Do Purple Mattresses Contain Fiberglass?

The Purple Mattress is one of the most popular mattresses on the current market, and with good reason. It’s cooling, responsive, and offers several different options for support.

While you may be concerned that Purple Mattresses contain fiberglass because of their gel top layer, the truth is you don’t have to worry about it at all. Purple Mattresses are made using safer and better alternatives than fiberglass.

The Purple Mattress Brand

The Purple Mattress brand offers a unique technology for keeping their beds cool and making them more responsive – the Purple Grid.

The Purple Grid is made of a hyperelastic polymer gel that bounces back as soon as you move and also works to draw heat away from your body while you sleep. The Grid features square cutouts that make it about 80 percent air. That means it’s moisture-wicking and breathable as well as thermally conductive, establishing a cooling mattress.

What is Fiberglass?

Fiberglass is a special type of plastic that’s reinforced with tiny glass fibers. The glass fibers make the plastic extremely strong and resilient without compromising its flexibility.

Fiberglass is not just resilient, it’s also highly versatile. Just about everything you can think of can either be made of fiberglass or feature fiberglass components. Fiberglass is in your car, fiberglass is in the insulation of your house, and fiberglass might even be inside your mattress.

SEE ALSO: Softest Mattress in a Box

Silica: A Safer Alternative in Mattresses

Silica, or silicon dioxide, is a natural compound made of silicon and oxygen, commonly found in sand, quartz, and various living organisms.

It’s an abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust and is used in a variety of industrial and commercial products, including glass, ceramics, and even in the food and pharmaceutical industries as an additive.

In mattresses, silica is often used as a safer alternative to fiberglass. When processed and woven into fabrics, silica can also serve as an effective flame retardant. 

This is because silica has a high melting point and doesn’t easily catch fire, making it an ideal material for enhancing fire safety in products without introducing the health risks associated with fiberglass.

silica is a safer and more effective alternative to fiberglass in mattresses. Unlike fiberglass, which can release harmful particles that cause skin irritation and respiratory issues, silica remains stable and non-toxic. 

It provides excellent fire protection without compromising comfort or safety. Additionally, silica is more environmentally friendly, making it a superior choice for both health and sustainability.

Why Purple Mattresses Choose Silica Over Fiberglass

Purple Mattresses prioritize your health and comfort, so they opt for silica over fiberglass as a fire retardant. Fiberglass, while commonly used in cheaper mattresses, poses significant health risks. 

If disturbed, fiberglass can release tiny, sharp particles into the air that can cause skin irritation, respiratory problems, and eye discomfort. These particles are difficult to clean up and can linger in your home, creating long-term hazards.

Silica, on the other hand, offers a safer solution. It’s a natural material that doesn’t carry the same risks as fiberglass. When woven into a fabric, silica provides excellent fire protection without the danger of releasing harmful particles. 

This ensures that Purple Mattresses meets stringent fire safety standards while maintaining a safe sleep environment for you and your family.

Moreover, silica’s stability and durability mean it won’t break down over time, preserving the mattress’s quality and safety. 

By choosing silica, Purple Mattresses deliver not just comfort but peace of mind, knowing that your mattress is free from the potential dangers of fiberglass.

Why Would a Mattress Have Fiberglass?

Fiberglass is so versatile that it can actually be spun into a yarn that is then woven into a fabric known as glass cloth. Glass cloth is often used in cheap and lower-quality mattresses as a fire barrier.

Many of the ingredients inside most mattresses are highly flammable. This is especially true of synthetic fabrics and foams, which can ignite with surprising ease. For this reason, all mattresses made in the U.S. are legally required to pass certain regulations for fire safety. Having a flame retardant directly under the cover is one of these regulations.

Fiberglass cannot ignite. Rather, if it’s exposed to heat, it will melt. This creates a barrier over the foam that prevents it from bursting into flame. However, considering all of the health threats posed by fiberglass, mattress manufacturers often look to safer alternatives.

What Exactly does Fiberglass Look Like When It’s In A Mattress?

Fiberglass in a mattress is typically hidden from view, embedded beneath the outer layers and cover. It often appears as a fine, woven material or fabric that may resemble thin, silvery threads or a mesh. 

This material is usually used as a fire barrier, layered between the mattress’s foam or fabric components and the outer cover.

While you won’t see the fiberglass directly when the mattress is intact, it’s important to know that it can become visible if the mattress cover is removed or if the cover gets torn or damaged. 

When exposed, fiberglass looks like tiny, shiny glass fibers that can spread easily into the air or onto surfaces. This exposure can cause significant health concerns, as these tiny fibers can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system.

To avoid these risks, it’s crucial never to remove the mattress cover or attempt to handle any exposed fiberglass. 

Instead, if your mattress contains fiberglass and shows signs of wear, it’s best to use a mattress protector or consider replacing the mattress altogether.

