Experience with "natural" mattresses?

[Kanin]

We're in the market for a new mattress. Ours is probably 13 years old now, and has lumps and valleys. We bought it when we had to buy the cheapest option in the store. Now, I'm wondering about natural mattresses like Avocado. Are they comfortable? Worth the money? Are the chemicals in regular mattresses actually worth spending a lot more to avoid? I want to make the healthy choice, but I also don't want to get sucked into a really expensive, not great mattress jut because it has the label "green" on it.

[Harriet Vane]

We really love our Ikea latex mattresses. We researched latex and liked it, then bought Ikea because it is cheaper there. We also got wool/cotton covers so that it wouldn't feel hot. Have been sleeping on them for a decade. 

[PeterPan]

So I started buying/using safer mattresses years ago because I was chemically sensitive, quite sensitive. The Avocado is newer, but it looks in the vein of some of what we've used. I can tell you latex can be natural (like the sap out of trees) or petrochemically derived or a mix. Odds are latex from a random store is that synthetic blend. It probably feels great, functions great, because it's engineered to do that. We went with the natural latex, and it turned out once I had the whole large bed of it that I was sensitive to that too, go figure. And, not to be too obvious, but a lot of balloons blown up in the house at times has bothered me too. When our house was smaller and the rooms smaller, they bothered me a lot. I should have made the connection.

An all natural latex mattress, at least the one we got, can be very uncomfortable. We tried lots of toppers, but it still sucks. It sits in the basement. We tried really hard, but dh gave up and got a huge king size normal, typical, totally toxic, flame retardant and everything bed. I put on plastic, but that wasn't good enough, so I keep foil on top of that. When I travel, that's what I do, bringing rolls of foil to lay down. If I don't, I'm really groggy and unwell in the morning. I keep mostly leather upholstered furniture for the same reason, because I feel the difference. I do have one newish fabric upholstered piece that was a handme down from my MIL. I sit in it briefly for sentimental reasons, but I wouldn't like spend 3 hours in it watching movies. I would really feel it and ache and have fibromyalgia type symptoms and hurt and be groggy. And I can fly with upholstered seats as long as its brief. I used to take a pad with me to create a barrier, but now I just go and can hack it. But LONG times, like sleeping, for me it's still a problem. It even sets off my asthma if my foil on the mattress gets lots of holes. My system is just sensitive.

But would I subject someone to an uncomfortable bed on the theory that such and such is better? You're deciding for someone else as well, kwim? A regular bed that you buy at the store is likely to be more comfortable. I was reacting even to the wool they were using and they had to use it. If you don't use wool then they'll use cotton. We got a mattress like that and it packs down and is awful. I know someone (not chemically sensitive) who sleeps on an all cotton mattress because it's healthier and I just don't have the constitution, lol.

So I had a natural latex and cotton mattress for my dd, handed down to my ds, but they were both SO RELIEVED when I got them regular store mattresses.

Foil on the bed sucks too btw. Not good for your back, because it makes it harder. Don't recommend.

So I'll tell you the truth. Our bodies were created with systems in the liver, etc. to filter modern chemicals. If you're religious and believe in a Creation by God, it's actually quite fascinating. We have pathways, designed thousands of years ago, not by accident, that literally filter out modern assaults like Tylenol. So even people who are of the let's be healthy, very chemically sensitive stripe (Sherri Rogers, for instance), point this out that our bodies were designed to filter these things.

In other words, don't live in fear. If you're feeling fine when you wake up, maybe it's not an issue for you. It was for me, so I do what I have to. But once you start talking sensitive people, even "natural" products can be reactive. Some organic cotton REEKS. Natural latex is hard and reeks. And they'll often tuck in other allergens like wool. I just gave up.

https://sleepingorganic.com/synthetic-vs-natural-latex/  brief article on latex

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by PeterPan

[hellen]

We have 3 latex mattresses from Flobeds that are very comfortable.  They are all over 10 years old and still comfortable.

https://www.flobeds.com/

[Melissa in Australia]

My dh has multiple chemical sensitivities. We have to be very careful with what we use.

we had an organic wool futon mattress fro many years, now we have an organic cotton innerspring mattress. Both have been great. Though with the wool futon it had to be taken outside and aired weekly. It was very big and heavy and quite a job .

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

In other words, don't live in fear. If you're feeling fine when you wake up, maybe it's not an issue for you. It was for me, so I do what I have to. But once you start talking sensitive people, even "natural" products can be reactive. Some organic cotton REEKS. Natural latex is hard and reeks. And they'll often tuck in other allergens like wool. I just gave up.

Ha, thanks, this made me laugh a bit. I think people should write REEKS! in product descriptions so people know what they're getting into. LOL. 

I would prefer a good night's sleep on a regular mattress to a bad one on a "good" mattress. I have back/neck pain and I also toss and turn. I need to stretch, exercise, all that. But hopefully a new mattress could help a bit, too.

[PeterPan]

35 minutes ago, Kanin said:

I need to stretch, exercise, all that. But hopefully a new mattress could help a bit, too.

Oh probably. You could also ask your doctor for a referral for PT or try an arthritis supplement like serrazymes. Both help me. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Personally, I would not want latex.  I’m sensitive to a lot of things, and latex sensitivity is one that tends to develop with repeated exposure, so it’s not something I’d want to sleep on every night.

[PeterPan]

36 minutes ago, Kanin said:

I think people should write REEKS! in product descriptions

Well obviously it's relative. I think if you're sensitive in anyway, then you should assume any slight comment about "smells" or "slight smell" = REEKS.