Essentia bionda mattress odor

Hello,
I recently purchased and received a bionda Essentia mattress. It’s the cheaper version of their mattresses and doesn’t have the “natural memory foam” like the others claim to have. Instead they claim it is made with organic latex. I specifically bought this mattress because it’s “organic” and had no metal coils. It’s also super comfortable. Well my question is, is it normal for a 100% natural latex mattresses to have a strong odor right out of the box? I slept on it for the first time last night, and the smell was almost too much for me to handle. It smells like rubber/ chemicals, even though it’s supposed to be free of any and all chemicals (as I was told). I just read on another website that Essentia mattresses have formaldehyde in them, which is shocking considering they are advertised as organic and are supposed to have no off gassing. Does anyone know if Essentia mattresses do indeed have formaldehyde or any other chemicals for that matter? I’m specifically asking about the bionda, since it’s a bit different than their other ones. Also, is it really 100% natural organic latex? If it does have chemicals and this odor continues, I may have to return it.

Thank you!

Hi Am01231,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

I’m sorry you’re having issues with your Essentia mattress.

In case you haven’t read it, and for the sake of others that may be reading this there are some comments about Essentia and some of the misleading claims they make and some forum discussions with them (as well as some of the FTC issues they have had about their claims) in this thread and this thread and posts #3 and #4 here). Some of the discussion in this topic may be helpful as well. I certainly wouldn’t treat the information on their website (or on some of the other websites I’ve seen that write about them either) as a reliable source of “fact based” information and I would also make some very careful “value” comparisons before considering any Essentia mattress because they do tend to be in a higher budget range than other mattresses that use similar materials.

The Bionda is listed as having multiple layers of GOLS certified Dunlop latex on the essential web site, so there would be no formaldehyde in that foam. As far as odor, latex, like all foams, will have an initial odor, but this tends to dissipate within a few weeks. There could also be an odor from the cover that the mattress is using. You certainly could remove the cover from the mattress, open the windows in your bedroom, and allow the product to air out.

My best advice would be to contact Essentia directly with your concerns and see if they have any specific suggestions about odor dissipation in their products. If you bought from them online, they do list a 60-day money back guarantee in case you end of being too sensitive to the odors of tis mattress.

Phoenix

Thank you so much Phoenix. My main concern was that it might have any chemicals that the company isn’t revealing but it looks like that isn’t possible with that certification. I suppose the smell is just the latex itself. Ill try to wash the cover (which is certified organic cotton so I wouldn’t think it would have an odor). If the smell continues past a few weeks I’ll think about returning it but I’ll give it some time. I did email Essentia and haven’t heard back yet. I did read the posts about Essentia having claims they can’t back up, but my main concern was about the possibility the bionda having chemicals that could be causing the odor. Thank you for your help! I feel a little better about the mattress now!

I forgot to ask, do you know if essentia’s zero/extremely low VOC’s is truthful?

Hi Am01231,

While I can’t speak to what you may be smelling in your new mattress (different people have different sensitivities to different odors), all new latex certainly will have a certain odor. It is important to note that the presence of an odor isn’t the same as the presence of VOCs, and vice versa. This comment isn’t meant to cause you more concern, but simply a reference statement for others who may read this post in the future.

As a reference, most people that are looking for an “organic” mattress or materials are usually concerned more with “safety” than whether the materials have an actual organic certification and they usually aren’t aware that an organic certification isn’t the same thing as a safety certification. There is more information about the three different levels of organic certifications in post #2 here and some of the benefits of an organic certification in post #3 here and there is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications such as Oeko-tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, C2C, and CertiPUR-US in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and there are also some comments in post #42 here that can help you decide whether an organic certification is important to you for environmental, social, or personal reasons or whether a “safety” certification is enough.

The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs (regardless of whether they are organic or natural or synthetic) so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification. If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough” … regardless of the type of material or the name of the manufacturer on the label.

All the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will also have a reliable certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold or C2C and based on actual testing I would consider any type or blend of latex (regardless of whether it is synthetic, natural, or blended) to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s (offgassing).

