[urmysunshyn]

I want to get chemical free mattresses and bedding. Does anybody know of a good resource for this?

My daughter has eczema and allergies. I noticed that she itched more when laying in bed and especially wiht certain sheet sets.

Did you know that 100% cotton sheets can contain formaldehyde which dries the skin?

 

[OrganicallyGrown]

Hello,

I have a organic bed and sheets from Lifekind. They are wonderful and made in a completely organic factory. I can't recommend them highly enough!

good luck!
jenn

 

[OrganicallyGrown]

Sorry, I think the link is www.LifeKind.com

 

[ASusan]

We've been mattress shopping for a month. Making a decision today.

It has been VERY difficult finding a natural mattress. As of July 1, all mattresses sold in the US will have to meet new fire standards. (Bringing the code "up" to California standards, is one way I've heard it mentioned several times.)

Basically, they'll be adding more chemicals as fire retardants to mattresses. Most of the mattresses in the conventional mattress stores already meet these standards. I think it is a standard on which I do not want to be sleeping.

I had a conversation this morning from a woman who works at A Natural Home. We tried out their mattresses at their local store. The mattresses (and their other furniture) are made here in Central Ohio, not 15 miles from us.

http://www.anaturalhome.com/

The mattresses they sell are fire retardant to current standards, as they have wool in them; wool is a natural fire retardant. As of July 1, they will have a physican on retainer to write prescriptions for people who want to buy one of their mattresses. They will charge an extra $25 for this service. The mattresses they sell will not meet the NEW standards (because they will remain chemical free). Many of the local (Ohio) mattress companies are going out of business because they cannot afford (or refuse) to meet these new standards.

If you need to buy a new mattress, I'd do it SOON. Or, investigate "all natural" mattresses. (The woman also had some stories to tell about places claiming organic or natural, but these terms referred only to the top piece of fabric, for example, not the entire mattress.) It is going to be VERY hard to purchase something that is chemical free. (I am not even concerned about the organic piece at this point - just give me something without chemical fire retardants woven into it!)

You should look for: wool (the natural fire retardant) and cotton. Also, if you are interested in foam, look for "natural latex," as opposed to any other type of foam.

The company also sells a LOT of baby mattresses. They can custom make any size of baby mattress. She wanted us to go over to the place (an old house) where they make the mattresses - apparently they were making baby mattresses today. There are about 5 Amish families who work for them. There is one family who does basically all the mattresses. We will probably get a crib or toddler bed mattress from them.

 

[Taedareth]

Wow. I'm guessing these mattresses are incredibly expensive if you live out of state and have to pay shipping?

Is there any way to MAKE a mattress? That sounds really silly, but I figure people in past generations must have made their own... Could a person just buy a cotton futon cover and stuff it with wool? (Please don't laugh at me

) We currently have a 4 year old Tempurpedic and I'm guessing it's probably pretty toxic...

 

[ASusan]

I'm not sure how much shipping would be. I think the price of the mattresses themselves is reasonable (comparable to the others we were looking at - they're evey a few hundred cheaper than our next contender). We'd pay just for gas for a local (15 mile) delivery.

But, they do ship to stores around the country. So, there are stores you can purchase them at. Give them a call and see if there is one in your area.

 

[Taedareth]

Ah! Thanks for the tip. There is one dealer in my state, and it's only 2 hours from here. Bet I could transport a mattress in a borrowed pickup truck if necessary

 

[artemis33]

I was going to suggest going with a natural latex core/wool topped/organic cotton wrapped mattress. There is a dealer here in Seattle that carries some, but they didn't have crib mattresses available when I was looking. I ended up ordering from http://www.daxstores.com/ and they were great. They are expensive, but really nice (of course we ended up cosleeping so she has yet to sleep in it

). They also carry organic sheets, blankets, towels, etc.

Taedareth - we also have a Tempurpedic for us and I regret getting one. I was appalled at the offgassing it did when they delivered it and contacted them. They said they don't use PBDE's, but they clearly use some other toxic junk. I wish we had returned it while we had the chance. That's why I did more research for DD - I was so mad at myself for not doing so for us since I am usually very conscious about things like that. Turns out the latex mattresses that Dax sells are very close in price to what we payed for the Tempurpedic so we could have gotten one of those. Their shipping is 'free' on large orders. At least it is comfortable.... I'm hoping I can convince DH to upgrade to a king someday and we can get one of the natural ones!

 

[Taedareth]

Thanks for the link to free shipping!!!! Do you think a latex-core mattress would cause an allergic reaction? I've read that prolonged exposure to latex can cause you to develop allergies. Hmm.

As for Tempurpedic, do you think they get done outgassing after a few years and are less dangerous? Because at over a thousand dollars, buying a new mattress probably isn't going to be possible for us right now.

 

[NoliMum]

nak!!!

are there aby good matt.'s for less than 1000???? we could never afford tyhat.

 

[JennyClaire]

Thanks for this thread. I'm subscribing in case there are any other links. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that some of these mattresses are only a few hundred more than what we were looking at in conventional mattresses today.

My DH thinks I'm insane (he actually called me a "lunatic" because I worry about chemicals in new mattresses) --- but it's my $$$$$ so I'll get what I want!