Hi eeks,
[quote]I ordered a Spindle mattress that just arrived. When taking the cover out I noticed a strong smell - sort of a mildew/animal smell. Def could tell it was the wool. I called Neal (wonderful help, great customer service) and asked him if this would dissipate. He said it was indeed the wool I was smelling and some people are sensitive to the smell, most are not and notice nothing. He said that wool smells like that in general as a natural fiber and that it would most likely get worse in humid temps. He asked me to air it out a few days and see if it changes but he said his gut is telling me I am one of the few people that really can’t tolerate the smell and he would work with me on doing a special return on the mattress since I haven’t opened anything else up. He said he is also concerned that I may find the latex to smell and maybe their mattress just wouldn’t be the right fit for me.
So now I feel like if this doesnt work out, I’m back to square one - do you have any experience with people saying wool smells? I do not know what latex smells like to comment on whether that would be a problem with me or not. I would like a latex mattress that is free of harmful chemicals but perhaps need something without wool.[/quote]
There really isn’t much that I can add to Neal’s suggestions. The smell will get less over time but as he mentioned it tends to be stronger in more humid environments and I would reinforce his suggestion to air it out for a few days (unzipped) to see if the smell of the wool is reduced enough to be acceptable to you. As he also mentioned some people are just more sensitive to certain smells that others don’t seem to notice or at least doesn’t bother them at all.
Latex also has a smell that will dissipate over time to levels that most people don’t notice but once again there are a few people that are more sensitive to the smell of latex as well (see post #2 here).
Unfortunately the only way to know if you are more sensitive to certain smells that most people would be fine with will be based on your own personal experience and it’s good to see that Neal is working with you and going above and beyond to do a special return if it turns out to be necessary.
You certainly made a great quality/value choice but unfortunately there is little that can be done to avoid these types of sensitivities that only apply to a small percentage of people.
There are some good sources for alternative covers that don’t contain any wool that you could use to replace your current cover in the component list here if you decide to keep your latex layers and just replace the cover and there are also several manufacturers in the list of the members here that sell mattresses online that make all latex mattresses with unquilted covers or with covers that are quilted with polyfoam that may be worth considering as well. Some of them also have very low cost return policies that can reduce the risk of purchasing a mattress online just in case the latex also has a smell that you aren’t able to tolerate.
Phoenix