Question about organic latex certification (Savvy Rest, Lifekind and SleezEZ)

I am confused by the organic certifications of these three manufacturers: Savvy Rest, Lifekind and SleezEz. For what its worth, its important for my husband to have an organic latex mattress. We are deciding between these 3. There are some big price differences between them.

Phoenix - I have read about organic certifications you have written, and this was in a previous post where you said:

"[i]First are the raw materials and if this is an agricultural crop then it can be USDA certified as a raw material.

Second is the actual component or layer itself which is made from organic raw materials. In this case it would be GOTS certified if it was a fabric or GOLS certified if it was latex. These can be called “organic” but not USDA certified organic. There is more about organic latex and other types and blends of latex in post #6 here.

Finally there is the certification for the complete production chain from raw materials to the final mattress itself to make sure that every step meets the organic guidelines (see here). This would technically be the only mattress that can legitimately be called an organic mattress vs a mattress that includes all organic materials but this isn’t the normal “practice” in the industry.[/i]"

On the Savvy Rest website it says “Our Dunlop latex supplier’s rubber tree farms are certified organic to U.S. standards. Their latex foam processing is certified by the International Control Union to the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS).” So does Savvy Rest fit at least the first two, where their dunlop isorganic because the latex trees are organic and then the processing is certified by GOLS as organic as well? But they never refer to an organic latex core? And they never refer to organic dunlop anywhere on their website. If the trees are organic and the processing is organic wouldn’t the dunlop made from it be organic?

Then I looked at the Lifekind website and called them. They said their latex mattress cores are “certified to the Global Organic Latex Standard.” What does that mean that their cores are “certified to” GOLS? The processing? The trees? Both? So does that mean their raw materials are not organic but their processing is? Lifekind though does refer to organic dunlop all over their website.

And what about SleepEZ? Phoenix mentioned in a previous post that “Latex Green (who supplies the dunlop for SleepEZ) has just finished certifying their latex core so they are now the first certified organic latex core rather than just being a latex core that uses certified organic latex.” So again is the actual latex organic and the processing organic as well?

Hi Lulu0915,

Although it seems you’ve read this … for the sake of others that may not have there is more about the three “levels” of organic certifications in post #2 here (which is where your quote came from).

The 100% natural Dunlop layers that Savvy Rest uses are GOLS certified as organic but the mattress “as a whole” wouldn’t be. If you choose one of their mattresses with the 100% natural Talalay then these layers wouldn’t be organic (there isn’t any certified organic Talalay). If you choose one of their mattresses that only included their Dunlop layers then you would have a mattress that included all organic materials but the mattress itself “as a whole” wouldn’t have an organic certification. Organic certifications apply to every step of the manufacturing and production process of a particular final product.

Their 100% natural Dunlop layers have the same GOLS certification as the 100% natural Dunlop in the Savvy Rest although the latex is made by a different latex manufacturer. The USDA organic certification would apply to the agricultural crop (the liquid field latex that was tapped from the tree) and the GOLS certification would mean that the raw field latex that was used to manufacture the core was USDA certified as organic and also that the manufacturing process for the foamed latex that was made from it was also certified organic (it would need to have at least 95% organic field latex to be an “organic” latex core and the manufacturing methods of making the core would need to pass the GOLS organic criteria as well). In the case of Lifekind their Dunlop layers are GOLS certified organic but their actual factory also has an organic certification so they could legitimately call their mattress “organic” rather than just selling a mattress that “contained all organic materials”.

SleepEZ uses Latex Green 100% natural Dunlop that isn’t certified organic which is basically the same as the Latex Green 100% natural Dunlop that is certified organic except that the liquid field latex doesn’t come from an organic plantation (Latex Green makes both certified organic Dunlop and 100% natural Dunlop that isn’t certified). They can provide the GOLS certified organic version of the same material by special request if the certification itself (and the additional cost and possibly a delay in shipping your mattress that would go with it) is important to you.

Latex Green was the first foamed latex manufacturer that passed the GOLS criteria to have their latex cores certified but in the few years since then there are now several others (including CoCo latex that Savvy Rest uses) that make certified organic Dunlop cores as well.

Phoenix

Phoenix, thank you very much. This was very helpful.

So the 100% Talalay at EZ Sleep and the 100% Talalay at Savvy Rest are the exact same core right, since they both use the same latex provider? The only difference is the outer cover?

Hi Lulu0915,

SleepEZ can provide 100% natural Talalay that comes from either Latex International (now called Talalay Global) or Radium but if the layers in your SleepEZ mattress are 100% natural Talalay from Radium (and you can specify to make sure that they are) then it would be exactly the same type and blend of latex made by the same manufacturer as the layers in the Savvy Rest and the only difference would be any differences in the firmness of the layers and any differences in the wool quilted cotton cover.

Phoenix

thanks Phoenix.

Why is it that Lifekind is so much more expensive than Savvy Rest, when LifeKind and Savvy Rest both have GOTS certified cotton and wool, and at least for the all dunlop mattresses, they are equal (or it seems that way, since they are both certified organic dunlop)?

Hi Lulu0915,

There is more about the many factors that can be involved in how any manufacturer prices their mattresses in post #14 here but of course there is no real answer to this because the internal financials that show how a manufacturer calculates their prices are proprietary and this isn’t information that a manufacturer would share with the public so from a consumer perspective it’s really a matter of knowing how to make meaningful comparisons between mattresses based on the materials inside them and all the other criteria that are most important to you (one of which is price of course).

While some of the difference could be the Lifekind factory which is certified organic or the fact that they sterilize their materials with ozone which isn’t done by most manufacturers … most of the difference would be marketing and perception (consumers tend to believe that higher prices mattresses are better quality) or higher profit margins.

Any differences in price between Lifekind, Savvy Rest, and SleepEz certainly wouldn’t reflect the quality or durability of the materials in their mattresses which would be very comparable.

Phoenix