Question from Laura
Northern Naturals carries moderately priced futons of cotton and Airlay foam. Are you familiar with this? I wonder whether it is greenwashing or an acceptable natural product.
Debra’s Answer
The Northern Naturals website says:
This explanation is somewhat confusing (I didn’t call them, I’m going on what they say on their website). They say this airlay-foam is made from cotton and poly fiber (I’m assuming that’s polyester), bonded together by heat. Hmmmm…foam is made by e-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g a substance and adding a lot of air holes, not by bonding it together. So this explanation of what this airlay-foam is doesn’t make sense to me at all.
There are a number of futon makers who make their futons more affordable by using various foams (usually polyurethane) in the core and then wrapping it with natural cotton or wool.
I would choose another option.
