Mattresses are typically manufactured using material that is flammable. Proper fireproofing of mattresses is of high importance, as they could be a potential hazard. For this reason, in the US mattress companies are required to meet a minimum standard for fire safety. The test involves putting an open flame to the mattress to see how quickly the mattress ignites. If it lasts a specific minimum amount of time without catching flame, then it passes the test.
The Typical Approach
Most mattress companies address fireproofing by adding flame retardant chemicals to the mattress and cover. While this method successfully allows them to meet certain standards of fire safety, it also compromises the safety of the mattress in another aspect; the fire-retardant chemicals that these mattress companies use are potentially toxic or carcinogenic.
Mattress companies are using the cheapest and most convenient option for them to meet standards while ignoring or obscuring the harmful effects of using these chemicals. Worse yet, most major manufacturers will not disclose what chemicals they use in their mattresses to make them fire retardant. There are also few reliable studies about how these chemicals affect people in a real-world environment, so whether your mattress is safe may be impossible to know in most cases.
The Sleep EZ Approach
Here at Sleep EZ, we do not use fire retardant chemicals for our latex mattresses. We care about being responsible and accountable to our customers and because we care about your health and well-being. For this reason, we would never add anything to our mattresses if we did not know how it would affect our customers.
Instead, we use organic cotton and natural wool covers for our mattresses that protect the mattress from flames without any added chemicals. At Sleep EZ we recognize that we must build our relationships with our customers on trust, so we are transparent about the materials that go into a Sleep EZ latex mattress.
