Foam Replacement for Tri-mat / Futon

[Basilio]

Hi voyager39,

Update: Plank indicated that they got their foam from Elite Foams. I wrote to Elite but have not heard back. It appears to me from their web site that they deal with corporate buyers, not individuals, so it doesn’t appear that that approach will work.

I received foam samples from a latex manufacturer, and I developed allergic reactions to the samples in the order of minutes.

Sorry to hear you have not resolved your search for non-allergenic foam so far. Even though Elite Foams producers don’t have a direct to consumers (D2C) program, it never hurts to ask. Great idea to request samples when possible – I am glad the reaction occurred very quickly, as you can then discount that brand from the get go. It is not clear to me if you actually developed this quick reaction to latex samples or to another type of material “foam samples” you received? Either way there are extensive discussions about different type of allergic reactions and you’re certainly reacting to something. While it is a complex subject, if “latex” is the culprit, the essence of it is that there are basically 3 types of latex allergy or sensitivity (although two of them aren’t really an allergy to latex).There is more detailed information about latex allergies and links in this thread that you may want to read.

So if you have any suggestions at this point, please let me know.

You may want to try the suggestion in this post, one of the TMU trusted members, Jeff at Mattress To Go suggested to another consumer they check out ISPA Bed Times Supplies for a custom memory foam pillow the consumer wanted – you may find sources for samples from them for your own search. This post has a consumer recommendation for [url=https://www.foambymail.com/] Foam Factory (AKA Foam by mail) Though in the past others have had uneven experiences with the company.

Some good news, and perhaps a clue: I had an “eggshell crate” foam layer that places like Kmart used to sell that I used to create my own comfort layer some time back. I pulled one out of storage and I’ve not had a any allergic reactions to it. I don’t know whether that will help locate material for the cushions I need or not, but I thought I’d mention it here.

Great that the old ‘egg crate’ K-Mart type foam you had did not trigger your allergies – that foam is extremely inexpensive and mass produced, so all is not lost! You’d still want to check on the density to know how long before the foam starts breaking down. You are on the right course, trying and crossing off foams you have a reaction to, but as I mentioned before this may be hit and miss and you’d still want to get to the root of the issue and I’d recommend you have the allergy confirmed and evaluated by a healthcare professional to ascertain completely what you may be reacting to, as unless you’ve had a previous positive latex diagnosis it could be something other than latex, including some of the chemicals used to make latex.

Hopefully some of the extra info and links above help with your search

Basilio