outgassing

[phoenix]

Hi jlucas,

Here’s a new question : this mattress has a zip cover that fits tightly. Is this where the fire retardant is located? If I could get the cover off , what would be the best procedures to get the retardant out of the cover. Getting it back on the mattress could be interesting. I will explore this . Thanks !

This would depend on the mattress. The two most common fire retardant methods for mattresses are either an inherently fire resistant non woven fabric that is quilted into the cover which you would need to rip off the cover or an inherently fire resistant “sock” that surrounds the materials and components inside the mattress which you would need to remove.

The odds are very high that what you are smelling is coming from the foam in your mattress (which don’t normally contain fire retardants) not from the fire retardant fabrics that they use.

@Intltraveler,

I came across abundance of info of dozens of synthetic/chemical staff that are found in traditional mattresses. Breathing that nightly can not be healthy for anyone, regardless of sensitivities.(speaking from personal background/research ) Innerspring type should definitely be a better choice and air out more quickly than all-foam ones but I am not aware of ones that are completely non-toxic right out of the box/store…(pls let me know which)

The internet is filled with misinformation that either exaggerates or minimizes these types of issues and with any complex subject such as this, overly broad generalizations are very rarely accurate and the truth depends on the specifics of a mattress and is usually in between these types of more extreme positions. If you were to believe everything you read about these issues on the internet then it would be easy to come to the conclusion that every synthetic material is toxic (which of course is nonsense), all fire retardant methods depend on dangerous chemicals (which also isn’t accurate), or that if you don’t have an organic mattress that you are sleeping on a mattress that has either been dipped in a vat of dangerous chemicals or on a mattress that was sprayed with the same chemicals (and of course neither one of these are true either).

Post #2 here and the more detailed posts and information it links to have more information about safe, natural, organic, “chemical free”, and green mattresses and mattress materials that can help you sort through some of the marketing information and terminology that you will encounter in the industry and can help you differentiate between them and decide on the types of materials you are most comfortable having in your mattress and help you answer “how safe is safe enough for me”. These types of issues are complex and are generally specific to each person and their individual sensitivities, circumstances, criteria, and lifestyle choices.

Phoenix