Is there such a thing as green or organic memory foam? One of the newest trends in bedding (and almost every aspect of the household) is to look for a green or organic memory foam mattress. So, do they make an organic, natural, or green foam mattress? The short answer to this question is no. There is no way to make memory foam either completely organic or completely green. There are some companies however that are making memory foam products more friendly to the environment. There are several companies on the market right now that have this type of memory foam.



The problem that you run into when trying to create a completely green or a completely organic memory foam product is that the reason memory foam has characteristics that it does have is because of manmade chemical ingredients. Without these chemical ingredients added to the polyurethane foam (which is memory foam before it gets "memory") the foam would not have the visco-elastic properties that offer unparalleled support and comfort. The foam can have some soy based ingredients added to it (but it's usually only 5 to 10%).

The good news and all of this is that memory foam has shown to be non toxic and safe. However, if you plan on purchasing memory foam products make sure the memory foam in the products was manufactured in United States, Canada, in Sweden (Tempur-Pedic). The reason you want to make sure that it was manufactured in the United States, Canada, in Sweden is that memory foam created outside of these countries is often of very poor quality and can even contain toxic materials such as formaldehyde and PBDE.

The Initial Smell

Memory foam from United States, Canada, or Sweden is completely non toxic and safe. However, some people of noted that when they first opened the package that contains the product they notice a very peculiar type of smell. This smell can be somewhat frustrating because it can often linger for more than just a few days (sometimes that smell can linger for a week to a couple of weeks). The smell emanating from the foam mattress usually depends on the manufacturer.

Some people with allergies are concerned that the smell may trigger an allergic reaction. This is not the case memory foam is completely hypoallergenic. However, those that are sensitive to smells can have a hard time being around the product. If you're a person with a sensitive nose or you simply want to get rid of the smell there are a few things you can do to speed up the process of dissipating the smell.

You can open the windows in the room that the mattresses in and let it air out for a few days. Take the sheets off each morning and wash them. If it's cold out or too hot out to lead the windows open you can try sitting a bowl of vinegar next to the mattress or product. Vinegar can help destroy the odor. You can also set the mattress in your garage or on your back porch (or some were similar that's outside) and let it air out for a day are two. Just be careful not to let it get rained on or dirty. To eliminate the odor as quickly as possible you can try an ozonator machine.