Organic Mattress

Looking for a non-toxic, eco-friendly, natural, and safe mattress made in the USA?

Here you will learn how to choose one. Keep in mind that the “natural” on a mattress doesn’t mean anything and even when a mattress claims to be organic may have only a few certified organic materials and that is not enough to make a safe mattress.

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We need to look at the most important certifications for mattresses and they are: the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and, for mattresses that contain latex, the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS)

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You will learn about the mattress components, recognize “green-washing” marketing tactics, and be able to make the safest, healthiest, and overall best choice for you, your baby, and your family.

You will finally sleep in an organic bedroom. I also collected the Best Organic Mattresses on the market with promo codes in each category:

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You will be able to remove chemicals found in conventional mattresses, such as flame retardants, adhesives, vinyl, VOCs, polyurethane foam,  isocyanates, perfluorinated compounds, and other questionable chemicals. When we shop for authentic organic and natural mattresses, we need to study their material. To make sure they aren’t toxic we want to start with their foams. Let’s start with the main mattress components to avoid:

Avoid Conventional = Toxic Mattress 

The most common beds are made of memory foam (flexible polyurethane foam), coils, or combinations of these materials. They can contain ozone depleters, PBDE flame retardants, mercury, lead, heavy metals, formaldehyde, or phthalates. Usually made with cheap and toxic foams like these: 

❌ Polyurethane Foam: this is the most common foam found in beds. These cheap, unhealthy foams are highly toxic, synthetic, polluting, and petroleum by-products, meaning they are derived from fossil fuels. Polyurethane is made from petroleum chemicals that can emit VOCs—harmful chemicals that can cause respiratory irritation or other health problems. Polyurethane is often mixed with other harmful compounds such as formaldehyde, boric acid, polyvinyl chloride, and other petrochemicals.

❌ Memory Foam: Memory foam (or viscoelastic foam) is another type of polyurethane foam with chemicals added to give it unique conforming properties. Both Memory foam and Flexible polyurethane foam are polyurethane foams. These cheap, unhealthy foams are petroleum products, meaning they are derived from fossil fuels.

❌ Polyester: another synthetic and petroleum product derived from fossil fuels. This foam is toxic and polluting.

❌ PFAS: synthetic fabrics that are often treated with perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) plus various anti-bacterial biocidal treatments and even flame retardants.

❌ Flame Retardants: the most common include brominated flame retardants, chlorinated flame retardants, and phosphate flame retardants. Brominated flame retardants are often added to polyurethane foam. Chlorinated flame retardants are often added to the fabric of mattresses, as well as to the filling. Phosphate flame retardants are often added to the padding of mattresses. Avoid also fire barriers made from fiberglass.​

Avoid Greenwashing Mattress 

Greenwashing is when a brand pretends to be organic, green, natural, or sustainable when it is not! Even if they say natural or even organic without a certification is hard to prove it! That’s why I don’t recommend any brands not disclosing or showing their Organic Certification. These certifications are very rigorous and expensive, so not many want to get through that or can pass their strict requirements!

❌ Soybeans Foam: this foam is derived from conventional bean crops and is usually full of pesticides, so avoid that too. 

❌ Plant-based foam: typically produced with a small percentage of soybean oil or castor oil mixed with petroleum chemicals. It is often marketed as “environmentally friendly,” but plant-based foams emit VOCs just like polyurethane foam.

❌ Polyethylene foam: Polyethylene foam can contain fewer contaminants compared to polyurethane foam. It can be made from petroleum-based or bio-based ingredients

​Certified Organic Mattress

You may just learn that your current mattress is toxic with unhealthy, greenwashing, or controversial material, so you want to replace it and upgrade to a safer organic mattress.  

While many mattress manufacturers claim to be “natural or organic” even when they are not, the only proof is their certification. Always look and also for the official organic certification, without that you will never know. Here is how to get the best organic mattress on the market!

They are the best, safer, healthier option for you and your family! These are the certifications to look at when shopping for a certified organic mattress:

Organic Mattress Certifications

They practice mission-based principles designed to promote health, limit environmental impact, and support social responsibility. These two are the fundamental certifications you need to look at!

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✅ GOLS Certification: The Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) is a materials and processing standard for organic latex and finished latex foam. In addition to the use of organic raw material, this standard also concentrates on human health, safety and welfare, and the environment in the manufacturing process of organic latex products.

GOLS ensures that a mattress with latex is made of 95 percent organic latex, with restrictions on the other 5 percent of the mattress’s components. Certified Organic latex mattresses may have both GOTS and GOLS labels. The best certification for a latex foam mattress. 

✅ GOTS Certification: The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the world’s leading processing standard for organic textiles and fibers, including ecological and social criteria, backed by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. GOTS requires that at least 95 percent of the materials in the mattress be certified organic, and it prohibits outright the use of certain substances even for the other 5 percent, such as chemical flame retardants and polyurethane, the chief ingredient of memory foam. (This is for cotton, wool material used in the mattress)

Additional certifications:

✅ UL/GREENGUARD: UL GREENGUARD Certification is a certification that less than 1% of all mattresses receive. It is a third-party certification program that tests for chemical emissions from consumer products and materials. Greenguard requires testing of a finished mattress for specific emission limits of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds.

