Smells from latex mattress

[phoenix]

Hi Jmccar4919,

I bought our king dunlop mattress over two years ago from Foam Sweet Foam and was assured that the smell would go away, but it has not. I hate the smell of the rubber and have tried so many things to eliminate it without success. These include airing it out for weeks, 2 boxes of baking soda on the cover not on the Dunlop, layering more including a cotton mattress pad and a organic wool one. I hate the rubbery smell. I would welcome any suggestions. I thought of putting on some sort of cover to enclose it but have not found anything but synthetics and I wondered how that would feel. What to do?

There is more about the smell of natural rubber in post #2 here and some suggestions that may help in post #3 here (many of which you’ve already tried). In most cases the smell of natural rubber diminishes over time to the point that most people don’t notice it or it isn’t offensive but with any natural material the smell can be stronger with some batches than others and some people are more sensitive to some types of smells than others so in some cases it can become an issue over the longer term as well. Humidity levels can also make some difference as well. It’s also possible that the smell could be coming from the wool cover so if this is the case then taking the cover off and seeing if the problem remains can help identify the source of the smell. If it does turn out to be the cover then removing it and putting it out in the sun to air out will activate the lanolin and self cleansing properties of the wool and may make a significant difference as well.

If you have gone through all the suggestions in the post I linked and in this reply then the “best” suggestion I could make would be to see if you can identify whether the smell is coming from a specific layer and replace it with another one that has an odor that is milder or less offensive to you. I would also suggest talking with the manufacturer to see if they have any other suggestions that they have found helpful for those few customers that have longer term issues with the smell of their mattress or any of the layers.

My adult son is complaining of hip and shoulder pain. His configuration is MMF? My husband is SMF and is having similar issues. I am thinking a Tallay Topper. Savvy Rests is quite expensive and shipping things back is a pain. Any other Tallay Toppers recommended or ideas?

There is more about the various symptoms that people may experience on a mattress and some possible solutions in post #2 here and the posts it links to which can help with the “detective work” that may be necessary to decide on any layer changes. In most cases pressure issues would involve either rearranging or exchanging layers so that the upper two layers are softer and more pressure relieving (such as using S/M/F for your son or S/S/F for your husband). A layering that works for one person may not work for someone else so I would also avoid “connecting” your son’s experiences with your husband’s experiences because they may do best with different combinations. If the softest possible layering that you have or that is available from Savvy Rest doesn’t help the pressure issues enough then adding a topper that uses softer layers of latex yet (that they may not have available) can also help. Talalay is generally available in softer versions than Dunlop so a Talalay top layer would be well worth considering.

If you do decide to go in this direction (and I would make sure you talk with the manufacturer of your mattress first if you are still in your trial period so that they can add their own suggestions as well) then there is more about choosing a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to (which also includes a link to the better sources I’m aware of) that can use their sleeping experience as a reference point to choose a topper that has the best chance of success to solve any “symptoms” that they are experiencing.

Phoenix