Hi Phoenix,
I read some of your posts about Essentia, which made me read about the whole FTC debacle they were tangled in not too long ago, related to them claiming âzeroâ this or â100% freeâ of whatever, which is technically and physically impossible I now realize, since they do use some binders in their foam core of the mattress, however small they claim them to be. I donât think people would be so alarmed at this had they not chosen to write their advertising copy with those absolute words/numbers. I mean, it could be a great product, who knows. Just someone in the marketing department made a bad decision to choose absolutist and generalized language that doesnât tell the whole truth about the product as a whole, and gives people a slightly different impression. It certainly erodes some level of trust in what they choose to tell the public about their product, regardless of how amazing or fabulous it really is. And trust for mattress companies is in very short supply here, I can tell you. They had some part of the mattress tested on their site and it shows that it only has âambientâ amounts of VOCs. The report is here: Organic Mattresses: Sleep Deeper on a Natural Latex Mattress It says the VOCs and formaldehyde levels are âbackgroundâ and ânegligibleâ and no health risk or discomfort would be caused by them.
I was finally able to catch an Essentia sales rep on the phone in their Toronto Beaches store, and she answered all my questions, and I grilled her about the VOC content and the latex setting process - basically she said they use the talalay or âToulayâ latex setting process as she described it for setting the internal foam part, and then they layer the ânatural memory foamâ part or the slow response latex which was engineered by the founder (his family has been in latex forever apparently) is then laid on top, and itâs all fused together in one piece. So I can see that Essentiaâs goal is to create a mattress that is on the natural side, and made to be super comfortable/supportive by using a slow response latex foam. They say they cater a lot to athletes, and you can tell by the marketing on their website.
I also asked her why Essentia doesnât have the typical wool/cotton encasement, and just has the organic cotton cover. She said this is because Essentia paid to get one of their mattresses tested by a third party to see if they were naturally flame retardant without any wool encasement/covers. The mattress passed the flame test, and therefore, they donât need to make them with any wool covers, just the cotton covers, and therefore, they can claim the mattress is hypoallergenic.
When I asked at SOMA organic beds why the Obasan has the wool covers, the manager there named Tony said that this is because the wool acts as a natural fire retardant. He also said that the wool prevents any flaked off or dried latex foam (that might come from age?) from dispersing into the air or being breathed in by the sleeper. The wool in the Obasan surrounds each of the 4 or more layers of foam that make up the mattress, kind of like a foam/wool/cotton sandwich, and it basically ensures the containment of the foam, and acts as a flame retardant.
When I mentioned the idea of the latex flaking or crumbling due to use or age, the Essentia rep said that she has never had this as a concern, and she said if this did happen to a bed they sold, and it was within warranty, they would replace it. I then concluded that possibly the Obasan and similar natural mattresses include the wool as a natural fire retardant because they have never paid to have the mattress tested as being naturally flame retardant itself. Other than that, I cannot say what practical use it has.
The Essentia rep also countered with saying since the Essentia doesnât have the wool, it has less chance of getting any dust mites, since dust mites would be able to live in the wool material, and it therefore reinforces the hypoallergenic claim. Of course, I personally think risk of dust mites in a tightly sandwiched foam mattress is quite slim, if you have a clean room to begin with. The SOMA store rep Tony said that the wool in the Obasan is located beneath the cotton so it is not in direct contact with the skin, and therefore poses a reduced allergen threat to those with sensitivities.
Personally, I canât recall how badly I react to wool these days, but from my youth, I do remember I would get sneezy and itchy if I threw on a wool sweater and wore it the whole day. I do however have a wool/cashmere cardigan that I wear very often, and I donât react to that. So I really canât say at this point. I might not have a problem with it at all today. Tony from SOMA said that for people with allergies and chemical sensitivies, he always recommends the Obasan or the Green Sleep brands. He even offered to sell me a shredded latex pillow with wool inner lining at a reduced price to see how I react when sleeping on it, and if I chose to buy the Obasan/Green Sleep, he would deduct the pillow from the final price.
I looked up a site that reviewed organic/natural beds, and the author said that she got herself an Obasan bed made without wool, and when I asked Tony at SOMA, he said no, Obasan beds cannot be made without wool, because it must be included as the fire retardant material.
Also, I should point out that the reason that Obasan/Green Sleep have layers in their mattresses that are surrounded by wool/cotton encasements is because they probably donât bind or fuse their foams together with any adhesives. Itâs just raw, formed latex foam, from what I can understand, using the Dunlop process, which is apparently the âbetterâ process for VOCs. Essentia said they use the Toulay or Talalay process (spelling?) which includes some kind of binding processâŚ?
And yet the Essentia rep said they use natural plant resins to achieve the bind, however, there must be some formaldehyde involved if it shows up on the test they posted to their site stating low VOCs. I asked her if they use ammonia to set the foam, and she claimed she didnât know. She only knew about the natural plant resins. So, maybe she doesnât have full knowledge about how the product is manufactured. And to say that the process ONLY involves plant resin goes against the ambient VOC report posted on the site. She even tried to say that well, the ambient VOCs could be from the plastic wrap the mattress comes in, or from the shipping/driving process from warehouse to truck, etc. But I mean, how does formaldehyde get in there unless itâs from the manufacturing process, lol. (Iâm not stupid, I just want to hear the transparent truth). Even if the amounts are extremely low, I would still like to know if yes or no.
So right now, Iâm kind of torn between Essentia and Obasan/Green Sleep at Soma, before having tried them out. I will be going to try them out hopefully this week or the next.
And thank you for the links Phoenix, I will be looking through all of them to help me decide. Iâm interested to see how they compare to my current knowledge on the subject.
Both SOMA with Green Sleep/Obasan and Essentia really stand behind their products and were willing to answer my barrage of detailed questions, and I got some useful information from that, so Iâm going to say that at least they are more transparent and accessible than Sealy/Simmons/Serta, and certainly better made than those overall.