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Best & Worst Organic Mattresses--The Wild West of Marketing Claims

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It seems like every day I’m seeing a new organic mattress company pop up in my newsfeed. And now that there are so many, which are the best ones based on ingredients, trustworthiness, and certifications? This investigation wasn’t easy because the organic mattress industry is really the wild west of marketing claims. How is an average person supposed to make sense of this? Never fear, Mamavation is here! You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like safest infant car seats, safest cookware, and safest small kitchen appliances, now join us as we take you through the best and worst organic mattresses.

The first thing to understand is when it comes to things like organic mattresses is they live in a nebulous world with very little checks and balances regarding what they can say about their products. That ends up meaning they can basically say whatever they want. The USDA doesn’t get into the business of certifying mattresses, so the term “organic” doesn’t have a meaning. Why? Well, the USDA is really only in the business of agriculture, and anything beyond that is the wild west of nebulous marketing claims. Are there real organic mattress companies? Yes. Who are they? We are happy to show you what we discovered in this investigation. But before we do that, let’s go through some basics.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Redhead Woman stretching in bed after waking up, entering a day happy and relaxed after good night sleep

Why Buy an Organic Mattress

Conventional mattresses are referred to as “100 lbs. of toxic chemicals” and that’s a great way to describe them. From petroleum-based polyurethane foam to dangerous adhesives and flame retardants, the conventional mattress industry creates a pretty toxic product. But the main reason to purchase a certified organic mattress is to protect your family from dangerous chemicals like the ones below:

  • Formaldehyde–this chemical is found in fabrics, adhesives, and foams. It off-gasses from the adhesives used and the petroleum-based polyurethane foam. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen.
  • Flame Retardants–these chemicals off-gas for years after the mattress is sold and are harsh endocrine disruptors and possible carcinogens.
  • VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)–Health effects range from headaches & dizziness to cancers and central nervous system problems. VOCs also bond to ozone in your home creating smog in the sunlight.

Another reason to purchase an organic mattress is that polyurethane foam is incredibly flammable. Polyurethane foam is also referred to as “gasoline” by firefighters because it’s made of petroleum and catches fire very quickly. So if you have a conventional mattress, fires are more of a problem. This is the reason why they have to add chemical flame retardants to the mattress to protect you. The video below will demonstrate what we mean by being more flammable. Here you’ll see a legacy room with materials containing cotton and wool with modern furniture made of polyurethane foam.

Organic Mattress Certifications & What They Mean

When you hear terms like “natural,” “organic,” and “sustainable,” remember these are unregulated terms. The mattress industry is like the wild wild west of marketing claims. Just because you hear the word “organic” doesn’t mean that you won’t find fire retardants, toxic adhesives or polyurethane foam. Some brands may use polyurethane foam and toxic adhesives with organic cotton on top. So things can get confusing. But there are some certifications out there to look for that can make some of this easier. Note, these are not all the certifications you can find on a mattress, but they are the most important ones. I put these certifications in order of importance.

GOTS certification logoGOTS Certified (Global Organic Textile Standard)

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification is the golden standard of the organic mattress industry. They certify mattresses, but they also separately certify individual materials like cotton fabric made by a cotton fabric company. It mandates that the cotton or wool contents used are USDA certified. They also determine how products are processed and manufactured and what chemicals can be used during that process. And finally, they also determine what other types of materials can be used with the product that is not organic like steel coils & zippers. This certification restricts fire retardants, but not all of them.

But here’s the catch! When you see this symbol, make sure the company’s name is on the certification. We caught some companies passing off one of their supplier’s certification as their own. Not the same. That’s like turning in someone else’s work as your own.

GOLS certification latexGlobal Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) Mattress and Components Latex

The Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) certification is a standard for organic latex and finished latex foam. The standard also determines what other types of processing and materials are prohibited. The product has to maintain a minimum of 95% certified organic raw material of the total weight.

made safe certification logoMADE SAFE Certification

MADE SAFE certifies that products are not made with cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting chemicals. The standard from this organization is one of the strictest in the marketplace. Materials in mattress products have been scrutinized by scientists and experts to ensure they do not contain harmful ingredients, off-gas dangerous vapors, or create byproducts that could impact human health.

