How to look for and find the best mattress ... for YOU! ***READ FIRST***

[phoenix]

Hi Just Right,

To me, latex does have an odor, but it is not immediately offensive. However, as my body starts to react to it, I want the smell off me, just like I want the memory foam smell off of me.

Most latex has either a sweetish smell (talalay) or a rubbery smell (Dunlop). Neither is offensive to most people (and some people like the smell of Talalay) but the Dunlop is a little stronger and takes a little longer to dissipate in most cases.

For polyurethane, would it be correct to say that a membrane type mattress encasement would not help with out-gassing?

It may reduce it to some degree but it wouldn’t stop the VOC’s no. To stop them completely you would need to encase the mattress in clear non toxic polyethelyne plastic that was about 5 mils thick which would be both noisy and stop ventilation of the mattress completely.

Are there specific brands, product names, chemical compositions, processing steps or other ways of specifying polyfoam so that I get a mattress with a short out-gassing period?

Unfortunately no … and as you are also discovering there will also be a range of experience with exactly the same type of foam depending on how well it was cured, how long it was left to air out after manufacturing, how quickly it is wrapped, and differences in manufacturing conditions as well. About the best you can do is go by CertiPur certification either at the foam manufacturing level* or at the mattress manufacturing level* along with any feedback or personal experience from the retailer or manufacturer you are purchasing from. All the major North American foam manufacturers are CertiPur certified.

ADMIN NOTE: *Removed 404 link|Archived Footprint 1: certipur.us/pages/for-industry/find-a-foam-supplier/|Archived Footprint 2: certipur.us/pages/for-consumers/find-products/

Does just specifying greater than, or equal to, 1.8 lbs (per ?) assure high quality/durability - without regard to manufacturer, etc?

Yes to a degree. Polyfoam density is the single biggest factor in the durability of a foam and 1.8 lbs is at the bottom end of higher quality polyfoam. There are also other definitions of quality though besides durability which have to do with the specific properties of the foam (such as resilience, compression modulus, ventilation etc) which have more to do with performance than with durability. There are also other more relative factors involved in durability as well (see post #4 here) so the design of the mattress, the position of the foam in the mattress, the thickness of the polyfoam layers, the softness of the foam, and it’s suitability for a specific person will also play a role in how long a mattress will last for each person.

Phoenix