durability even the most modern mattress designs can’t top. Clearly, when it comes to environmentally friendly materials, it’s hard to match what nature already has provided us with ¬– natural wool, cotton, rubber and hemp.
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