You can read my comments above for a further explanation about VOCs and latex. You can also read my comments in my previous reply cautioning about using information presented on the Essentia web site as your sole reliable source of “fact based” information.

I’ll be interested in learning how your odor dissipates over the next few weeks.

Phoenix

How are you liking the mattress? Thinking of buying one of these.

HI Phoenix and am01231,

 Looking on Essentia's website since I am in the process of purchasing an Essentia Bionda, Looking on their "Tests and Certificatioins" page, it lists the company SIMALFA as the provider of their layer adhesives.  

Looking at the 2 sided adhesive, it appears that the adhesive has the following properties during the application of the adhesive:

Limitations

Higher cost per gallon than natural latex product (actually less costly in terms of use)
Requires water based activator
Activator can irritate operator’s skin
Activator is acidic and can cause corrosion of nearby equipment.
Additional water (activator) being added to bonded part
(this can cause mold and / or mildew issues)
Additional water is prone to bleed through on fabric / ticking
Requires additional investment in equipment
Requires extensive maintenance
Requires constant adjustment to work properly
System prone to high levels of over spray
Spray gun can only be operated “All ON” or “All OFF” (this results in poor yield - high costs)
2 sided application (requires adhesive to be applied to both surfaces)
Bond line remains tacky after cured (bond line will dimple after cured)
Strong ammonia odor
Allergic reactions are possible (many people are allergic to natural latex)

Not sure if they are talking about the adhesive or the natural latex, but if it is a newer mattress, then it’s possible the ammonia smell might take a while to dissipate. I am buying a full size Bionda, so it appears that it will be freshly manufactured. I’ll report back when we receive it. With any adhesive, water based or not, there will be a smell. If I smell it and it doesn’t go away after two weeks, i’ll be returning it, and probably trying out the Spindle that is my second choice.

Also on the Simalfa page it lists the one part adhesive which doesn’t work as well, but either way an Ammonia smell is present with whichever of the adhesives they use to bond the natural latex layers.

am01231, Was the smell that you experienced like Ammonia?

Looking at the 2 component latex for Synthetic Latex

This one would be preferable since there is no smell and no allergies, but would require some level of Synthetic material in the latex (not sure what the min synthetic latex % that would be required to use this):

Two-Component | Synthetic Latex
Benefits
Excellent performance characteristics (bonds instantly)
Bond line does not remain tacky (bond line will NOT dimple after cured)
No ammonia odor
Does not cause allergic reactions
Limitations

Requires water based activator
Activator can irritate operator’s skin
Activator is acidic and can cause corrosion of nearby equipment.
Additional water (activator) being added to bonded part (this can cause mold and / or mildew issues)
Additional water is prone to bleed through on fabric / ticking
Requires additional investment in equipment
Requires extensive maintenance
Requires constant adjustment to work properly
System prone to high levels of over spray
Spray gun can only be operated “All ON” or “All OFF” (this results in poor yield - high costs)
2 sided application (requires adhesive to be applied to both surfaces)

Just got off the phone with SIMALFA technical person, who actually at first misheard me and thought that I was an Essentia employee, and told me that the product that Essentia uses is Simalfa 309:

https://www.simalfa.com/Documents/Simalfa_SDS_309.pdf

which is the one part adhesive which shouldn’t have an ammonia smell, but is described in the SDS as a slight smell. The adhesive actually is an acrylic resin mixed with a synthetic latex to bond layers. He said that it can be used to bond all kinds of foam.

Also, wanted to clarify my previous post regarding the synthetic latex or natural latex bonding statement, The descriptions for the one and two parts on the Simalfa page weren’t stating what the adhesive is used with, but is describing the type of adhesive and their limitations, since Simalfa’s adhesives actually are made from latex.

So, although Essentia is stating their latex’s are GOLS certified, their adhesives are not, but are supposed to be less harmful or smelly than other adhesives, and less of an affect on the actually bonding surfaces after the curing process is complete (See below: Bond line does not remain tacky (bond line will NOT dimple after cured); this dimpling occurs on the 2 part adhesive on the bond line.