OCS 100 logoOCS 100 Organic Cotton Standard

The Organic Exchange Certification Program tracks the organic material from the source to finished product. This certification gives you more piece of mind that the product contains what it says it contains. They only certify organic cotton or wool components of the mattress, not the entire thing. They act as a tracking system. This certification isn’t as strong as a certification as GOTS. A product cannot contain both GOTS and OCS 100 Organic Cotton logo on the product to protect the consumers from confusion.

green guard gold certificationGreenGuard Gold Certification

GreenGuard was recently acquired by Underwriter Laboratories (UL) and has changed the parameters of their standard. They no longer carry the lowest emission “Select” category and have introduced a more watered down “Gold” category instead. Green Guard is an air quality environmental testing company. They are looking into off-gassing of specific contaminants. But today they are no longer considering flame retardants, PFAS chemicals, phthalates, and microbes. This standard does test for about 350 common VOCs. We just wish they went further to get some of the worst offenders. Green Guard will certify the entire mattress or any of the components instead. More clarifications on GreenGuard limitations can be found here in their own internal document. Limitations-of-GreenGuard-Gold-updated-071218-1

 

STD 100 logoOEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Certification

The OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Certification is a European certification that verifies textiles are free from certain harmful substances like allergenic dyes, bisphenols, heavy metals, & formaldehyde.

certipur-us mattress certificationCertiPUR-US® Certified Foam

The CertiPUR-US® name and logo are registered trademarks of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc., a business league founded by polyurethane foam producers. They state that this certification was created by the foam industry “in close collaboration” with environmentalists, chemists, and research scientists, but any changes to the certification program can only be made with the consent of its board of directors. As of 2017, its tax filings indicate that every single member of its board is directly involved with the polyurethane foam industry. This makes it appear to be the industry creating a standard for themselves.

This certification does NOT mean that the entire mattress (or even the foam) is chemical-free, safe, non-toxic, or free of carcinogens. And polyurethane foam can never be certified organic. While this certification does ban certain substances (like CFCs) and they do conduct some testing for VOCs, the other qualifications they require might not make much of a difference at all. For example, they say that their certified mattresses are free from heavy metals and formaldehyde. However, they also admit that heavy metals or formaldehyde are rarely found in polyurethane foam in the first place. Here are their technical guidelines.

(UPDATE January 9th, 2020: We received two cease and desist letters from CertiPUR-US and adjusted copy slightly.)

Funny Business You’ll Find While Researching Organic Mattresses

During our investigation, we realized very quickly why the organic mattress industry is like the wild west of marketing claims. The amount of funny business made our heads spin. Here are some of the things we found.

Legal Claims are Nebulous

“Organic” isn’t a legal term in the organic mattress industry. Basically, anyone can call themselves organic. There are organic certifications, but they are private certifications, and the government doesn’t get involved. Because the government doesn’t get involved, there is no one policing what can be said. So buyer beware!

Companies Misuse Organic Certifications

Some companies are claiming to be GOTS or GOLS certified brands, but are not. This is important to understand. They are claiming someone else’s certification as their own. This took me some time to figure out, but once I started looking for it, I found it industry-wide. Some companies are passing off the certification of a supplier as their own. Using a portion of GOTS certified organic cotton isn’t the same thing as getting your factory GOTS certified. So that means it’s not a GOTS certified mattress. That only means that one of their suppliers is a GOTS certified producer. But why don’t they have their own certification? Getting their own certification would mean they would ALSO be restricted on other materials they used in that mattress. But with no certification, we can’t be sure what else is inside. It could be possible that 10% is from this organic supplier and 90% is something else. Certification makes all that clear. This is one of the reasons why we decided to use MADE SAFE certification as the standard for this post. That certification prevents all fire retardants from being used.

Some Companies are Still Using Fire Retardants, Polyurethane Foam & Adhesives & Being Coy About It

Some companies are using what they call “flame barriers” but not being transparent about those being made from fire retardant chemicals. In some of these accounts, the company says they don’t contain certain types of fire retardants, but doesn’t specify about ALL fire retardants in general. So in that case, what are they not telling me? In my research on online forums, I found that some companies have been known to put organic cotton covers over polyurethane foam. While other companies are saying things like they don’t use adhesives in between layers of the mattress, but never say anything about the 800+ coils they used adhesives on. These companies are being very coy about what they are NOT saying, so it’s all about what is not said. Again, this makes the MADE SAFE certification all the more important to ascertain whether they have problematic chemicals inside or not.

