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Mattresses & Box Springs

Mattresses are huge investments for many people, and when you spend as much as time and money on a mattress as most people do, you want to be sure you aren't wasting your money or endangering your health. Here are a few tips for finding a durable, healthy mattress.

What to Look For
In terms of your health, comfort and safety, mattresses wrapped in untreated wool are the best choice. Naturally fire- and dust-mite resistant, wool also breathes very well, so you sleep better in both summer and winter. Just be sure the wool is untreated; chemically treated wool no longer has the oils and properties that prevent fires and dust mites. The greenest wool is either organic or "Pure Grow Wool," a label representing 200 wool-growing families in Sonoma County, California who have pledged to follow humane sheep ranching practices and to eliminate pesticide use on pastures and animals.

Second best is organic cotton. It's just as eco-friendly a material as wool, but organic cotton is not inherently fire-resistant, and untreated organic cotton mattresses (meaning those without flame-retardant chemicals applied) don't comply with Consumer Product Safety Commission flammability standards. Before these can be purchased, many states require a doctor's prescription verifying that a customer has chemical sensitivities.

Doctor's prescriptions are not needed if an organic cotton mattress has layers of wool sandwiched between the cotton wrap and the cotton batting.

Finally, mattress cores can be made with either innersprings or foam. Your choice between the two should be based on comfort and personal preference, but if you prefer a foam core, opt for natural latex over petroleum-based polyurethane. Natural latex is tapped from rubber trees, and it's often cited as one of the most long-lasting, durable materials you can use in a mattress. Mattress companies often refer to their latex as either Dunlop or Talalay. Both are equally good, but Dunlop latex is produced in a way that makes it more firm, while Talalay latex tends to be softer.