Question from Nancy
I bought a Natura latex mattress over a month ago. It has been airing in a room with the window open, a fan running and the door closed. I find it still has an odor and I am sensitive to it when I go in the room. My nose itches and my chest hurts. Should I persevere and keep trying to air it? Is there a barrier cover I can purchase in Canada to block the smell?
Debra’s Answer
I find that latex has a natural odor that I personally cannot tolerate and it can last for years.
When I was a child my grandmother had a latex sofa that had a “funny smell” all through my childhood. Many years later when I smelled latex, I recognized that’s what it was.
As far as a cover, anyone have experience containing the smell of latex?
our natural latex matress is over 6 years old and still smells like latex. The odor made my face & eyes swell, so we let the matress sit to air out in an unused bedroom for 1 year after we bought it. It still smelled, so we wrapped it in 6ml polyethylene. That greatly reduced the odor, plus, we sleep with the bedroom door open for venilation. However if I close the bedroom door & return after a few hours I clearly smell the latex odor build up in the room.
I was so afraid of the smell, in my searches I found some that smelled like a tire store! Frustrating, sample or not – there is a big difference between a sample and a 6×5 slab of it. I know the organic and other latex products each have their own smell. I have an organic latex mattress, six months now, but I can only smell it if I pull back the toppers – all I smell is wool.
I have two toppers on my mattress – one is Talalay latex wrapped in wool, then a wool mattress pad, finally the other is a thick fleece of wool that is only topped by a sheet. If I pull back the whole shebang for airing then I could smell the latex, it’s grown fainter & I have a picky nose. I’m not even thinking it’s blocking anything, no troubles with allergies though, however the smell of latex is not a problem for me – the wool seems to be hiding it very well.
I hope you find a solution, sleep is so important.