Tempurpedic Chemicals

[phoenix]

Hi jesshouse,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

We recently purchased a Tempurpedic [Cloud Luxe Breeze] from a local furniture store. We have had it for about two weeks now and have zero complaints in terms of comfort and feel. However, my husband and I have both developed a cough and he has been feeling very ill/tired/rundown the last week or so.

I’m sorry that you seem to be having some sort of a reaction to your Tempurpedic mattress – either the covering, polyfoam or memory foam contained within it. Many people are sensitive to polyfoam and specifically memory foam (I once had a similar reaction to a memory foam topper, even though I don’t have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)).

I researched Tempurpedic and cough. I was baffled at what I found. I knew memory foam mattresses came with their fair share of chemical processing, but had no idea Tempurpedic seems to be one of the worst and will not disclose specific chemical information for their mattresses.

The exact chemicals used in the manufacture of specific trademarked foams is a closely held secret by those manufacturers, so that’s not something you’d expect to be able to find. I don’t know that Tempurpedic is “one of the worst”, but as the largest memory foam mattress brand I would expect to find the largest number of both complaints and compliments about their products, including from people sensitive to their foams. But to your point, Tempurpedic mattresses are not CertiPUR certified (a minimum I would recommend for any memory foam you might be considering) and unlike many other manufacturers they don’t provide any specific information about any testing they have done for harmful substances or VOC’s.

Post #3 here speaks directly to some of your concerns about Tempurpedic mattresses. There are also some very good links in that post regarding more detailed information about “chemical free” and “safe” materials in mattresses. It’s a bit to read, as the topic is quite large and there’s “more than a little” misinformation out there.

Needless to say I’ve been considering purchasing a Naturepedic (which was always on my want list, not so much my husband’s). I purchased the Tempurpedic from a store that also carries Naturepedic in case we wanted to exchange. Well I have just found out that the store we purchased from is now replacing their Naturepedic line with mattresses from Spink and Edgar. I could still exchange for the Naturepedic if I do so in the next day or so, really today, but I’m concerned that the Naturepedic EOS or even Spink and Edgar will even compare in terms of comfort level for my husband and I.

Both Naturepedic and Spink and Edgar use good quality and durable materials across their mattress lines, but they would be very different feels from a memory foam mattress. Naturepedic focuses upon pocketed springs, latex and natural fibers. Spink and Edgar focuses on pocketed springs and natural fibers. Neither brand uses polyfoam or memory foam in their mattresses. The only way you’d be able to determine if you enjoyed the feel of these products as compared to your current memory foam mattress would be through your own careful testing and evaluation.

We did try a 5 layer latex mattress from another company before this and we absolutely hated it - felt like sleeping on a block of jello and it was way too firm. My husband is 6’4" 240lb and I am 5’2" 100lb so finding a mattress that fits both our needs is/has been quite difficult.

Latex is available in different methods of production (Dunlop and Talalay) and is available in different softnesses (ILDs), so there is a huge variation of how a “latex” mattress can feel. And an innerspring mattress using latex on top will have a different feel from an all-latex mattress, but neither will feel like memory foam, which has a very low resilience (latex has a higher resilience and many people refer to the feel as “buoyant”). Naturepedic does offer customization for the left and right side in many of their mattresses. There is some information on comparing latex to memory foam in post #2 here.

If you’re considering staying with some sort of memory foam product, there are some guidelines for purchasing memory foam in post #10 here. There are some other memory foam brand options in post #12 here. There’s also a bit about how memory foam is made here.

If you have more specific questions I’ll do my best to answer them for you, but I think in this case your best course of action would be to do some testing at your local store of the other options you’re considering, and I’ll be interested in learning what you find out and decide to do.

Phoenix