Question from Kelsey

Dear Debra,

Thank you for this website! My husband and I are preparing for the birth of our first child, and I have been using your advice to try and create a safer environment in our home for the coming little one.

We are on a very tight budget, but I made it a priority to “detox” our bed right away: we sleep on a Naturepedic mattress with a wool pad, organic cotton sheets, and buckwheat pillows. We do have a down comforter.

Baby will be sleeping in a solid wood co-sleeper with Naturepedic mattress pad.

My next focus has been our sofa. It’s actually a futon – this one: http://www.shop4futons.com/savannah-sofa-bed-futon-package.html

We bought it last summer when we married. It is definitely a compromise as far as toxicity, (versus a standard polyurethane couch,) but it was really all we could afford at the time. I am concerned about the cover, as it is poly-cotton. Would it be worth it to purchase a 100% cotton cover, even though the mattress itself contains polyester? We cannot afford a new mattress.

Debra’s Answer

Well, you took a step in the right direction away from a polyurethane foam sofa, that’s good. But it would be better to have a futon with natural filling and a 100% cotton cover.

The biggest problem with the fabric cover is the possibility of a fabric finish that releases formaldehyde. Most poly/cotton fabrics have this, but cotton fabrics can have these formaldehyde finishes too, if they are labeled “permanent press” or “no-iron.”

I’d replace the cover and the futon as you can afford them. When you get the cover, be sure there is no formaldehyde finish on the fabric.

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