Why Would an Organic Company Need CertiPUR-US Certification?

We oddly found that some “organic” companies bothered to also get CertiPUR-US certification. The reason this is odd is that this certification is for companies using polyurethane foam. Wait, I thought an “organic” mattress didn’t have polyurethane foam? Hmmmm, that’s odd…

The Basics of Organic Mattresses

Latex Mattresses

All organic latex beds are a non-toxic alternative to memory foam made from natural latex sourced from rubber trees. Organic latex has great temperature regulation, good support for the back and shoulder pain, and has a good bounciness. They are also denser and heavier, making them more stable for heavy sleepers. But this mattress has no coils, so the bounce feels different.  Watch out for adhesives here because the latex layers may be glued together. Some people purchase latex from the belief that coil mattresses exasperate EMFs, but I’m not convinced this is true.

Spring Mattress Allergenic-Free No Latex (Coils)

This is a mattress produced with coils only. About 6% of the population is allergic to latex, so having a mattress free from latex would be an important thing to have. Most brands use adhesive to attach the encased coil, which we frown upon. The best brands will heat seal the encased coils to each other. These brands will typically use certified organic wool, organic cotton fabric, & organic cotton fill.

Spring Mattress Hybrid Combination of Latex & Coils

This is the most popular selection, combining the two different attributes of squishy latex with the bounce of coils. People typically want a combination based on how soft it is and bouncy it is. Again, because this is a combo, there are more opportunities to watch out for adhesives (glues), polyurethane foam & fire retardants. The best mattresses will have organic cotton fabric, organic cotton fill, organic wool, & organic latex.

Thin Mat

These are more like a thin mattresses. It’s not very popular, but I wanted to make sure to mention it because they are kinda neat. These thin mats are typically full of wool, cotton, and/or latex and can be stiff when placed on the floor.

Mamavation Investigation of Organic Mattresses

Mamavation looked at the most popular “organic” and non-toxic mattresses to organize them into simple categories based on all our research. If you are from a company and disagree with where you are placed, please send us verifiable proof you don’t belong there and we will be more than happy to move you. To be in the best category several things were considered: (1) a mattress would need to come from a factory that is GOTS certified, (2) if latex is in the product, the latex needs to be GOLS certified, (3) the entire product has to be GOTS certified, (4) all the mattresses they produce are GOTS certified and (5) they are not misleading the public.

These Guys Weren’t My Favorite

Organic claims are unclear and largely unverifiable. For example, one easy way to tell is to check to see who the certification is made out to. If it doesn’t have their name, then you know it’s not their certification, but a supplier’s certification. Just because some materials were claimed to be bought from an organic supplier doesn’t mean the entire mattress is a certified organic mattress. You can very easily test this out on the GOTS website to search for brands that are certified.

Just because a factory is GOTS certified, doesn’t mean that all the products that they produce are GOTS certified. Another thing we found in this category were companies only getting certified to produce mattress accessories, but not the mattress itself.

Companies that claim to be organic, but don’t have certification made our not favorite category. We have NO idea what claim is real or not. Without certification, we certainly can’t be certain about other problems like flame retardants, dangerous adhesives, or polyurethane foam.

  • Amerisleep
  • Awara Organic
  • Bear Mattress
  • Birch (GOTS certified for some materials only, but not mattress itself.)
  • Brooklyn Bedding
  • EcoCloud
  • Eco Terra
  • Essentia* (GOTS certified for mattress accessories only, but not mattress itself. Contains fire retardants.)
  • FloBeds
  • Idle Sleep
  • Layla
  • Leesa
  • Luma
  • Natural Home by The Futon Shop
  • Nectar
  • Pure Rest Organics
  • Saatva
  • Spindle
  • Zenhaven

The Better Guys

These organic mattress companies are better. They have all their organic certifications in their names. But because the mattress industry is as nonsensical as it is, we started to look at ownership and what the factories were doing as well. This list has brands with factories that are affiliated with or also sell other non-organic products. So in other words, they have one foot in the organic world and one foot in the conventional world.

