Mattress Stores/Factories in the San Luis Obispo, Ca Area

[phoenix]

Hi joy.cheri,

I called a mattress store and asked them if they had any innerspring/latex mattresses and she told me that mattresses need to have some (non-latex) foam so they can be glue together? Doesn’t sound true, but she was really nice and knowledgeable.

Your right that this isn’t accurate and there are many latex/innerspring hybrids in the industry that don’t contain any polyfoam (including many in the list I linked previously).

Also, she said that soy-based foams offgas less VOCs than oil-based foams. Do you know anything about this?

So called “soy based foam” is just polyurethane foam (polyfoam) that has replaced a small percentage of one of the two main chemicals used to make the polyfoam (the polyol) with a polyol that is derived from soy oil (see post #2 here). It is still polyfoam and would be closely comparable in terms of durability to other types of polyfoam that are the same density range.

The only reliable way to 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 so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification (see post #2 here for more information about some of the more reliable “safety” certifications).

Most of the polyfoam that is made in North America (regardless of whether there are any soy based polyols in the formulation or not) are CertiPUR certified and 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.

Thank you so much for your time and your help. You have been a lifesaver. I’m donating to your website with great thanks!

Thanks for the kind comments and for the donation as well … I appreciate both of them

Phoenix