Protect Your Health with Organic Mattresses and Pillows

You spend most of your life in your bed, but is it safe? You might hope so, but the truth is that your conventionally made cotton sheets and blankets and synthetic memory foam pillows are releasing toxic chemicals into your bedroom that can put your health at risk.

If you have allergies, asthma, or health symptoms that you can’t explain, swapping your traditional bedding and pillows for organic can make a big difference. Organic bedding and pillows are made with natural latex, organic cotton, and organic wool. These materials are naturally chemical-free, produced with little to no pesticides, and sustainably sourced.

Conventional Mattresses Are Toxic

If you’re still using traditional bedding, you’ll be sleeping in a casserole full of toxic chemicals every night. Pillows made with traditional, synthetic polyurethane foam and synthetic latex have been found to release volatile organic compounds (VoCs), which have been linked to a variety of ailments, including respiratory symptoms, asthma attacks, neurological problems, vision impairment, cognitive impairment, and cancer.

The cotton in your conventionally produced sheets and pillowcases is grown using heavy doses of pesticides—just 9 ounces of cotton, the size of the cotton in a T-shirt, requires 17 teaspoons of pesticides to grow. These pesticides, defoliants, herbicides, and insecticides remain in the cotton fibers after harvesting and eventually make their way into your mattress. Organic cotton sheets and pillows are much more breathable than synthetic sheets that are high in chemicals, and they don’t contain any chemicals to block your breathing or absorb into your body’s largest organ, your skin, while you sleep.

Switch to Organic Mattresses and Pillows

No matter how bad your sheets and pillows are, you can be sure that your conventionally manufactured mattress is worse. Mattresses contain more polyurethane, synthetic latex, and pesticide-soaked cotton than a small pillow or a set of sheets. But a new mattress is an investment, and you can't necessarily switch yours just because you find out it's poisoning you.

By swapping your regular pillow for an organic one and your sheets for organic sheets, you can at least reduce the chemicals you have to sleep in. Since cotton crops require so much pesticide and account for a large portion of pesticide use worldwide, anything we can do to reduce the amount of conventionally grown cotton will be a benefit.

Organic cotton sheets are more breathable than regular sheets because they don’t contain as many chemicals. If you or someone in your family has sensitive skin, you’ll find that organic cotton sheets can help soothe the skin and even help your skin look fresher and more hydrated throughout the day. This is because you won’t be putting chemicals all over your skin when you wrap yourself in your sheets at night.

Organic pillows, in particular, can open up an exciting new world of comfort. If you love a memory foam pillow but aren’t sold on the toxic chemicals they release (and really, who would be?), you should try a natural latex pillow. Natural latex foam is available in a wide range of firmnesses. It’s naturally resistant to dust mites, so it’s less likely to accumulate the human allergens Der P1 and Der P5, which dust mites excrete in their feces. It’s also antibacterial and antifungal, and aside from a slight rubbery smell found in some latex foams, it’s virtually odorless.

Latex isn’t your only option, though. If you like a soft, fluffy pillow but want to separate the birds a bit, kapok pillows are a good solution. Kapok, also called silk cotton, is a soft, fluffy fiber that’s naturally moisture- and dust-mite-resistant. If you’re a side sleeper and need support for your head, opt for a buckwheat pillow. And if you need a moisture-wicking, temperature-regulating pillow, opt for wool for its natural ability to keep you cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and wick moisture away from your skin. Wool is naturally flame retardant and resistant to dust mites.

You may not be able to get an organic mattress, but simply swapping out your traditional bedding and pillows for organic ones can alleviate health complaints related to chemical off-gassing and make your bed a safer, more comfortable place to be. It's worth it.