So we looked closer at the mattress certifications and tried to match them up with the ones on their website. That wasn’t easy. Some of these brands had less certified GOTS mattresses than what is offered as products on their website, which is odd. Other brands had odd language describing certifications that danced around the finished product having other certifications but never mentioned GOTS. Either way, we prefer it when the factory is purely organic for peace of mind.

  • Avocado
  • Brentwood Home
  • My Green Mattress

The Best Guys

These are our favorite brands and we put our top favorite two brands upfront with discounts for you.  Every single bed sold by these companies are GOTS certified organic in a factory that only produces organic products. In addition, these companies meet the highest standards of nontoxicity and sustainable forestry management principles. These are the most recommended brands in the environmental community. Each certification is relevant to all the materials in the mattress. Each certification relates to the factory that produces the mattress, and not just any of the suppliers. We didn’t find any funny business or claims that were outside reality. These were the brands we would decide on personally.

  • Happsy— $800 to $2,000 (SPECIAL OFFER: $200 Off)

This brand has the ability to produce a GOTS mattress from start to finish. All ingredients used meet the GOTS organic & non-toxic standard. Happsy only uses GOTS certified and approved cotton, wool & latex. No adhesives used because everything that is attached is hand sewn or clipped or heat sealed.

This brand has the ability to produce a GOTS certified mattress from start to finish. All ingredients used meet the GOTS organic & non-toxic standard. Naturepedic only uses GOTS certified and approved cotton, wool & latex. This brand also sells baby & kids mattresses as well. However, that pricing is different. No adhesives used because everything that is attached is hand sewn or clipped or heat sealed.

  • Lifekind–$2,400 to $8,000

This brand has the ability to produce a GOTS certified mattress from start to finish.

  • OMI (Organic Mattress Incorporated)— $2,400 to $9,000

This brand has the ability to produce a GOTS certified mattress from start to finish.

  • Savvy Rest–$2000 to $4,000

This brand has the ability to produce a GOLS certified latex mattress from start to finish.

  • Mettabed— $700 to $1400

This brand has the ability to produce a GOLS certified latex mattress from start to finish.

  • Obasan–$2,000-$6,000

This brand has the ability to produce a GOLS and GOTS certified latex mattress from start to finish.

 

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[Update 10/30/20 Plush Beds was removed from the article pending reevaluation]

Which organic mattresses are the best? There's tons of marketing claims out there that aren't exactly true. More on Mamavation.com

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Vicki C

    Thank you for this website. You seem to be very well-informed in your research. I’m looking for a ‘healthy’ mattress and am glad I ran across this website. I will use your list as I shop around. Have you done any research on boxsprings or bed platforms?

    Reply

  3. John Snow

    I think you should update to include more
    info about fiberglass!! I had to buy a mattresses for my kid when she
    outgrew her crib and I was surprised to learn that many memory foam
    mattresses have fiberglass in them! The fiberglass is in loose strands
    and only contained by the manufacturer’s slipcover and after it gets
    released it goes into hvac systems and people have had to get rid of
    their homes or have them gutted to get rid of all the fibers! What a
    nightmare… So to help people I put my research about it on my
    computer/electronics blog if you want to check out the post https://www.jsnowcreations.com/?p=1995

    Reply

  5. Carly

    I am wondering about Plush Beds which was removed from your analysis? They show the actual certifications on their website. They have the best prices. Thank you, Carly

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      When we updated the investigation, their GOTS certification had discrepancies and was not in the GOTS database, so we are working with GOTS to figure out why that’s happening. We are not sure why the discrepancy but in the meantime, we pulled it and set it aside until GOTS investigates and gets back to us about the matter. The last person I had an email with was an attorney at GOTS.

      I wouldn’t say that Plush Beds has the best prices because they are only really selling latex mattresses. They aren’t selling mattresses for people allergic to latex or want to avoid that for whatever reason…and the other stuff is all conventional memory foam. Hope that helps.

      Reply

      • Asheley

        I have a Naturpedic mattress that I bought 7 years ago, and it is absolutely wonderful! I am chemically sensitive and have no issues with this beautifully made mattress. Queen size is extremely heavy, though. Looks like it’s made to last.