Drawbacks of Fiberglass

There are several major health threats that come along with fiberglass exposure. When fiberglass is uncovered and exposed to the air, it can release millions upon millions of tiny glass particles into the air. These particles may float around or coat surfaces. Floating particles can even get into ventilation systems and be circulated back into the air over and over.

When you’re exposed to fiberglass particles, you may experience a range of symptoms. Getting them on your skin can cause rashes and skin irritation. Getting them in your eyes can cause symptoms of dry eye and even blurred vision. And breathing them can lead to chronic lung infection and breathing problems.

All this happens because the tiny glass particles cause thousands of microscopic cuts all over the parts of your body that get exposed to them.

The bad news is that it’s easier than you might think to be exposed to fiberglass in your mattress. For example, if you remove the cover to wash it, this will immediately release fiberglass particles. Fiberglass particles may also get released if the mattress cover becomes worn or torn.

Shipping mattresses in a box can also cause fiberglass particles to be released even in a brand-new mattress because rolling a mattress and crushing it into a box may tear the sock inside. This allows the fiberglass particles to work their way through the cover.

Benefits of Fiberglass

The reality is there aren’t any benefits to having fiberglass inside a mattress. The only benefit of fiberglass is that it is the cheapest way for mattress manufacturers to meet fire safety regulations. This can result in a cheaper mattress, but when the tradeoff of that cheaper mattress is your health, it’s best to just pay a little more.

Rethinking Mattress Materials: A Closer Look at Fiberglass

Fiberglass has become a popular choice among mattress manufacturers as a fire retardant in recent years. This shift in material choice has sparked significant debate due to emerging health and safety concerns associated with its use.

Fiberglass, while effective at preventing fire, poses potential risks when it escapes from the mattress. Dr. Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D. from the Environmental Working Group, points out that fiberglass exposure can lead to a range of health issues.

These include skin irritations, rashes, respiratory problems, sore throats, and persistent coughing.

One of the primary concerns is that fiberglass can inadvertently spread from the mattress into the home environment. There have been alarming reports of fiberglass escaping from mattresses when covers are removed for cleaning, turning a routine task into a hazardous situation.

For example, a family in Prescott Valley faced a distressing situation when the fiberglass in their mattress leaked out. The fallout was extensive, with fiberglass contaminating the mattress and the family’s clothing, furniture, carpets, bed sheets, and even toys.

The extensive damage forced them to discard valuable household items, as cleaning them proved impossible, and their children suffered health complications from the exposure.

While manufacturers often recommend that mattress covers not be removed and instead suggest spot cleaning, many people are tempted to wash them when they see a zipper.

This can lead to problems even when the cover is intact, as fiberglass particles can still escape through small openings or degrade over time.

The concerns over fiberglass in mattresses have led to a rise in class action lawsuits against manufacturers.

Consumer Product Safety Commission reports indicate more than 50 recent complaints about fiberglass-related issues in various mattress brands.

This growing number of complaints highlights the need for consumers to be more informed about the materials used in their mattresses and to consider alternative, safer options.

As the debate continues, it’s clear that rethinking mattress materials and exploring safer fire retardant options is essential for both health and safety.

How Purple Mattresses Ensure Safety Without Using Fiberglass

With the question about a safer sleep environment while sleeping on Purple mattresses in mind, here’s the relaxer: Yes, Purple mattresses are safe to sleep on. 

They are designed with health and safety in mind, particularly by avoiding the use of potentially harmful materials like fiberglass, which is a common but risky component in some other mattresses. 

Instead, Purple uses a specialized silica fabric as a fire retardant, which is both non-toxic and effective. 

This silica fabric is woven to prevent the release of harmful particles into the air, ensuring that the mattress remains safe even with long-term use.

Purple mattresses also undergo rigorous testing and are certified by Clean Air GOLD, meaning they do not contain any harmful chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or formaldehyde that could be detrimental to health. 

The Purple Grid, a vital feature of these mattresses, is made from a hyper-elastic polymer gel that is free from fiberglass and other harmful substances. 

This combination of materials and design ensures that Purple mattresses offer a safe and healthy sleeping environment.

Fiberglass Alternatives for Mattresses

There are actually several natural fiberglass alternatives that mattress companies commonly used to meet fire safety standards without including this dangerous material in their mattresses. You have silk, and thistle, and other plant-based materials. But the most common and potentially the best natural fire retardant for mattresses is wool.

Wool is very difficult to ignite. Even if it does ignite, it’s often capable of internally extinguishing flame without allowing it to spread. Furthermore, wool actually increases the comfort of the mattress by adding an extra layer of pressure relief and breathability underneath the cover. And it’s not that expensive or difficult to source either!

