Do Puffy Mattresses Have Fiberglass?

If you’ve spent much time shopping for a mattress, you’ve probably run across the fact that many mattresses on the market today have fiberglass in them. You might think this is fine because fiberglass is in just about everything, but the reality is fiberglass in your mattress can be dangerous to your health.

The good news is that it’s easy to find mattresses that don’t contain this harmful material. It’s also possible to find fiberglass-free mattresses that don’t cost more than your car. The good news about Puffy is that it falls into both these categories.

The Puffy Mattress Brand

The Puffy Mattress Brand is the product of years of research and development in the field of cutting-edge sleep technology. These mattresses offer the perfect sleep system. Puffy mattresses feature stain-resistant covers, cooling foams, premium coils, and loads of other sleep technologies to make your slumber better. Best of all: no fiberglass!

To establish a mattress without fiberglass, Puffy uses a fire sock made of silica and rayon. Fire socks made of these materials are just as effective at preventing fire as fiberglass, and they’re much less hazardous to your health.

What is Fiberglass?

Fiberglass is a special type of plastic reinforced by tiny glass particles that make it stronger without compromising its flexibility. Fiberglass is just about everywhere in our environment. It can be used to make everything from insulation to brake pads to surfboards and even boats.

Most of the time, fiberglass in your environment poses little to no danger to you. This is either because you’re not going to come into contact with it, as it is an internal component of something, or because it comes in a structured and rigid form, like with boats and surfboards.

Fiberglass inside a mattress is a different story. Typically, the fiberglass found inside mattresses is called glass cloth. Glass cloth is made by creating threads of fiberglass and weaving them into a fabric. This creates a sort of sock that goes around the internal components of the mattress.

Why Would a Mattress Have Fiberglass?

You might be surprised to learn that many of the components of a mattress are actually quite flammable. To combat this and protect consumers from their mattresses catching fire, there are regulations in place dictating that all mattresses sold on the market must meet certain fire safety standards.

Fiberglass helps mattress manufacturers meet minimum fire safety requirements by providing a barrier over the flammable components of your mattress. The glass cloth sock wraps around the flammable foam inside the mattress. If the mattress ignites, the glass cloth will not burst into flame. Rather, it will melt and create a barrier that prevents further ignition.

The thing is that there are a lot of different materials that can serve this purpose. The only reason manufacturers would use fiberglass is that it is the cheapest fireproofing material available. This is why it is often found in mattresses marketed as affordable.

Drawbacks of Fiberglass

There are several major drawbacks of fiberglass, and they all have to do with its effect on your health. Fiberglass exposure can cause all kinds of problems. This is because when the tiny glass shards inside glass cloth escape the cloth, they can work their way through the mattress cover and get into the air or coat surfaces. Once that happens, it’s almost impossible to clean up fiberglass without professional help.

When this happens, the tiny glass particles can come into contact with your skin and leave microscopic cuts all over it. This results in rashes and skin irritation. If you breathe in these tiny glass shards, they can leave the same cuts all over the insides of your lungs and airways, resulting in breathing problems and lung infections.

Fiberglass particles can also cause eye irritation and eye damage. For all these reasons, it’s best to avoid mattresses that contain this potentially dangerous material.

Don’t think that the fact that the mattress cover is between you and the fiberglass sock means you will never be exposed to fiberglass. When it comes to glass cloth, it’s very easy for glass particles to work their way through your mattress cover, especially since you are constantly sitting and moving around on your mattress.

Benefits of Fiberglass

The reality is there are no benefits of fiberglass. Fiberglass is simply the cheapest way to make mattresses sufficiently flame-retardant. This means having fiberglass in your mattress might make it cost a little less, but when you consider the potential adverse health effects, it’s hardly an even trade.

Fiberglass Alternatives for Mattresses

The good news is there are plenty of fiberglass alternatives that are much less hazardous to your health and not all that much more expensive. For instance, vegan mattresses commonly use thistle or other viscose-based fabrics to make their mattresses more fireproof. Silica fabric is also a safer synthetic fiberglass alternative.

