For anyone out there looking to catch a good night’s sleep, it invariably boils down tobuying mattress that is theright one.
While price and comfort are undoubtedly the two biggest guiding factors, certifications also play an important role.
It primarily has to do with using Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that are used during manufacturing. As such, they are known to break when exposed to room temperature and can dissipate as harmful gas.
Because some people are prone to allergies or suffer from a medical condition. So choosing a mattress by checking the certification is always a wise call.
However, with multiple certifications for a mattress, like GOLS Certified, Certi-PUR, Greenguard, and others, it’s easy to get baffle.
In this post, you will get to learn about six common certifications that can be found on a mattress.
6 Common Certifications to look for before Buying Mattress
1. Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS)
GOLS certified or Global Organic Latex Standard happens to be the very first standard to regulate natural rubber productions.
Pioneered by the international certification program called Control Union, GOLS certification is commonly found across products like pillows, toppers, natural latex mattresses, pillows, and more.
A product is said to be GOLS certified, if it uses at least ninety-five percent or more amount of organic latex. In case it uses any other fabric like wool covering or cotton, it will either be eco-INSTITUT or GOTS certified.
Both GOTS and GOLS certified mattress and products follow strict reserved standards across environmental needs, farming, manufacturing, and social test criteria.
2. Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
GOTS stands for Global Organic Textile Standard that acts as valid certification to check organic integrity of products, right from its harvesting phase, across packaging, and final labeling.
The certification is valid for both organic as well as inorganic offerings and comprises at least seventy percent organic product. Also, in the case of organic grade textiles, it is require to have no less than ninety-five percent organic fibers, or more.
All fibers that are naturally growing like wool, silk, cotton, bamboo are eligible to receive GOTS certification. Major textile products include blankets, table cloths, rugs, bedsheets, etc.
3. Greenguard/Greenguard Gold
Products with Greenguard certification are tested for no less than ten thousand chemicals, as well as VOC emissions. In other words, all products with a Greenguard certification promise low VOC emissions for much cleaner air inside your room.
Greenguard Gold, as the name suggests, is a certification that is one notch above the standard Greenguard certified products. It’s particularly handy in cases when Greenguard certification standards fail to cover certain chemical contaminants. Take formaldehyde levels for instance. In a typical Greenguard Gold Certified product, the formaldehyde level has to rest lower than 7.3 ppb, which is in stark comparison to a 50 ppb limit for Greenguard Certification.
4. Oeko-Tex Standard 100
Oeko-Tex Standard 100 refers to one of the best-known product certification levels applicable to all raw textile material. Both are intermediate, as well as the final one.
The certification covers several human-ecological attributes, along with harmful substances that are strictly prohibits by law, and parameters follow to safeguard general health at large.
It has a pre-set product class for each kind of materials;
- Class I:
Materials meant for toddlers up to three years of age.
- Class II:
For textile materials coming in direct contact with skin.
- Class III:
For materials that form minor skin contact.
- Class IV:
Comprising furnishings and decorative stuff.
5. Certipur-US
CertiPUR-US certification is reserve for mattresses that use memory foam. It is also applicable equally for all furnishings that are known to contain polyurethane foam that has been tested to qualify over certain characteristics that include :
- No presence of ozone depleters or heavy metals like lead or mercury
- Low on VOC’s
- No formaldehyde or Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)
All those who are concerned about the indoor air quality, especially when you have infants at home, should check for a CertiPUR-US certification when buying a new mattress.
6. USDA Certified Organic
For a mattress to bear the USDA Certified Organic seal, it should be using no less than ninety-five percent organic materials. Additionally, the finished product should process without using any potentially harmful chemicals.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as the Federal Trade Commission, any piece of clothing or fabric that calls itself “organic” will have to mandatorily make use of organic fibers that come from crops that are USDA certified, like flax or cotton.
Compared to all other certifications, there are only a handful of companies that meet the USDA Certified organic certification standards. Incidentally, the regulation for this particular certification is pretty flaccid.
Wrap up
From GOLS certified to USDA Certified Organic, there goes your ready reckoner to keep confusion at bay when buying a new mattress.
If you are still in doubt, always check back on the details of each certification, and what they stand for.
No matter what kind of mattress buying by you, always ensure to bring home something that doesn’t use any toxic materials and is not harmful to the indoor air that you breathe in.