I’ve been researching latex mattresses a lot lately trying to learn as much as I can about latex and the companies that sell them, with the hopes of finally buying my first latex mattress here soon. Thanks to this wonderful site I’ve learned so much already, I still have a lot more to learn though
One question I had was about organic latex. I’ve seen it being sold by some of the trusted latex companies that are listed on here. However, one thing I have noticed is it looks like it’s only dunlop latex that is ever organic. I have not seen organic talalay being sold yet. Is there a reason for this? Is it impossible to produce talalay organically?
I would like to buy a latex mattress that hopefully has zero off-gassing. I’m trying to avoid VOC’s as much as possible since I have asthma. Is it safe to assume blended latex has some off-gassing? Whereas 100% natural and organic latex does not?
You are correct that only Dunlop latex can be certified as organic. The more involved manufacturing process for Talalay latex includes some non-organic content which precludes it from being able to achieve an organic certification. Talalay is available though as all natural, synthetic, or a blend. Some report that blended Talalay is even more durable than the all natural version, but the all natural may be slightly softer in feel.
As far as off-gassing latex does have a scent which smells like rubber (since that’s what it is), some describe it as a vanilla like scent or similar to the smell of balloons. It doesn’t have the strong heavily chemical smell like many other foams have such as memory foam. Personally I’ve experienced migraine headaches from the off-gassing of memory foam mattresses and their strong chemical odor, while the rubbery scent of latex is noticeable to me but never has had any similar negative effects. Of course sensitivity to various scents and reactions to off-gassing can vary among different people. I’m not an expert on VOCs so can’t really address those related concerns or asthma related sensitivities.
I just read an absolutely incredible write up by Phoenix 100% Natural Talalay vs Blended years ago on here where he gave all the pro’s and con’s and differences between the two. It was really great to learn about the two in so much detail. I always figured blended talalay had to be an inferior form of latex compared to it’s almost 100% natural form, but suprisingly that’s not always the case. In fact it can actually be superior in certain area’s and cheaper too. The off-gassing of the blended type I guess people don’t have to worry about since it carries the Oeko-Tex standard 100 certification. So that’s one really good thing you don’t have to worry about.
I helped my mom actually purchase and setup a blended latex mattress many years ago. I honestly don’t even remember smelling much of any thing from it and I know she never complained about the smell of it. Of course it was blended, so it was probably only like a 70/30 blend or something, so there would be a lot less natural rubber in it to smell. Yeah, I bet the off-gassing from an all memory foam mattress would be awful. I don’t think I would be able to stand it either. I’m not ultra sensative to smells in general if their natural, but if their unnatural or chemical smelling they would really bother me too. I already know just based off cleaning products I’ve used in the past, detergents, etc. They can give me headaches and trigger my asthma if I’m breathing them in for too long. The spring mattress I have now I think only came with 1" of memory foam on top, I wanted as little as possible. Of course it has also been way too firm so I haven’t really liked that part about it. I really should of bought a latex topper for it years ago. It’s about 8 years old now and on it’s last leg. So this time I’m going to do it right and just get an all latex mattress, whether it’s blended or 100% natural. I already know from laying on them a couple of times now their way more comfortable and pressure relieving on your body then what I’ve laid on in the past.
