Latex smell - does it ever go away?

[phoenix]

Hi John Smith,

I tried a latex mattress that was really comfortable and that I frankly loved. However, after testing it out in the showroom I had a burning sensation in my throat that was irritating. If I knew for a fact that the smell would go away I would buy that mattress. But I don’t know so dropping 3 grand on a mattress that might smell permanently could be a massive blunder.

There is more about the smell of latex in post #2 here but in most cases it is reduced to levels below what people will notice in a few days to a few weeks but this can also depend on how acute your sense of smell is and on how sensitive you are to a particular smell. There can also be some differences between different batches of Talalay. There is also more about the odor of new materials in post #3 here that may be helpful.

It’s very unusual though that someone would experience a burning sensation in their throat with any kind of latex (this is a more common symptom with memory foam) so this may be an indication of an unusual sensitivity or even a possible latex allergy (which would be rare but is the case for a very few people). There is more about latex allergies in post #2 here.

It may be worth asking for a sample and carrying it around with you for a day or two to see how it affects you. Of course it’s also possible that you were reacting to something else or a different material in the showroom so it may involve some detective work to identify whether it was the latex and it may also be worthwhile testing a latex mattress elsewhere to see if the same thing happens.

As you know I think highly of David and Sara and Custom Sleep Systems and you are looking at a great quality mattress but if I was in your shoes I would want to be comfortable that I wasn’t sensitive to latex as rare as that may be.

Phoenix