Based mostly on information found on this site I recently purchased a Latex Mattress from Arizona Premium Mattress Co. ( Ultra Plush Latex - Natural Talalay). I got the mattress this Wednesday - upon unboxing it I noticed it had a pretty powerful smell - like a rubber eraser is how my wife describes it. Thus I felt it best to let it “air out” on the bedroom floor versus setting it up. Next morning both my wife and myself woke up with headaches which is very unusual for me as I never get headaches. Same happened each night until last night we both woke up in the middle of the night with a headache and moved to a different bedroom and we both said to each other “it’s the new mattress smell”. The smell is to date still as strong as the original unboxing. I moved the mattress foam cores to a different room today and feel my only option is to call the company in the morning Monday and work out a return as this is not a do-able situation. My question is what is going on here - almost nothing I have read indicates natural latex has such of a strong 'off gassing" - yet in doing some research I am now finding a lot of sites with similar issues reported / documented :
Ironically my fear on this type of internet purchase was to find the bed not comfortable - nothing like this ever entered my head. Now I find we cannot even test it out as it is causing us some heath issues.
I’m sorry you’re finding an initial sensitivity to the odor of your new latex mattress.
Latex tends to have an odor that some people describe as “semi-sweet” or “vanillia-ish” (or like a rubber eraser, as your wife mentioned). It can vary a bit by the batch and also a bit more with 100% Natural latex, due to the normal variations in natural latex. The odor usually diminishes to the point in a few weeks where most people can’t notice it any more.
While quite uncommon, some people are sensitive to particular odors of foamed latex rubber, and if that is the case you can try (if you haven’t already) unzipping the encasement around your foam during the day to allow as much air to get to your mattress with the windows open. If this doesn’t alleviate the issue for you, then I would contact the manufacturer, as you indicated.
The articles you linked to deal mostly with polyurethane foams and people’s sensitivities to those items, which tend to have stronger odors, especially visco-elastic memory foam. But even as Savvy Rest stated on their site, more natural materials such as latex are no guarantee against having a headache. Some people can be sensitive to such things, such as people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS).
There is more about the smell of latex in post #2 here but the latex in your mattress has been certified by Oeko-Tex for harmful substances and VOCs, so at least you have the assurance that the smell and off-gassing isn’t harmful although some people can still be sensitive to it. There are also some suggestions in post #3 here that can help speed things up a little.
Thank-you Phoenix for the reply. I was able to speak to the seller and we are arranging a return so I have zero gripes about the seller at all as they are doing the right thing in arranging the return. I do not know what went wrong here but as my wife says the mattress is not do-able for us as we cannot deal with the smell and associated headaches. ps. I have had it out of any enclosures since un-boxing - I never assembled the mattress from the start due to the smell in hopes it would “air out” - just is not happening. When I got home today from work the room where I put the mattress in stunk. (like bad rubber) which was the final straw.
I’m sorry that you didn’t like the smell of your latex mattress, but I’m happy that Arizona Premium is taking care of you right away. As you know, I do think highly of them and their service, being a site member here.
I wouldn’t say that there is anything “wrong”. If you and your wife are sensitive to the odor of natural latex (it’s foamed rubber, so it’s going to have a “rubber smell”), it’s just not going to be the product for you, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. As I mentioned in my previous reply, natural latex will have more variation in this odor and after a few weeks this becomes unnoticeable for most people. You’ve had your product for 6 days now, but even if you had kept it and allowed it to air out even more, that’s no guarantee that you still wouldn’t be sensitive to the residual odor of the product. Even if being sensitive to this odor is uncommon, it’s still your reaction, and being comfortable in your personal sleeping environment is what is ultimately most important.
