Choosing a new mattress is an important decision considering that we oversleep about a third of our lives. If you are considering buying a latex mattress, you have obviously heard a lot about the benefits of sleeping on a latex mattress. But you most likely also came across a lot of different terms such as natural, organic, talalay, dunlop, pure, etc. Buying a latex mattress can be very confusing, who makes the best mattress topper for back pain however, if you want to buy a truly quality latex mattress, you need to know exactly what all the mentioned terms mean but above all, you need to know the difference between latex and pure latex mattresses. Synthetic latex is in reality synthetic rubber made up of a number of dubious chemicals which harm both the environment and human health mattresses. Now, would you really want to spend one third of your life on a potentially toxic mattress?
It is highly important to be aware that there are two kinds of latex. The first one is natural latex everyone are after for due to its unique qualities. It is all natural material obtained from the rubber tree. Then there is synthetic latex, a man-made substitution for natural latex. But what does this have to do with latex mattresses? Well, a lot because there is a huge difference between a mattress that is made from natural latex and a mattress which is made from the synthetic version.
You have probably noticed that there are very little or no mattresses which would be labelled as “synthetic latex mattresses”. And there is a good reason why just about all manufacturers of these mattresses intentionally leave out the word “synthetic”. The truth is that mattresses made from synthetic latex cannot compare to quality of those made from natural or pure latex. In addition to consisting of hazardous chemicals, synthetic latex is also less durable, does not provide as high level of support and comfort as natural latex and also has no antimicrobial properties. It does offer protection against dust mites, however, this is not due to its natural properties but due to added chemicals. A pure latex mattress which is made exclusively from natural latex, on the other hand, offers high quality support and is naturally resistant to mould, microbes and dust mites, and helps preserve the environment. Natural latex is obtained from the rubber tree but collection of latex does not harm the tree. In contrary to synthetic latex which releases a variety of toxic chemicals while it decomposes, a mattress made from pure latex does not have any adverse effects on the environment as it is completely biodegradable.
As you can see, there is a major difference between synthetic and pure latex mattresses. For that reason you should strictly avoid mattresses which are labelled as “latex mattresses” because they are made from synthetic latex. Instead, look for mattresses labelled as “pure latex” because they consist of 100% natural latex.
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