These mattresses are certified to meet the world’s most rigorous chemical emissions standards and are UL Environment GreenGuard Gold certified against PBDE Flame Retardants, Prohibited Phthalates, Mercury, Lead & Heavy Metals, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 2-Methoxyethanol, Formaldehyde, Chloroform, Methylene, and 10,000 other harmful chemicals that can be found in traditional mattresses. These GreenGuard Gold-certified mattresses are tested and recertified every 90 days. GreenGuard Certificate

✅ Forest Stewardship Council® FSC Certified: The Forest Stewardship Council is an international organization that is dedicated to responsible forestry. They work to protect the environment and ecosystems within forests as well as the communities that surround and inhabit them. It not only works to protect water quality and prevent the loss of natural forest cover, but it also prohibits the use of hazardous chemicals in forests and protects the rights of local communities. Forest Stewardship Council® / Rainforest Alliance practices mission-based principles designed to promote health, limit environmental impact, and support social responsibility.

✅ Rainforest Alliance: The Rainforest Alliance is the most prestigious certifier of FSC forests. That little green frog assures consumers that workers and their families enjoy dignified, safe conditions and that wildlife and habitats have not been harmed. Rainforest Alliance Certified farms have met rigorous social and environmental standards. 

✅ OCS100: The Organic Exchange OCS100 Certification Program ensures proper tracking of organic material from its source to the finished product. It refers only to the percentage of certified organic materials, not to the presence of flame retardants, VOCs, colorants, or dyes.

✅ Oeko-Tex Standard 100 doesn’t ensure that a mattress’s fiber is produced organically; it does set limits for the emission of harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are linked to ozone, smog, respiratory illnesses, and memory impairment. It also bans the use of certain chemical flame retardants, colorants, and allergenic dyes.

✅ MADE SAFE®: certifies products with a rigorous scientific screening process that only allows the use of ingredients that are not known or suspected to harm human health, animals, aquatic life, or ecosystems. 

✅ Cradle to Cradle Certified™

CertiPUR-US: The CertiPUR-US® seal is your assurance that the foam in your mattress has been tested and certified by an independent laboratory to meet specific criteria for physical performance, indoor emissions, and environmental stewardship. CertiPUR-US is a certification that verifies the Foam used in mattresses is free of ozone depleters, heavy metals, prohibited phthalates, BPDE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), and formaldehyde, and meets standards for low VOC emissions. CertiPUR-US Certificate applies only to the polyurethane foam in a mattress. While other standards, such as GOLS, bar this foam altogether, CertiPUR-US prohibits certain substances that are in many foams (such as polybrominated diphenyl ether, or PDBE, flame retardants) and requires testing for formaldehyde and other chemicals. If you see this label that means you are buying a synthetic foam mattress. So avoid that!

Certified Organic Latex  

Organic Latex Foam is produced with latex harvested from organically grown rubber trees. It is made without the use of synthetic latex or fillers. Natural latex foam provides comfort, durability, and breathability. 

It is a plant-based material that naturally contours to your unique sleeping position while providing comfortable support. Additionally, organic latex has been shown to have a quicker recovery time, less motion transfer, and provide natural cooling properties. Certified Organic latex is the best foam option.

Latex foam comes in two versions:

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✅ Latex- Dunlop Foam: A mattress with an organic GOLS Certification means that it has the best foam around for a mattress. Note: Dunlop latex is denser than Talalay latex.  Note: Dunlop latex is denser than Talalay latex. Latex foam can be a healthier choice compared to polyurethane foam. Natural latex is a renewable material gathered from the sap of a rubber tree. Unlike polyurethane, latex is less likely to emit high levels of VOCs. It is also highly resistant to mold and dust mites and is more durable than petroleum-based foam. Look for a product that has 100 percent natural latex.

✅ Latex-Talalay Foam: made with natural rubber from trees. Talalay is softer and airier. There is no GOLS-certified Talalay foam but is still a natural choice, you can find Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Talalay Foam like in Savy Rest bed. 

On this page, you will find the Best Organic Latex Mattress on the market with a promo code and:

• Latex-free Mattress: If your kids are allergic to latex, here you can find the best approved Organic Latex-free Mattresses on the market! 

• Vegan Mattress: If you prefer to avoid animal products on your kid’s mattress here you will find the Best Organic Vegan Mattresses on the market! (wool-free)​​

The Best Certified Organic Mattress Factories in the U.S.

There are only a few dually-certified Organic Mattress Factories in the U.S.

These five manufacturers’ factories exceed the most rigorous testing and certification standards in the mattress industry. They pride themselves on being certified Organic Mattress Factories by both GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) certifications and verified by Control Union®.

These five manufacturers’ factories are Certified GOTS & GOLS

• Naturepedic
• PlushBeds
• Happsy
• My Green Mattress
• Avocado

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These two manufacturers’ factories are GOTS Certified

• Brentwood Home (GOTS Certified)
• Savvy Rest (GOTS Certified)

The Best Certified Organic Mattress Brands

On this page, you will find the best certified organic mattresses on the market made by approved brands!

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​My number one certified organic mattress brand recommendations is:

Naturepedic Mattress: the leaders in the industry, considered the king, and pioneer in its field of safety, eco-responsibility, transparency, and quality! Not only the Naturepedic materials are factory-certified, but the entire finished product is certified as well. There is not another mattress brand I can trust Naturepedic!  Made with the best and safest material on the market and the best method available!​

• 🌿 Naturepedic 15% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL

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