Arizona Mattress
I recently purchased a 3" bare natural talalay topper to use as part of a DIY foam mattress.
After unboxing I was immediately hit with quite a strong latex odor but hoped it would dissipate with time after it aired out.
I also noticed that there was some kind of residue on the foam that got on my hands .
I had just spent good money on this foam so I decided I had to give it a chance and at least try it out so I covered it up with some sheets and such and slept on it the first night.
The odor became pretty irritating to my lungs and nasal passages and the residue on the foam had seeped through the sheets and onto the skin of my body.
That was enough ! I rolled it back up in the plastic it came in and intended to send it back to the retailer who told me to just throw it out. (. They did replace it with a different foam type of my choice )
I haven’t thrown it out yet because I’m wondering if there’s a way to wash it in order to remove that residue and hopefully the strong odor with it.
I think this residue is something that remains from an ineffective washing after vulcanization during the production process.
My thought is maybe a hot water washing ( perhaps with a very careful hot water pressure washing ) and open air drying would do the trick.
Is there hope or would this be an exercise in futility ?
Honestly I have never heard of such a thing. Are you sure it was latex and if so I would like to know who you got it from. It’s possible something was spilled on it in transit and was absorbed by the latex although they are usually sealed in plastic. Very strange for sure. You should not have to wash it, that’s done during the manufacturing process. I’ve sold millions of dollars in Talalay latex and never seen anything like your describing.
Hello and Hightower,
Thanks for replying! Yes it is exactly as I described it. I don’t really want to disclose the retailer because it might be a fluke piece of foam and they were helpful in the return process, but the piece is a 12 - 16 ILD 3" queen made by Vita Talalay and dated from 2014 which is stamped on one end.
It is a bit stained on one end but I don’t think that has anything to do with the residue on the foam as it seems to be evenly permeated through the whole thing. Whether it’s only on the surface or soaked through I’m not sure.
With some of the new processes in use I wonder if this might be the result of a technique that hasn’t been perfected or an instance of negligence or rather something that happened in transit or during storage.
In any case, can I somehow duplicate the production washing ?
I hate to throw it out if I can restore it .
I originally ordered a Full size so I might trim it and see if I have some success cleaning the trimmed piece.
Any suggestions?
You mention your recently purchased yet the date of manufacture was 2014? A product that old could have come in contact with all sorts of stuff in that time frame. I’ve never had an issue like that with either Vita-Talalay or Talalay Global.
I would suggest a wash with warm water and Dawn dish soap. Then a clean rinse and then air dry out of direct sunlight.