        Reply

  6. Tina

    I love your investigations, but I have noticed this time that you don’t have Soaring Heart organic mattresses on your list? They gave GOTS and GOTS certifications…

    Reply

  7. Liz

    This is an amazing article!! I have gone completely down the rabbit hole with mattresses and this helps so much! One question has to do with Avocado. It looks like they now have the madesafe certification and seem fairly transparent on their website. What are your thoughts on them currently? How important is it for a mattress to be made in an all organic factory?

    Reply

  8. Suzanne OBrien

    Hi and thank you for this blog! I work as a canine massage therapist and do lifestyle detox for pets and people (studied at Hippocrates Health Institute) and LOVE your blog because people need to know this stuff! What about Hastens? They’ve been around for ages, use horsehair and are (or were at least) all handmade. Very expensive and purportedly natural fibers. Curious. I have a 100% latex bed, bought a decade ago. Very comfy and toxin free. I have a wool topper on it.

    Reply

    • Birgitta Lauren

      I asked Leah to include Hastens …. i have never slept better. i never wake up sore anymore. and between horse hair, cotton and wool it cant get much more natural. Expensive yes, but with a bed for life it doesn’t matter.

      Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      I didn’t include that category because it’s so small. They were the only ones I could find doing horsehair. But they are not organic at all so technically they would be in the “not my favorite” based on this being about the organic standards. But sounds intriguing for sure.

      Reply

  9. Deana M

    Hi Leah. Is it possible for you to update this article? I notice it was written a long time ago. I see 2 companies on your bad list who now have Gols and Gots certifications in their own name and use all organic materials and there are a few top organic mattress companies that are missing from your list. Thank you. Deans M.

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Thank you for your comment. We have updated the post to include the updated actions and certifications by brands. The parameters we used have changed as well. We can do this again in late 2021 as the market changes again. But we’ve only included “organic” brands and not “natural” brands.

      Reply

      • Tayler

        Hi!! I know this post is only regarding organic mattress but what about brands like Luuf that are all handmade in Wisconsin of domestic material & claim to be non-toxic & especially great for children?
        Thanks for all your awesome investigations!!

        Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Tuft & Needle isn’t organic, so we wouldn’t recommend. Avocado vegan mattress has a fire retardant that is Made Safe certified. So it clears based on what is used. However, Avocado is one of those factories that does both conventional and organic mattresses, so they are not our favorite. Our favorite is among the brands that only do organic. Less to worry about that way.

      Reply

  12. Julianna

    I’m wondering if you have looked at Soaring Heart Natural Beds. I know they are a smaller company but they seem to be GOLS & GOTS. Also the manager at an organic mattress company in Philadelphia told me that the Okeo-Tex Certification was higher than GOLS & GOTS. But I have seen that cert on many things sold at Target so I’m wondering what this all means??

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      I wouldn’t make the statement that Okeo-Tex is better than GOTS…cause that isn’t in the realm of sanity. LOL But what I will say is Okeo-Tex has gotten better. However, we did find one issue with that certification the other day. They certified a chemical on Thinx feminine panties that tested positive for high levels of fluorine which means it likely contains a PFAS chemical. We’ve been following up with Okeo-Tex and have not been happy with their handling of that situation.

      GOTS still have rank here as a better certification in terms of organic mattresses followed by Made Safe. GOLS for sure if it’s latex.

      A “natural” bed without an organic factory certification would fall in the “not our favorite” category.

      Reply

  14. Nicole

    I’d be curious what you think about Intelibed. I’ve been looking into them for a while after a few chiropractors recommended them, but haven’t been able to figure out what exactly is in them.

    Reply

    • Darcy

      I was also looking at various videos for the intellibed. I also found many people post that their customer service was horrible when they had an issue. That was enough for me.

      Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Intelibed would have standard polyurethane foam and a mystery “gel”, which we would say no to. What are you getting? It’s proprietary so they don’t have to tell you. So my question is, do you really need all that negativity in your life? They won’t even TELL YOU what’s inside that mattress. The brands you have in our best category have 100% transparency so there are no questions about what it contains.

      Reply

  15. LiLi

    In the past, I purchased 2 expensive LifeKind mattresses – thinking that they were flame retardant free. The second one was purchased around 2013. When I finally realised that it was with flame retardant, I contacted the company and they said that they had stopped using flame retardant prior to my purchase. But, I do not believe that is the case. They may have changed their practice by now, but, I was truly offended. It is a lot of money to throw away on a company I had trusted and been loyal to.

