Help Choosing a Foam Mattress

QUESTION:

We want to get a foam mattress, but are confused about the different kinds of foam available. Can you just explain the difference between the foams and help us understand them?

ANSWER:

First, there are more than 150 different formulations of foams, so unless a manufacturer can tell you exactly what the foam is, you really can't find out what's in it.

But there are basically three kinds of foam with regards to choosing a mattress.

1. POLYURETHANE FOAM

This is made from polyol and diisocyanate. Both are petrochemicals. These are combined and passed down through a pipe into a nozzle head, Blasts of carbon dioxide make the foam. Memory foam is a visco-elastic polyurethane foam, still polyurethane. Polyurethane foams are typically very flammable and require fire retardants.

2. LATEX FOAM

This is made from natural latex (milk of the rubber tree) or synthetic latex (rubber made from crude oil). Almost all natural latex is processed into foam using sulfur.

3. SOY or BIO FOAM

This is polyurethane foam with some of the polyol replaced with soy oil, or is a mixture of soy with other oils, such as corn and sunflower. These foams are typically 5-50% natural oils.

If one wanted a foam mattresses, latex foam would be the best of the three as it is the only one that is not polyurethane.

This answer was provided by our friend, Debra Lynn Dadd. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home.

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