The Top 5 Reasons to Buy an Organic, Non-Toxic Latex Mattress

Are there benefits to choosing an organic mattress? Learn what you need to know about sleeping on a natural latex mattress.

I have heard all the buzz on buying an organic latex mattress, but I wanted to know why and if it was actually worth it.  Sometimes, the word “organic” can feel a bit like a marketing scheme. 

I ended up doing A LOT of research and decided to take the leap and get our own organic, non-toxic mattress. 

I want to sum up what I’ve learned and share our sleeping experience so far on our own natural organic latex mattress – so perhaps I can help you decide if this is also something that is important to you.

*This post is sponsored by Savvy Rest. With their help I was able to try our own latex mattress and latex mattress topper so I could recommend our favorite organic mattress products with you. I have genuinely never loved a mattress so much and am so grateful to Savvy Rest!

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REASON #1: AN ORGANIC MATTRESS IS BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH

Mattresses that are NOT organic or made completely from natural materials can be harmful in a number of ways.

You might have heard the buzz word “off-gassing”.  This essentially means the release of chemicals in the air and into dust molecules that we breathe or absorb into our bodies. 

Sometimes you can noticeably smell these chemicals, and sometimes they are odorless.  For the last, I’d say 10 years, we’ve had memory foam mattresses and that chemical smell is always noticeable, especially right when we get it. 

So you might be wondering, as have I . . .

WHAT IS THE DANGER OF OFF-GASSING FROM A MATTRESS?

Here are the potential dangers – and take them as you will:

• The chemical compounds frequently used in making non-organic mattresses are petroleum based derivatives, formaldehyde (which is huge in memory foam), and other VOC’s. These are proven to be harmful for your health.
• While still entirely unknown – it is speculated that metal coils in mattresses may have an ability to conduct EMF’s – which is electromagnetic fields (aka – radiation). Too much of that could be a bad thing.
• The worst thing, that companies have been very secretive about is what they are using for chemical flame retardants.  Mattress and bedding companies, and even baby clothing companies, brag about how their products can last for several minutes or more without burning in a fire.  Flame retardant chemicals are well known for being hazardous to our health and are illegal in many other countries.

So how exactly are these chemicals harmful? 

Research has linked these chemicals to being influential in contributing to problems like:

• cancer
• obesity
• infertility
• developmental brain disorders ( such as ADHD and autism)

I read that continuous exposure to off-gassing chemicals can be a major endocrine disruptor, which makes you wonder if that contributes to our society’s vast hormonal imbalances.  

Signs that you’re surrounded by too many toxins might even be smaller, frequent symptoms like:

• headaches
• coughing
• congestion
• itchiness
• frequent sore throats
• and other allergic reactions

For me personally, I have noticed major chemical sensitivities in our family and have had to switch out a lot of the products we use in our home.  That is probably why I am so passionate about it, and share these things often. 

I just never really thought about how much my mattress and bedding would matter – but truly – if there is off-gassing from the mattresses we’ve always slept on – that could be a big part of why I always wake up congested or even have such high sensitivities in the first place. 

So I’d like to do what I can, as I believe healthier choices in all aspects of life can help, little by little.

Everything I just shared can of course be debatable, and is just a summary of the many many hours of reading I’ve done on the topic.  Go ahead and read more about this here.

REASON #2: ORGANIC LATEX MATTRESSES ARE SO COMFORTABLE!

This is a really good reason to buy an organic latex mattress!  I’m speaking from experience here, having slept on our latex mattress for a long while now. 

Our Savvy Rest organic latex is an absolute dream.  I keep calling it a “cloud of delight”.  I can’t recall ever loving bedtime so much.

The natural foam latex (that looks a lot like angel food cake) does such a good job at gently giving in to your body to offer pressure relief. Yet, it springs back and supports at the same time. 

It’s hard to explain. It’s just like a gentle hug to every curve of your body.

Since our bodies were accustomed to memory foam (having slept on that for years), Savvy Rest recommended to us to customize our Serenity mattress and then top it with their Vitality Topper.

Since my husband prefers a little more of a firm mattress, and I prefer it soft, we were able to customize the 3 layers of latex foam to our liking.

That is another amazing feature about Savvy Rest, is that each side of the bed can be customized.

There are 2 kinds of natural latex and they are called Dunlop or Talalay. You’ll see these names in other organic mattress companies as welL.

Each of these foams come in a variety of firmness or softness.

OUR SELECTED LAYERS FOR OUR SAVVY MATTRESS:

HIS SIDE (LISTED TOP TO BOTTOM)

• SOFT DUNLOP
• FIRM DUNLOP
• FIRM DUNLOP

HER SIDE (LISTED TOP TO BOTTOM)

• MEDIUM TALALAY
• MEDIUM DUNLOP
• FIRM DUNLOP

*Talalay is a softer foam than dunlop – which is why his firm side had a soft dunlop and mine a medium talalay on the top layer, and mine was still softer.

