Greetings!

I'm moving and planning to buy all new mattresses, pillows, comforters, and upholstered furniture. This brings up several concerns:

- Which non-toxic certifications are meaningless "greenwashing"? Is Certi-Pur actually decent in terms of toxic materials and VOCs, or does it permit plenty of toxic materials we just know less about?
- PRICE. How on earth do people afford genuinely non-toxic mattresses??
- Can you recommend a good (comfortable, long-lasting) brand of mattress, preferably foam, that is non-toxic and organic, or at least close to it, without chemical flame retardants?
- Shoemaker's website says you can encase a mattress and continue to use it, but no one else seems to agree with that. Thoughts?
- Mattress encasements seem like a good idea on a new mattress to keep it from harboring allergens, dust, mold, etc. Does anyone know of a full encasement (all six sides) that's not polyurethane, PVC, or otherwise likely to be off-gassing toxic VOCs? So many encasements only cover the tops and sides, which seems silly unless all you are protecting against is bed-wetting.
- Anyone believe that it's possible to launder comforters and pillows sufficiently to remove mold spores?
- Are there products that people have found to work for removing mold from bedding?
- Any thoughts on new upholstered furniture, such as a sofa? Low-VOC brands you would recommend, sans PBDEs?

Thanks for any and all tips, folks!

Sara, I remember reading somewhere but I can't remember where (likely paradigmchange) that memory foam products are the worst if they've been exposed to mold. I decided to avoid them in the future. I like firmer matresses anyway.

I googled it just now and this article came up https://paradigmchange.me/lc/mattress/

I have looked at information on mattresses a few times and found it overwhelming. No, I don’t know how anyone affords non-toxic mattresses, and some of them were reported to get moldy.

From what I recall, these mattresses are latex or wool. I don’t know that I’m allergic to latex, but with dysfunctional immune systems it seems it would be very risky for developing an allergy if you don’t already have one. That’s just my thinking.

The cost is very high. If mold is even vaguely suspected or likely, I wouldn’t be inclined to buy one.

That said, I still have no idea what I am going to do if I ever have a home to live in again. Most mold avoiders use camping cots with the pads until they get well enough to think about a mattress.

I’ve been sleeping on a toxic air mattress or sofa for about 3 years now. I don’t know if I will ever be able to live like a normal person again. It feels pretty hopeless right now. The house we bought is moldy and we can’t afford remediation and mold inspectors and remediators won’t do what I need anyway. What they will do is charge tens of thousands and still not fix the problem.

Agreed, 1000Daisies. Can you tell me which protectors and/or encasements you use for your mattresses and pillows? I think you're right that's a key piece of the puzzle.