Simplified Choice and FR Choice

[phoenix]

Hi Manimal,

I’m thrilled to see that established latex manufacturers/resellers are stepping up to compete in the simplified choice arena with high quality mattresses at incredible prices. IMO, with respect to the overall quality of the materials and prices, the Love Bed and BME from Brooklyn Bedding are the best options.

As you know I can’t speak to which mattress would be the “best” option for any particular person in terms of PPP because there are too many unknowns and variables involved … but the two you mentioned and the SleepEZ KISS mattress are the only three at the moment that don’t have any “cautions” about the quality/density or durability of their materials for any weight range and any of them would certainly make a very durable choice although all of them will have a different “feel” and some people may well prefer one of them over the other.

There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses.

Right now, I feel the Love Bed is the better option because I was able to confirm (quite easily) with Nest Bedding that they use hydrolyzed silica for the FRB (I guess it’s “mixed” with Rayon?)- in addition, the bamboo ticking is another plus IMO. I’ve confirmed with Brooklyn Bedding in the past, and again recently, that they use Jones Fiber for the FRB. Jones Fiber uses a chemical application- boron/boric acid- to my understanding. In your 3 part “Simplified Choice Mattresses” topic, you had listed “Non chemical, Inherent woven silica fire retardant sock” for the BME (pasted below). Is this inaccurate? Even if a lot of people might not give any thought to the FRB, I think it’s a good thing to be aware of what’s used, and for manufacturers/resellers to make the information transparent and not “gloss over” it.

I had spoken to Mario at BB some time ago and he had mentioned part of the reason (at least at that time) they didn’t use an “inherent” FR material was cost. I don’t buy that- Nest Bedding managed to do it (without even being a manufacturer) and for less than the BME (I realize the Love Bed has an inch less of latex overall- though an inch more of Talalay). I don’t care if we come in contact with borates in our daily lives- at this point I wouldn’t choose to regularly sleep on a mattress that has an FR material treated with boric acid. There’s obviously a lot of other people who feel the same way.

None of these mattresses are organic and from my perspective I would consider all of them to be “safe” although I recognize that different people may have different definitions of what that means. The most reliable source of this type of information about any specific mattress would be a conversation with the manufacturer about the specific mattress you are considering but as far as I know both Brooklyn Bedding BestMattressEver and the Love Bed use the same fire barrier which is a silica/rayon inherent fabric probably with some polyester as well. You can see Brooklyn Bedding’s answer to this question on their support page here. I would also have no safety concerns with the similar inherent fire barrier sock used in the Kiss mattress. While you will never be able to find out the exact chemical composition of an inherent fire barrier … none of them use Boric Acid (which is generally added to cotton to make it fire resistant so the fire retardant properties aren’t “inherent”).

Phoenix