Since both of us suffer from a bit of lower back and sciatic pain when we sleep, adding the Vitality topper helped a ton with pressure point relief.

The Vitality is their softest Talalay foam, encased in an organic knit fabric that gently gives to the body – more so than the cotton encasement that surrounds the Serenity.

The Serenity with the Vitality topper made this the most amazing mattress we have ever slept on! It’s a dream!

I’ve been asked so many times in my blogging journey if I could recommend a mattress – and I’ve just had nothing to say but generic memory foam was about all we knew.  Now I just want to scream on my rooftop how amazing Savvy Rest is.  It’s so good!

FUN FACT: Organic latex is more breathable than other foams, so it does better at regulating your body heat.

REASON #3: ORGANIC LATEX MATTRESSES ARE SUSTAINABLE AND NATURAL

In reason number 1 we talked about what organic mattresses are NOT made out of. 

SO WHAT ARE ORGANIC MATTRESSES MADE OUT OF?

Organic mattress products all seem to add in different layers of things, but what I am seeing is that there are variations of the 2 natural latex products (Dunlop and Talalay) and organic cotton and wool.

I know you are familiar with cotton and wool, but it’s important that they are certified organic otherwise they have been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. Non-organic cotton is one of the most detrimental crops to our environment.

SO WHAT IS ORGANIC LATEX?

It’s actually made out of sap from the rubber tree.  Basically, sap is harvested a lot like maple syrup, and then whipped into a froth and baked. Super fascinating!

When you are shopping for a latex mattress, make sure to check what kind of certifications they are meeting, and that you learn about how they harvest this sap so you know if it is in line with sustainable forestry standards.  Savvy Rest’s certifications were super impressive!

A word of caution – not all “natural mattresses” are created equal.  I noticed right off the bat that some make “natural” claims for marketing purposes, but perhaps only 5% of their materials are actually natural.  So the terms “organic” and the certifications really matter.

FUN FACT: natural organic latex is easy to recycle and you can even shred it up and use it as mulch. Pretty cool, considering that other mattresses are quite a problem for landfills.

REASON #4: AN ORGANIC LATEX MATTRESS IS DURABLE AND CAN LAST UP TO 20 YEARS

Natural latex is going to last 2-3 times longer than other mattresses.  It is expected that if taken care of, a natural latex will last 20 years because it has such great shape retention.  View this page to compare organic latex with other foams.

This blows my mind. We have been needing a new memory foam mattress about every 2-3 years, even though I’ve covered them in encasements and protectors and done what I could to make them last longer.  They are supposed to last 5-10.

What happens is that eventually the foam doesn’t spring back.  It always ends up with a permanent dip where my hubby sleeps and then I feel like I’m sleeping on a trampoline with someone bigger than me, and both of us sleep terribly and wake up with back pain. 

We have gone about 2 years every time we get a memory foam mattress and then start wishing for a new one again.  I can’t wait to see how long we will be happy with our organic latex mattress.  If I’m still doing this gig in 20 years – ask me how my mattress is! 

As you might have guessed, whenever you buy “natural” and “organic” – it’s more expensive. 

With a mattress, invest in something that will last and is better for you and you’ll get way more time out of it and save money in the long run.  

If you are nervous about buying a mattress before trying it, check the company’s warranties!  I know Savvy Rest has a 20 year warranty!  They even have a 90 day exchange policy so that if you need to swap out your foam layers for something more firm or soft, you have 90 days to figure that out.  Pretty incredible.

REASON #5: POTENTIALLY FEWER ALLERGENS WITH AN ORGANIC LATEX MATTRESS

I kind of touched on this already, but it’s worth going a little further into, for our world that seems plagued with allergies.

Because the encasements or what is actually inside an organic mattress is likely to be organic wool, cotton or latex, these things are more likely to be hypoallergenic. 

If you or anyone in your household suffers from allergies, switching to an organic mattress, pillows and bedding just might help a ton – unless of course you know you are allergic to wool, cotton or latex. 

There is also the possibility that you are actually allergic to the chemicals often sprayed on those crops, and switching to organic might be the key to help you.  I’m not a doctor, but these are things I kept reading about as benefits to surrounding yourself with organic bedding while you are sleeping.

WHAT IF I CAN’T AFFORD AN ORGANIC MATTRESS?

While it is best to swap out your entire current mattress, if it is not an option right now, try an organic mattress topper like their Woolsy topper or Vitality topper. At least what your body is touching will be organic.

You can also swap out your pillows, sheets and blankets for organic options, to surround your sleep with a few healthier options.

And actually, if your current bed is uncomfortable – I highly recommend the Vitality topper. It’s amazing!

HOW CAN I SAVE MONEY ON AN ORGANIC MATTRESS?

You can click here and use my links and special coupon code to save 20% off any Savvy Rest purchase!

Use the coupon code “TIDBITS” at checkout.

Be sure to pin this post for later, and check out my YouTube video for even more details and glimpses at our Savvy Rest mattress!

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