Probably the best fiberglass alternative is wool, found in many organic mattresses. Natural wool is not easy to ignite. Even if it does ignite, it can often extinguish flame internally, meaning it will not allow a fire to spread.

Even better, this natural material poses no threat to human health. It can also make an eco-friendly mattress more comfortable by adding an extra layer of breathability and pressure relief.

How to Tell if a Mattress Has Fiberglass

If your mattress has fiberglass in it, that should be listed in the ingredients. All mattresses are required to come with an ingredient list that allows the consumer to view the exact makeup of the mattress they are purchasing.

If you already have a mattress but no longer have any ingredient list for it, check out the care tag on the mattress itself. If the care instructions prohibit the removal of the mattress cover, it may be because there is fiberglass underneath. This is especially true if it was an affordable mattress.

You can also research which mattress brands and retailers have come into question for using fiberglass in their mattresses:

• Lucid mattresses
• Ashley Furniture mattresses
• Zinus mattresses
• Nectar mattresses
• Big Lots mattresses
• Amazon mattresses
• Vibe mattresses
• Olee Sleep mattresses
• Lull mattresses
• Leesa mattresses
• Some Helix mattresses
• Wayfair mattresses

Is Puffy a Good Mattress Brand?

Puffy is a good mattress brand. These mattresses are made in the US and feature foams that are free of chemicals that can harm your health and the environment, including:

• Ozone depleters
• Toxic flame retardantsVerified Source Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Works to control/prevent natural and manmade disasters.View source
• Heavy metals
• Formaldehyde
• Phthalates

They are also low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and contain no fiberglass. That means you can rest assured you’re resting on a safe and healthy mattress when you sleep on a Puffy Mattress.

FAQs

What are the dangers of fiberglass exposure?

The dangers of fiberglass exposure have to do with the glass particles themselves coming into contact with your body. If they come into contact with your skin, eyes, or airways, they can cause irritation and even infection in these areas. This is because they leave thousands of microscopic cuts all over the parts of your body that they touch.

Glass particles in glass cloth can easily make their way through your mattress cover as you move around on the mattress. This is why there is always the potential for fiberglass exposure in mattresses that contain fiberglass, even if these products are marketed as safe.

Should I get rid of my mattress if it has fiberglass?

If you find out your existing mattress has fiberglass inside it, the best thing you can do is get rid of it and replace it. However, this is not always in the cards for everyone. If you just bought your mattress or didn’t have the budget for a new one, there is another option.

Impermeable mattress protectors are made to keep water and dirt out of your mattress, but they can work the other way by keeping the tiny glass particles inside the fiberglass sock of your mattress away from you.

Can a mattress topper protect me from fiberglass?

A mattress topper can help protect you from the fiberglass inside your mattress by providing a thicker barrier between you and the fiberglass. Instead of just the mattress cover, you will have anywhere between two and four inches of foam between you and the glass cloth fire barrier.

This can make it a lot harder for glass particles to make their way to you, especially if you combine the topper with an impermeable mattress cover.

Do I have to pay more for a mattress without fiberglass?

You will almost always pay more for a mattress without fiberglass than you would for a comparable mattress with it. However, the difference between these two prices could be as little as $50 to $100. When you consider the health hazards of fiberglass, it is well worth a few extra dollars to avoid dealing with it.

What is the best fiberglass alternative for a mattress?

The best fiberglass alternative for mattresses is wool. Not only does wool provide a natural and perfectly safe fire barrier for your mattress. It can also help improve the comfort of your mattress by making it even more breathable and pressure-relieving. If you want the best in fire protection and comfort, don’t settle for less than wool.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a safe and comfortable mattress that doesn’t contain fiberglass – or any other unsafe material – you can sleep soundly on any mattress from the Puffy lineup.