I have a confession to make…my mattress was old, really old, over 15 years old in fact. I definitely needed a new one, but because I am trying to live at least 90% cleaner, I wanted to make sure that what I did buy was non-toxic. What I didn’t want was to spend and arm and a leg to get one. I knew that buying an affordable nontoxic mattress would take a little bit of research, especially since I wasn’t quite sure where to start.
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Dangers of Conventional Mattresses
What many people don’t even think about when shopping around for a mattress is that there are a lot of hidden chemicals that are lurking in there. Most conventional mattresses are made with a synthetic foam that is treated with dangerous flame retardants and then covered with PVC vinyl (read my post 5 Affordable Couches Without Flame Retardants to learn more about flame retardants in your furniture). What is not well known is that these chemicals can leach, or off-gas, out of your mattress for a long time, essentially giving you a dose of toxic chemical vapor, or VOCs, every time you go to bed. You may have heard of VOCs when people talk about low VOC paint. Same concept applies here. VOCs are associated with everything from allergies and asthma to reproductive problems and cancer. Not good all the way around.
What to Look for in a Nontoxic Mattress
Since we spend a large amount of time sleeping and in our bedrooms in general, 1/3 of our life in fact, I knew that I was going to have to spend a decent amount, but I really didn’t want to have to break the bank. I also wanted a king size mattress, which was going to up the cost. I had my budget set at between $1,000 – 2,000. Other than cost, you will also want to make sure that you look for a few other key things:
- Made with organic and/or natural materials. There are a lot of materials certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) or CertiPUR-US (for foam mattresses). The best, or quite literally the gold standard, is Greenguard Gold Certified. If you can’t find that, opt for natural/organic cotton, wool, eco foam, and/or latex, nothing synthetic.
- Made without flame retardants
- No polyurethane foam or PVC vinyl. Try eco foam or polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate instead.
- If these things are not available to you because of cost or location, let your new mattress off-gas in a well ventilated area as long as possible before you sleep on it. You can also consider a natural wool, cotton or latex topper to contain some of the VOC fumes.
Nontoxic Mattress Brands
There are not a ton, but a good amount of nontoxic mattress brands are popping up that I considered. Of them, I liked:
My Green Mattress – This is a great company that makes a very high-quality nontoxic mattress. Everything is made in the US as well.
Avocado – Avocado has been around for a long time and they have some great options. They tend to be a bit on the pricier side, however.
Naturepedic – Naturepedic has also been in the nontoxic mattress business for a long time. They also make great crib mattresses. (Check out my post How to Create a Nontoxic Nursery to learn more about a nontoxic crib mattress).
Happsy Organic Mattresses – Another quality option with a lot of choices to pick from.
Pure Green Organic Latex – For the people that like a memory foam type of mattress, this is a great option.
So, which one did I finally end up going with? Mainly because of the price point, the good reviews and the ease of ordering, I ended up going with the Happsy Organic King Mattress. I bought it right from Amazon and I am happy with my purchase. If I hadn’t gone with Happsy, I would have gone with Pure Green, again, mainly because of price. If you have the budget, I think My Green Mattress, Avocado, and Naturepedic are wonderful options.
So, there we have it, a (hopefully) clear and easy run-down of choosing an affordable nontoxic mattress. It really can be confusing, but once you sift through all the jargon and find something at a price point you can stand, it all feels worthwhile in the long run. Let me know if you’ve done any nontoxic mattress shopping and what you ended up with in the comments below!