SIMALFA 309:
One-Component | Synthetic Latex
Benefits
Excellent performance characteristics (bonds instantly)
Excellent yield
Allows for 1 or 2 sided application (case by case, process)
Bond line does not remain tacky (bond line will NOT dimple after cured)
No need for activators
No ammonia odor
Does not cause allergic reactions

Hi DanInNJ,

Thanks for the information about the adhesives you were investigating. “Latex based” adhesives are basically water based adhesives (like latex paints) that incorporate various types of elastomers (including but not limited to natural or synthetic latex) in different quantities as opposed to adhesives that use solvents (rather than water) and which often have higher levels of VOC’s. There is some good information about different types of adhesives here and some information about some different types of latex adhesives here (which you already linked to in one of your posts). If a latex adhesive is water based, then it wouldn’t be something personally that would concern me.

Those are general instructions for the purchasers, production managers and people applying the product to consider.

The synthetic latex is referring to the latex used in the bonding material, not what it actually bonds to. The SIMALFA 309 can bond to a wide variety of foams, and even wood and plastic. (I see you clarified this one of your subsequent posts – thanks!).

GOLS would be a certification only for the latex foam, not for the adhesive. The SIMALFA 309 you mentioned is Greenguard Gold+ certified.

Phoenix

I just received my Bionda mattress from Essentia a few days ago, and I must report that there was zero chemical smell to the mattress when opening. It doesn’t even have a strong latex smell. If you get up close to it, it does smell like latex, but nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing unbearable. The only thing is that despite my testing it out at the store in Paramus NJ and liking it in the store for a few minutes, I feel that it’s too stiff for me. It’s interesting that when you sit on it or press your hand down, it does feel like it’s soft and the Essentia site states that it’s on the slightly below middle range stiffness on the hardness to softness scale, but when laying down, I feel the pressure is too much on my lower back right below my waist, and a bit tough when on my side. It does have a nice bouyant feel, but feel like I may return it, but that’s just my preference. Has anybody sat on the Spindle mattress that have tried the Bionda in comparison since they both are Dunlop latex mattresses?

Hi DaninNJ,

I’m happy that there were no “offending” odors with your new mattress.

The domed convolute will result in a bit of a softer hand-feel, as will the unique compression modulus of Dunlop latex, where it is softer initially and then firms up faster when moving past about 25% or so of compression, especially when taking the domed convolute into account.

Regarding “stiffness”, there will be a break in and adjustment period for any new mattress or sleeping system as the mattress loses any of it’s “false firmness” and the cover stretches and loosens a little and your body gets used to a sleeping surface that is different from what it is used to (see post #3 here). This would typically be a few weeks but it can be shorter or longer depending on the specifics of the person and the mattress. I’d give the mattress some time and see how it adjusts to you and how you adjust to it.

While both mattresses use Dunlop latex, they are different types of Dunlop (Spindle uses continuous pour) and different production processes (the Bionda uses a domed convolute on the top and bottom) and different mixes of thicknesses of layers, so “comparisons” (which would be subjective) would unfortunately only hold value if you personally were trying out each model next to the other.

Phoenix

I got a response from Essentia on the density of the two foams used on the Bionda mattress after quite a few back and forths and claims that a domed foam couldn’t be measured, but here are the layers they’re claiming:

(2) 3" Domed convoluted Dunlop foam 15-19 ILD with Density of 4.36 lb/ft3

sandwiching the denser Center 2" Dunlop Foam 25-35 ILD with Density of 5.3 lb/ft3

Hi DanInNJ,

Thanks for that information. They’re stating the domed Dunlop is about a 70 g/M3, and the core is 85 kg/M3. And they are correct that with the domed piece you can’t really compare the density/ILD to a solid piece of foam, as the contoured top surface will give at a “softer” rate initially than a piece without the domed contour.

Phoenix