Many, many mattress companies advertise that they don’t use harmful chemicals in their mattresses and if this is true, they are still using something that is harmful. Even if a company claims they use wool as a flame retardant barrier, they don’t tell you that the wool has been treated with fire retardants. So there is no way of getting away around the fire retardant regulations without using something harmful to our health.
Recently a customer contacted us after they had seen our Complete Mattress Education video and began to really wonder if the Nectar Mattress he purchased just a few months prior was potentially harmful to him, especially when it came with the following warning label:
In this you will notice they really don’t want you to remove the cover. First, it says removing the cover will void the warranty. What could possibly be the big deal? Secondly it says, “Using your mattress when the cover is removed could compromise the integrity of the mattress.” Why? Again, what is the big deal? Then it says, “If the cover is removed at any point, DO NOT sit, lay, sleep, stand, jump, or otherwise use your mattress until the cover is put back on the mattress and secured.” So, what could be so harmful to cause them to put such a strong warning label on the mattress? The answer to this question can be found on the law label:
As you can see, the law label says, “Glass Fiber…23%”. So glass fiber is the reason for such a strong warning label! Can you imagine sleeping in glass fiber? And the problem with removing the cover is because the glass fiber can get out and cause all kinds of problems. The problems include, “SERIOUS INJURY, DEATH, AND/OR PROPERTY DAMAGE”. Yes, indeed, glass fiber can get in your home’s duct work, your clothing, furniture and cause serious property damage and subsequently in your lungs and cause health issues. If you think this is hyperbole, just watch this news report:
As a result of our customer sharing his Nectar warning label and law label, I contacted Nectar on their website chat and asked them how they made their mattresses flame retardant. Here is how they responded:
Nectar mattresses are built with an industry-standard fire sock containing silica fibers. This component was carefully selected for our mattresses because of its excellent fire safety performance. Our goal at Nectar is to help reassure our customers that they are sleeping on a product that meets regulatory requirements for fire safety. Nectar also uses a flexible foam that is independently certified by CertiPUR-US®, a 3rd party global rating standard, to be free from known harmful chemicals and gases. Nectar is free from Ozone depleters, PBDE flame retardants, heavy metals, formaldehyde, phthalates, and Volatile Organic Compounds.
Notice they claim they use silica fibers. I guess that sounds better than fiberglass. And of course they butter it up by saying they use CertiPUR foam that is free from harmful chemicals, ozone depleters, PBDE flame retardants, heavy metals, formaldehyde, etc. But, Nectar followed up with me via an email saying, among other things, the following:
Nectar mattresses are made with a protective fire-retardant knit sock to protect consumers from fire hazards without the use of harmful chemicals.
So they are protecting consumers from harmful fire retardant chemicals, but they are using fiberglass that is potentially very dangerous. Makes perfect sense!!!! But this brings up another issue. Lots of companies are now claiming they meet the fire retardant standards without toxic chemicals. So are such companies using fiberglass instead? But they don’t tell the consumer but instead claim one of two things. One, theirs is made flame retardant with wool. And, two, they use a proprietary method. But if wool will meet the flame standards, why in the world any company use fiberglass?!!! No doubt, I’m sure fiberglass is cheaper than wool but wool burns so such companies claiming wool are not telling the truth. The wool has been treated with a fire retardant chemical as well.
The final truth is, there is no such a thing as a mattress that meets flame retardant standards without using something that is harmful to either our health or our safety. This is why we don’t make mattresses but instead sell people the materials to make their own mattresses in order to avoid all the stupid government regulations.