How to Tell if a Mattress Has Fiberglass

Manufacturers are required by law to list their ingredients on a label or white sheet accompanying their mattresses. So the easiest way to determine if your mattress has fiberglass inside it is to look at the ingredients label. This label should tell you whether or not fiberglass is inside your mattress and what percentage of the mattress is made of fiberglass.

If you don’t have a label, look at the care instructions for the mattress. Many times these will be on the tag of the cover itself. If the tag warns against removing the cover, you should suspect the mattress has a fiberglass fire barrier underneath.

You can also keep in mind the mattress brands and sellers that have come into question for their use of fiberglass:

• Ashley Furniture Mattresses
• Lucid Mattresses
• Zinus Mattresses
• Nectar mattresses
• Casper mattresses
• Big Lots mattresses
• Amazon mattresses
• Vibe mattresses
• Olee Sleep mattresses
• Leesa mattresses

Is Purple a Good Mattress Brand?

Purple is a good mattress brand. Not only is the Purple Grid a unique and enjoyable solution to mattress overheating and body impression problems. Purple also avoids using fiberglass as a fire barrier in any of their mattresses.

Instead, Purple uses a specialized silica fabric fire retardant inside their mattresses. The silica fiber is woven into a yarn cocoon so that no part of the silica itself is exposed to the surface of the cloth.

This ensures your skin cannot come into contact with the silica itself. Even if you do wind up contacting the silica fibers, silica is not toxic when it contacts the skin. And, unlike fiberglass, this silica yarn cannot be released into the air.

Of course, you’re free to consider Purple mattress alternatives. Just because a bed is well-crafted doesn’t mean it will suit your sleeping style, after all.

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SEE ALSO: Purple Mattress Black Friday Sales

FAQs

Does the Purple Grid contain fiberglass?

No part of the Purple Mattress lineup contains fiberglass. The Purple Grid is a hyperelastic gel polymer, which does not contain any fiberglass. Furthermore, Purple uses a specialized silica fabric as a fire barrier over its mattresses’ internal components. This silica fabric is still a synthetic material, but it is much safer than fiberglass and will not cause health problems.

What is the best fiberglass alternative for a mattress?

The best non-fiberglass fire barrier for a mattress is likely wool. This natural textile is almost impossible to ignite without some kind of accelerant. Furthermore, wool is very good at extinguishing flame internally.

This means that even if one small part of a wool garment ignites, it’s very unlikely that the entire garment will burn. This translates into a superior fire retardant for mattresses. Best of all, wool also increases the comfort of your sleep surface by adding an extra layer of breathability and pressure relief underneath the cover.

Is it the case that Purple mattresses contain any harmful chemicals?

No, Purple mattresses do not contain harmful chemicals. They are designed with your health in mind and are certified by Clean Air GOLD. 

This certification ensures that Purple mattresses are free from toxic substances, including harmful chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could negatively impact your health or the environment. 

Purple is committed to using safe materials that provide comfort without compromising safety.

Is formaldehyde included in Purple mattresses?

No, Purple mattresses do not contain formaldehyde. Although they are made from a combination of synthetic and natural materials, Purple ensures that none of these materials include formaldehyde. 

This attention to material safety means you can rest easy knowing your mattress is free from this potentially harmful chemical, offering a safe and healthy sleep environment.

Are mattresses containing fiberglass dangerous?

Mattresses that contain fiberglass can absolutely be dangerous. Fiberglass can easily work its way through the cover of a mattress and coat your sleep surface in tiny shards of glass. This can leave you with thousands of microscopic cuts all over your skin, eyes, and airways.

This means you can experience irritation and more serious symptoms in all three of these major body systems. For this reason, it’s better to avoid mattresses that contain fiberglass.

Why would a mattress need fiberglass?

The only reason that any mattress would ever contain fiberglass is fire protection. Many of the most common materials used to make mattresses are highly flammable. This means the chances of your mattress igniting while you’re sleeping on it are unacceptably high without some sort of fire mitigation.

Fiberglass is the cheapest option to prevent mattress foams and fabrics from igniting. And this is why it is woven underneath the covers of cheaper mattresses.

Can I remove the fiberglass in my mattress on my own?

You should avoid trying to remove the fiberglass inside your mattress on your own. Not only can you expose yourself to fiberglass, causing multiple symptoms that can be long-lasting. You can also unintentionally make your mattress much more flammable by removing its only fire protection.

If you have a mattress containing fiberglass and can’t afford to replace it, use an impermeable mattress protector instead. Mattress protectors are made to prevent dirt and moisture from making their way into your mattress, but a mattress protector can also prevent fiberglass particles from escaping your mattress at the same time.

Bottom Line

With all the alternatives out there, there’s really no reason to purchase a mattress containing fiberglass. These mattresses are the cheapest of the cheap and can expose you to multiple health risks. It’s better to choose a mattress without fiberglass from the start.

The good news is you’re free as a bird when it comes to purchasing a Purple Mattress because Purple mattresses are entirely free of fiberglass.