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Actually we have that planned for later this year. There is tons more furniture companies that are not using PFAS and fire retardants now. That wasn’t the case years ago.

      Reply

    • MamaVee

      Confused why Obasan is on the list? Their GOTS and GOLS certificates are on their website, registered under their name. The mattresses are made in Canada. What am I missing here? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

      Reply

  20. Sada

    Wow…thank you Leah. This is amazingly helpful. Such important information here!!!! Thank you for a well researched and incredibly informative investigation!

    Reply

  21. Margaret Lawler

    Hi Leah,
    Thank you for all your hard work. Any feeling about the company Tuft & Needle? I am looking for a mattress for a guest room, so I don’t want to spend a lot, but I also don’t want a chemical bath for guests. They say the mattresses are CertiPur Certified & GreenGuard Certified Memory foam. They have a very good price. Any thoughts? Thank you!
    Meg

    Reply

    • Nicholas

      For what it is worth, I just got off the phone with them. They in no way claim to make ‘organic mattresses.‘ They use chemicals but not fire retardants. They claim to have tested theIt mattresses / chemicals and claim they are not harmful. (By their own standards) :-/

      Reply

  23. Peter

    How do you find Sleep Essentials?

    Thx.

    Having a tough time trying to find truth in this industry and most of the prices are ridiculous.

    We are looking for a latex, chemical free natural products and no metal spring mattress that

    won’t morgage the house is there such an animal??

    Reply

  24. Ann Light

    We are moving back into the US and need new mattresses for four bedrooms. I researched all listed and in the end I am going with Avocado. You must have pushed them in the right direction because all I see on their website is the required certifications from latex, to wool to cotton plus they have the Made Safe Certification. I can’t lose with a 1 year sleep trail and 25 year warranty! Way to go Leah!!!

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Yes, I just got an email from this last week notifying me about the change. I’m planning on looking into it this week and potentially revising their status. Stay tuned.

      Reply

    • Wrenn

      I love, love, love my Avocado mattress! I can’t believe how great it is. Even my husband, who complained when I insisted on buying an organic mattress, is convinced.

      Reply

  25. Anonymous

    Naturepedic was the absolute worse in terms of comfort! I hated that bed. It hurt to go to bed every night in that $6000.00 body wrecker and sleep stealer!

    Reply

  26. Stacey M

    This article has been super helpful in my search for a new mattress for my daughter. Unfortunately, I just came across it today and the Happsy discount expired on 5/31. Any chance you will be getting an extended discount code?

    Reply

  27. CJ Keel

    Thank you so very much for this super helpful info ( which is so hard to come by) I wonder about the company ‘latex for less’ and why it wasn’t considered? I am seeking an organic certainly but hopefully lower cost

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Latex for less wasn’t organic, but they do claim to use organic cotton. They don’t have their own certifications for that cotton though. So you have to trust they are using that. The latex isn’t organic, nor is the wool.

      Reply

  28. Amy

    I tried the Happsy link to get 15% off and the 10% didn’t work, only the code for the 5% off. Do you know if the max has been reached for this link?

    Reply

  29. Ali

    I purchased 3 mattresses for my 3 kids from Brentwood before you published this article. Honestly we can’t afford your top picks, do you think Brentwood is at least better than a conventional mattress or did we waste our money that we saved up for this purchase? Now I’m stressing that my kids are sleeping on something toxic!

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      We haven’t purchased one and had it taken apart to test what is inside. So I can’t be certain unless I did that. But I do believe that mattress is likely better than conventional.

      Reply

  30. Rosa

    hello, thank you so much for your research & your time. i was wondering if you could tell me anything about organic pillows ? do these same mattress principles apply, & if so where can i find a healthy pillow ?

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      This mattress has the CertiPur-US Certification. That’s the certification that goes to just about any conventional mattress. It outlaws chemicals they already don’t use anymore so it’s not as impressive.

      Reply

  34. Trisha

    What is it with all these brands pretending to have their own certifications? That’s so confusing for people like me! LYING BY OMISSION hurts trust you idiots! I’m planning on buying a bed next year and I’ll use this post to do it. These lying sacks of you know what will not get my money!

