All posts tagged Natural

My husband and I ordered a new mattress and natural, undyed, organic cotton bedding. The shipments came in stages, with the mattress arriving first, then the sheets. One pillow came later, the blankets arrived, and finally the mattress cover was on our doorstep. We are still waiting on one more pillow, but as of last week, we had received everything else and were ready to set everything up and get the old toxic bed and bedding out of our house!

I always wake up feeling pretty terrible and with a throbbing headache, so I figured not exposing myself to all of the toxic chemicals in our current mattress and bedding might help me to feel better. Unless you get a prescription from your doctor to bring to the mattress manufacturer, your mattress is laden with a myriad of flame retardant chemicals, such as boric acid, Decabromodiphenyl Oxide, and Antimony.  My pillow even had a memory foam core. Memory foam is pretty much the worst offender.

Research

We started our search (after some preliminary internet research) at a local store that specializes in organic and latex mattresses, bedding and furniture. We wanted to get a feel for what these latex mattresses really felt like. We laid on the latex and loved it. I was particularly fond of the Dunlop latex that was super firm. A lot of companies sell the latex in sheets 4 inches think, and then you get 3 layers. My husband and I don’t weigh very much, so I didn’t think that three layers would really be necessary. Two layers (8 inches thick) seemed perfectly reasonable. The sheets of latex come cut so that there are two half-sized sheets lying next to each other to make up the entire size of the bed. Like putting two twin mattresses together to make a king. Each 4 inch layer was around $400 per side of bed, so $800 total for each of us to have just 4 inches beneath us. And remember, they suggest that we purchase six of these $400 pieces. Then there are the $100-200 pillows, mattress covers, mattress pads, a mat to place the mattress on, sheets, blankets, comforter, protective cover for the pillows…..it was all kind of ridiculous and just not in the cards for us. We couldn’t spend $5000 (easily more) for bedding. We went home and decided that we would just focus on saving up for a partial mattress. Then I did a lot more research on the internet.

After many, many hours of searching, I finally found what we wanted for a relatively low cost. It really is unfortunate that purchasing healthy and safe things are out of reach for so many people because of the cost. We technically didn’t have the money saved up to buy our new safe bedding, but it seemed so important, and the cost wasn’t too outrageous with my super-sleuthing skills, so we went ahead and did it anyways. Thanks credit card!

We got all of our bedding for under $1300. We have yet to purchase a bed frame, but we intend to do so as soon as we have some extra cash. The one I have my eye on is only $219 for a king size. It is completely non-toxic and is made from unfinished poplar wood. Unfinished poplar is a great option for people who are bothered by chemicals and most types of trees and wood. We are going to get the night stands as well.

Assembly Required

After much anticipation, we were finally able to set up our bed! I would have had it completed the instant all the stuff arrived and had been washed thoroughly (3-4x for everything), but I really didn’t want to hurt my back trying to maneuver a mattress all on my own.

The mattress cover we got has a zipper, but it only goes half way around the mattress. It was a bit of a challenge getting the mattress inside. The latex really wanted to stick to our (imitation) wood floor, and it is so floppy that it took us some planning and teamwork to finagle the thing inside the cover.

The Unexpected

The other problem: A huge spider crawled inside one of the holes in the mattress as we were trying to get the cover on! It scampered on in there and then we had to figure out how to get it out. We armed ourselves with a drinking glass, coaster, index card and flashlight. My husband (Joel) located the hole the spider was in with the flashlight. I held the glass, index card and coaster for trapping the spider, while Joel flipped over the mattress side that had the spider, hitting it repeatedly so that the spider would fling out. It did, and I trapped it with the glass. Then we slid the index card between the glass and floor, and finally used the coaster to create a better seal. We usually let the spiders go outside, but that giant thing got flushed down the toilet.

Technically, the mattress we ordered isn’t even a mattress. It’s a mattress topper. It’s 4 inches thick, king sized, firm, and cost us only $539. It was produced in the Dunlop latex method, totally natural and chemical free, no petrochemicals involved. We also purchased (in all organic undyed cotton) an organic buckwheat pillow, shredded latex pillow, 4-inch deep zippered king size mattress cover, king size sheets, and two full-size heavy blankets.

Joel isn’t too fond of sleeping with blankets. He really prefers a comforter. The only problem is that a totally organic comforter (with organic batting) is around $500 for a twin, and that doesn’t even include a duvet cover. He was upset with me when he heard that I had only ordered blankets and not a comforter….but I am hoping he will learn to love the blankey I got him. So far he seems to be ok with it.

How We Like It

I will of course post updates on the bedding, whether we are having total success or failure with any of it. We have slept with all the new stuff for about a week now, and we love it. Although our mattress is only 4 inches, we can’t feel the floor beneath us at all, even if we stand on it so there is more pressure in a smaller area. The mattress does have a smell to it right now. If you get one that has was kilned recently, it’s going to have a smell. It contains no chemicals though, so it is not off-gassing. I read that the smell should diminish in a few weeks. You might think, “Oh no! I can’t handle the smell of latex!” But this doesn’t smell like latex to me at all. I’m not sure how to describe it. I can’t handle any smells, and this one doesn’t bother me. Like I said, chemical free and no off-gassing. The other issue we had was with our blankets. Since they are organic cotton, they have a lot of lint to get rid of! This was surprising to me because I have never owned anything made from organic cotton. The first time you put them through the dryer,  you will be amazed at the amount of cotton in the lint trap! We slept with them one night and there were little lint particles everywhere. I put them through the wash and the dryer once more and they are fine now.

The whole deal cost us $1250 for king size everything. That’s less than the cost of most safe mattresses alone. My headaches upon waking have diminished. I can breath easier knowing that we are taking the steps to make our home safe.