How to Choose an Organic Mattresses (Plus What to Avoid)

published on September 9, 2024 By Leigh Matthews

Of the 200+ mattress companies vying for your dollars, only a tiny fraction are non-toxic and made with organic materials.

That doesn’t stop most publishers including toxic polyfoam mattresses in their ‘best non-toxic organic mattresses’ listicles.

Frankly, I find this incredibly insulting.

Most mattress lists are unreliable

These lists are supposed to help time-poor readers quickly find a genuinely organic, non-toxic mattress to suit them. And Google and co. help bump up these lists, so they’re the first thing we see.

They even get the attention of influencers like Darin Olien, who clearly didn't do his due diligence before linking to one list.

Why go to the trouble of curating a list that smacks of greenwashing and wastes readers’ time?

Oh… affiliate commissions.

Sure, Leaf Score gets the odd commission when a reader buys a product we endorse, but we will never promote a polyfoam product as non-toxic and try to convince you to buy it because we could get a kickback.

That’s the Leaf Score difference.

Earning (and maintaining) your trust is way more important than a few dollars here and there from companies polluting your home and the planet.

Instead, unlike most ‘Best of’ mattress lists you’ll find online or in print, our picks are all genuinely eco-friendly, organic, and non-toxic. There’s no greenwashing here; all reviews and picks are unbiased and impartial.

We also take the time to thoroughly consider each mattress's pros and cons, so we can curate specific recommendations to suit your body type and how you sleep. Check out our picks for mattresses best suited to:

One mattress you'll find on many (but not all!) of these lists is the Evaya Bliss. This is the Made Safe and Eco-Institut certified mattress we picked for our online store, LeafScore Essentials. And, hey, even we don't recommend it for everybody!

Why I despise polyfoam

Polyfoam, AKA polyurethane foam, has been the standard fill for many mattresses since the ‘60s. It is:

Mass-produced
Cheap
Easy to compress.

All of this gave rise to the direct-to-consumer bed-in-a-box phenomenon and a throwaway mattress culture that is horribly wasteful, expensive, and polluting.

Sure, these mattresses are cheaper to produce and ship and reduce energy expenditure associated with transportation, but they only last a few years at best and are an environmental nightmare from production, through use, to disposal.

They are also sweaty sinkholes that trap you in your sleep.

Polyfoam doesn’t breathe, whatever the sneaky marketing says. And that means all your body heat and sweat has nowhere to go, which makes for an uncomfortable sleep and a gross, rather unhygienic mattress.

These mattresses also lose a huge percentage of their mass in just the first few months and years of use. Which leaves you with an unsupportive, lumpy mattress and a whole heap of toxic dust floating around your home.

But organic mattresses are so expensive!

It can seem that way, but it’s not always true.

Usually, yes, you can expect to pay a little more upfront for a genuinely organic 100 percent natural latex mattress with organic cotton and no toxic chemicals. That is, versus a cheap and ~~cheerful~~ nasty polyfoam mattress.

In reality, though, the price difference is minimal. Maybe a few hundred dollars or less.

And because natural latex mattresses typically last far longer than synthetic mattresses, the natural mattress will almost always cost less long-term, in addition to being far healthier, and more comfortable for longer.

It’s also worth noting that the true cost of a good quality organic, non-toxic mattress is far lower than for a polyfoam mattress when you consider other factors:

Your health (and medical costs associated with poor sleep, back pain, respiratory issues, etc.)
Your family’s health
The health of the folks who make your mattress
The wider environment.

Are Casper and Helix mattresses non-toxic?

Nope.

Both Casper and Helix mattresses are made with fossil fuel-derived polyfoam. As such, we definitely don’t recommend them. On the fence? Read my thoughts on Casper and Helix.

So… what do you recommend?

Our top picks for the best non-toxic mattresses typically carry Made Safe certification and a raft of other key third-party safety and sustainability certifications.

Over the years, we’ve tried and tested many mattresses.

Hey, someone had to sleep on the job.

Our go-to brands for genuinely non-toxic mattresses made with organic materials include:

Evaya
Avocado
Naturepedic (and Happsy; its no-frills spin-off)
Savvy Rest
My Green Mattress.

Guess what all these companies have in common?

None of them make memory foam, polyfoam, synthetic latex products. Not even greenwashed CertiPur memory foam.

Still, while we love these companies for being genuinely sustainable, it’s hard to ignore the fact that many mattress brands have a gargantuan mark-up.

This is why we started carrying the Evaya Bliss at a discounted rate for readers.

Evaya is both Eco-Institut and Made Safe Certified. And you can get this genuinely non-toxic and organic mattress for less than the price of many overhyped, greenwashed, cheap and short-lived synthetic polyfoam monstrosities.

Evaya’s certifications guarantee the product is free of even trace amounts of harmful chemicals.

Shop Non-Toxic Mattresses on LeafScore Essentials

Use code ESSENTIALEVAYA for 15% off your order.

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