    Reply

  35. Twila

    As an employee at Savvy Rest, I would challenge you to review our company further as you have some facts wrong. I have been amazed from day one at the integrity of the company and the purity of the products. Synthetic materials are NOT used. Green washing is absolutely NOT in our DNA. We are both GOTS and GOLS certified.

    It is very disappointing that you give a less than “BEST” rating just because you “believe” we haven’t earned it rather than based on facts.

    Reply

  37. Joanna

    Searching for a healthy mattress was exhausting. I’m against latex because they eventually build up moisture and mold, anything with any metals so no coils, I did some emf training and I don’t need anymore convincing. Considering we aren’t in a permanent home at the moment, I didn’t go for the wool bed, but I will one day. In the meantime, I’ve actually made my own bed frame out of 2×4’s, my kid got an untreated wood frame from Ikea and I made my own mattress out of organic cotton stuffed with organic buckwheat hulls. It’s a lot of work, not convenient, it’s not a pillow top feeling, but you can breathe through it and I’ve been using this for a yr now and I’m happy with it still. But, it’s definitely not for everyone.

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Well, no one has been sued yet. Until that happens, it’s going to continue because the USDA doesn’t get involved in mattresses.

      Reply

      • Mark

        FYI: ‘Organic’ as a marketing term and consumer standard is highly regulated by the USDA. The USDA actually endorses GOLS and GOTS as part of the National Organic Program, which directly applies to mattresses. The FTC Green Guides provide clear guidance on this and other eco-related marketing claims. It is just a matter of time before they take action in the mattress space …

        Reply

  41. Pissed Off!

    WTF I just got a one of the bad brands. I thought they had their own certs! They represent as if they did and I wasn’t savvy enough to know the difference. Grrrr!

    Reply

  44. Christy

    This post is all over my feed! Thanks for doing this. I’m going to need a new mattress this year and will use your list!

    Reply

  46. Jackie

    I have done a lot of research while searching for an affordable organic mattress and found your blog to show some inconsistencies in your research. For example, Avocado does not use GOLS certified organic latex in their mattress, but they advertise having a GOTS and GOLS certified factory. This just doesn’t add up for me. I’d rather purchase from a company that is using organic materials even if their factory isn’t certified. I’m certain many of your followers would agree with me.

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      You’re correct. This is why they are in better, not best. But they DO have their own certifications, which is far better than just passing off someone else’s cert as your own.

      We actually had all that in the post if you read that part.

      Brands that are showing us a suppliers certification could be using other suppliers as well and blending…we would have no way of knowing.

      Reply

      • Jackie

        I read the post and I am still very confused though as it doesn’t make any logical sense to me! My question is – why would Avocado get their factory certified but not spring for the quality organic materials and be listed as “better”? It seems very miss leading to me as a consumer and after researching what could be included in “all natural” latex, I’ll pass. It just seems like they are trying to miss lead the consumer into thinking they’re organic and cut corners using cheaper materials. It’s interesting to me that the post says it is better to have a certified factory but not use certified materials then to use certified materials purchased through a supplier. Using the same logic as in the above response to me, who knows what is in those non-certified materials used by a certified factory? For example “natural” latex can have nasty chemical fillers. In my opinion what’s the point in getting a certified factory if you’re not going to use organic components other then to miss lead people. Then the post then goes on to question Savvy Rest for having a GOTS factory certification and being confusing to the customer (they do use GOLS latex by the way). The logic of this post is inconsistent, GOTS factory cert is okay for Avocado who doesn’t use organic components but confusing for Savvy Rest that does? I’ve personally reached out to several mattress companies falling in each of the three categories in the blog post and some not included and did my own research on what they’re using, company background, etc. I’ve narrowed down my own upcoming purchase to a few different companies but I defiantly don’t think your list is a fair representation based on my many MANY hours of research beyond just running company names against a couple of databases. It would be great to see a logical breakdown truly showing each brand’s pros/cons from a non-bias perspective as the mattress industry is super confusing (why I’m probably 40 hours of research in and still not quite finished). People could see the pros/cons and make their own decision without bias of affiliate links.

        Reply

        • Leah Segedie

          Thanks for chiming in! You’re kinda making our point with what you are saying about factory certification vs. using a supplier and not knowing what materials they are using.

