1/3 of Your Life is Spent in Bed

If you’re getting enough sleep at night, that means you’re spending at least 1/3 of your life in bed.   And with your face pressed against your mattress or pillow, your exposure to whatever materials they’re made of is about as extensive as you can get without actually ingesting them. In particular, with a mattress or pillow, you are breathing in whatever VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) they are emitting. What’s a VOC? VOCs are a large group of carbon-based chemicals that evaporate at room temperature. While many people can smell high levels of some VOCs, many dangerous VOCs have no odor at all. And, many VOCs are extremely hazardous. The EPA has been very clear about VOCs and the dangers they pose to our health. According to the EPA, VOCs cause eye, nose and throat irritation, frequent headaches, nausea, and can also damage the liver, kidney and central nervous system. Some VOCs have been linked to cancer. Needless to say, they are nasty stuff.

Your Bed is Toxic

Since the 1960s, most conventional mattresses have been made of a petroleum-based polyurethane foam, formaldehyde, cotton treated with pesticides, and flame-retardant chemicals, which collectively have been linked to everything from skin irritation, nervous system disorders and allergies to lung, nose and throat cancers. Laboratory testing has found some memory foam mattresses emit up to 61 VOCs, including carcinogens like benzene and naphthalene.  In fact, several companies have recently been sued in class action lawsuits and prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission for making false claims that their mattresses don't contain VOCs and other dangerous chemicals.

Organic Doesn’t Always Mean “Organic”

Once I realized how dangerous VOCs are, and that they are present in places in my home I never would have imagined – like in my mattress – I wanted to find safe, organic low or no-VOC mattresses for my family. The more I searched, the more I found that many of the mattresses being marketed as “natural” or even “organic” are anything but. I used to think that if a product is marketed as “organic” it must actually be, well, organic. But that’s not the case at all – especially with mattresses. Many mattresses are called “organic” by marketers if they contain even small amounts of any organic materials, such as organic cotton filling or just a cover made of something organic.  But, according to the New York Times, no government agency regulates the labeling of mattresses as “organic” or “natural.”  So, what that means is that mattresses with just a little bit of organic cotton in the cover, but filled with toxic, polyurethane memory foam, or covered in toxic vinyl, or treated with toxic flame retardants, are often being marketed as “organic.”. I was tricked by some of these marketing gimmicks into buying a mattress that claimed to be “natural memory foam.” Memory foam, by definition, is not natural — it is polyurethane foam, mixed with additional chemicals to increase its viscosity and density.  That’s why it’s so important to check ALL materials used in your mattress, and it can often be difficult to get full disclosure from the retailers or the manufacturers.

And, that’s why we started Organique.

Certified Organique

Organique mattresses and pillows are made from the purest, certified organic materials available. So, you get the comfort and performance benefits of materials like memory foam, but without the all toxic chemicals and carcinogens.

We use only certified organic latex, certified organic wool, certified organic cotton, and certified organic kapok fiber in our products -- that's it. Our factory and materials suppliers have been certified by organizations like the USDA, the Global Organic Textile Standard International Working Group (GOTS), Underwriters Laboratories (GREENGUARD) and the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) administered by Control Union, among others.

We live in a toxic world, but your home doesn’t need to be. And, the 1/3 of your life that you spend with your face pressed into your mattress or pillow just got a whole lot healthier!