          But I’m curious why you hate Avocado so much. Avocado is in better, not best. There are “best” brands that perhaps you have missed. They are lower down the page, just scroll. Savvy Rest also does not use GOLS certified latex. That was a trigger to get into best that they didn’t pass.

          Do you work in the industry by any chance? We’d LOVE for Avocado to get their mattress MADE SAFE certified so if you know them, tell them please.

          Reply

          • Melissa

            Leah, thanks so much for your hard work on the blog. I have learned so much by reading it and my family and I have benefited so much from the info.

            I own 3 Savvy Rest dunlop latex mattresses, so I was concerned after reading your post about them not being GOLS certified. I called Savvy Rest immediately and they were very kind and undefensive in their response. They pointed me to the bottom of the webpage about the Serenity mattress (which can be Dunlop latex or natural Talalay) and showed me where it talks about how their Dunlop latex is GOLS certified.

            I’ve had really great experiences with Savvy Rest, so I’m hoping that the info on this website regarding Savvy Rest’s latex being GOLS certified can be fixed so that accurate information can be made to the confused consumer (like myself).

            Thanks again for all that you do.

          • Leah Segedie

            Hey Melissa! What gets them into “better” and not best is their lack of factory certification for GOLS. They don’t have their own GOLS certification, they are relying on a supplier for that. If you click on the certification, it doesn’t have their name. That doesn’t mean anything bad, you just have to take their word for it. If they had factory certification, that is a very different meaning. That’s the difference between better and best.

            One supplier is GOLS certified and one is not. I cleaned up the language to be clearer about that. They DO have their own GOTS certification, but to get to the top, they would need factory certification also for GOLS. (Especially since the product is mostly latex and not cotton & wool)

            That’s the difference from better to best. When a brand has their factory certified, it’s very specific and tells you how transparent and buttoned up they are…and how much what they are saying is backed by a 3rd party.

            One added bonus to Savvy Rest is their lack of fire retardants. Lots of these brands are hiding fire retardants inside “flame barriers” and Savvy is not.

            As these brands have been emailing me, I’ve been able to get a closer look at fire retardant use in general. There are lots of brands hiding fire retardants inside “flame barriers”. It’s like a game when you talk to them. If you ask them “are there fire retardants in the mattress?” they respond saying “there are no chemical fire retardants inside the mattress.” Hmm, okay, so “is there a flame barrier inside the mattress?” and you’ll get “yes, there is a flame barrier” then you have to ask “are there any fire retardants inside the flame barrier” and they’ll have to say yes or no and you’ll get a better idea.

        • Ann Light

          Would you please share what you discovered on your 40 plus hours of research? Which companies did you find to be the best. Moving back from overseas in a couple of weeks and we need new mattresses! Everyone is a teen or adult.

          Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Hey Jackie! I thought this was an odd comment. And it looks as if this is a fake corporate account connected to someone at My Green Mattress, which was put on the “bad” list. How do I know this? Well, you’ve only commented on two other posts EVER on the internet and they were both on a blog owned by My Green Mattress.

      Not cool. Not cool at all. This is an independent evaluation of the industry and you just got busted!

      Reply

  47. Anonymous

    We bought a Saatva mattress a few years ago. WORST. MATTRESS. EVER. Already needs to be replaced. Our bed looks as if it has moguls!!! Will consider your top two in the near future! Thank you for posting! Sweet dreams!

    Reply

    • MamaVee

      Oops I just realized my comment was posted as a reply to someone else comment. Im sorry! Anyway to delete it?

      Anyhow, Im confused why Obasan is on the list? Their GOTS and GOLS certificates are on their website, registered under their name. What am I missing here???
      My daughter has an Obasan and I’m wondering if I should toss it and replace it. Please help!!!

      Reply

  49. Katy Flanagan

    I’m wondering if you looked at pure wool mattresses by Shepherd’s Dream? I have had their mattress, pillows, and other “toppers” for years now. They are all had made.

    Reply

    • Leah Segedie

      Okay, this is not the same company. I don’t believe this company that you are referring to has their own certifications. I could not find them on the GOTS database unless they are under another name. If you really like them I’d recommend you ask to see their certification papers. Smaller companies are harder to track down for us.

      Reply

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