Do Tuft and Needle Mattresses Have Fiberglass?

Finding an affordable mattress that does not contain fiberglass can be a little bit of a hassle. Fiberglass is the cheapest fire retardant for mattresses. This means it’s frequently found in mattresses intended to be low-cost.

However, this unhealthy and unsafe material is best avoided. This means your options are somewhat limited when it comes to finding a mattress that can meet your budget and comfort needs without exposing you to fiberglass.

The good news is Tuft and Needle is one of the mattress brands that can offer you fiberglass-free models that will not cost more than your rent.

The Tuft and Needle Mattress Brand

The mattresses found on the Tuft and Needle website (such as the Mint and T&N Original) contain no fiberglass. Instead, these Tuft and Needle mattresses use a polyester/cotton blend treated with food-grade salt as a fire barrier in their mattresses.

The only Tuft and Needle mattress that contains fiberglass is the Amazon-exclusive Nod. This mattress contains a continuous glass filament fire barrier. That means it’s best to avoid the Nod and make sure you’re getting your Tuft and Needle mattress on their official website.

SEE ALSO: Do Amazon Mattresses Have Fiberglass?

What is Fiberglass?

Fiberglass is a special type of reinforced plastic. With this type of plastic, tiny glass shards are used to add strength without compromising flexibility. This creates a material that can be used in all kinds of industries.

You may find fiberglass inside your home’s walls in the form of insulation. You may find it under your car’s hood. You might find it in your bathtub or shower. You’ll probably even find it in your favorite sporting equipment.

You will also find this industrial material in many low-cost mattresses. The type of fiberglass that goes inside a mattress is called glass cloth. Glass cloth is made by weaving glass fiber threads into a fabric sheet.

In mattresses, this sheet usually forms a sock that goes around the internal components underneath the cover. Unfortunately, fiberglass inside your mattress is not as innocuous as fiberglass in other places.

SEE ALSO: Softest Mattress in a Box

Why Would a Mattress Have Fiberglass?

Mattresses have fiberglass in them for one reason: fire protection. Not all shoppers know this, but many types of mattresses are actually quite flammable. This is especially true of mattresses that contain synthetic foam, such as memory foam.

In order to protect consumers from their mattresses bursting into flame, the US government has instituted fire safety regulations that all mattresses must meet in order to be sold here. Fiberglass helps manufacturers cheaply meet these requirements.

When fiberglass comes into contact with high heat, it melts. This creates a barrier over the foam inside the mattress that prevents it from igniting. However, fiberglass is not the only material that can prevent foam from catching fire. It’s also not the safest or healthiest material to make mattresses more fireproof.

Drawbacks of Fiberglass

The main issue with fiberglass inside mattresses is the fact that fiberglass exposure can cause all kinds of symptoms. This is because fiberglass can release tiny glass particles into the air. These particles then coat surfaces or float around as dust.

When this happens, the glass shards may contact your skin, eyes, and even your airways as you breathe them in. This can cause all kinds of issues ranging from rashes and severe dermatitis to lung infections and even eye damage. Since glass cloth is one of the types of fiberglass that releases glass particles, it’s vital to always buy mattresses without it.

Many people think that the cover will protect them from the fiberglass inside their mattress. But this is just not true. The glass particles released by glass fiber cloth are so small that they can easily make their way through the weave of most mattress covers. This process is usually sped up by the fact that you’re moving around on your mattress all night.

Another common issue arises with beds in a box. When you order a mattress in a box, it gets squished down and crushed into a very small container. If the mattress has a fiberglass sock inside, this process can rip that sock and greatly increase the rate at which glass particles make it to the surface of the mattress.

If this happens, you may wind up with a brand-new mattress already coated in fiberglass particles. And since these particles are typically invisible to the naked eye, you’ll have no way of knowing until you start experiencing the symptoms of fiberglass exposure. So it’s especially important to avoid beds in a box that contain this unsafe and unhealthy material.

Benefits of Fiberglass

The only benefit of fiberglass is that it helps make mattresses slightly cheaper for the consumer. It costs less than other fireproofing materials. This can translate into a cheaper mattress overall. However, when you consider the health risks associated with having fiberglass inside your mattress, saving a few bucks is not an even trade.

Fiberglass Alternatives for Mattresses

There are plenty of alternative fire barriers for mattresses that are much safer and just as effective as fiberglass. One synthetic alternative many mattresses without fiberglass use is silica fiber. Silica fiber is just as good at preventing mattress fires as fiberglass, but it is not nearly as hazardous to your health.

Vegan mattresses often use some sort of viscose fabric. Viscose fabric is made by liquefying cellulose pulp and then spinning it into a thread that can be woven into a fabric sheet.

Most of the time, the cellulose in viscose fabric comes from sustainable sources such as eucalyptus or bamboo. This means these plant-based fire barriers are some of the most eco-friendly options.

Potentially the best fire barrier for mattresses is wool, found in many organic latex mattresses. Wool is naturally fire-resistant. It does not easily combust, and if it does ignite, it can often extinguish flame internally.

Furthermore, a layer of wool can increase both the breathability and pressure relief of a mattress’s sleep surface. This means not only can wool protect you from fire. It can also make your mattress more comfortable.

Brands who do not use fiberglass in their mattress:

• Amerisleep mattresses
• Saatva mattresses
• Puffy mattresses
• Novilla mattresses
• Purple mattresses
• Sweetnight mattresses

How to Tell if a Mattress Has Fiberglass

If you are mattress shopping, telling whether a potential mattress contains fiberglass should be easy. All new mattresses are legally required to come with an ingredient list to ensure the consumer knows exactly what they’re buying.

This list should tell you whether a mattress contains fiberglass and the percentage of the mattress that is made of fiberglass. You may also be able to find this information online.

If you want to know whether your existing mattress has fiberglass, this may be a little more difficult. If you’ve lost the ingredient list that came with your mattress, search for it online by brand and model. You may be able to tell based on this search.

If this doesn’t work, look at your mattress’s care tag. Mattresses usually come with a tag affixed to their cover that lists care instructions. If these instructions prohibit you from removing the cover, you should suspect this is because there is fiberglass underneath.

You can also do a quick we search for mattress brands that have come into question for using fiberglass:

• Lucid mattresses
• Zinus mattresses
• LinenSpa mattresses
• Nectar mattresses
• Vibe mattresses
• Ashley Furniture mattresses
• Leesa mattresses
• Olee mattresses
• Allswell mattresses

Is Tuft and Needle a Good Mattress Brand?

Tuft and Needle is generally a good quality and affordable mattress brand. They are not the lowest-cost budget mattress on the market. But they offer lots of comforting features that can help you get a good night’s sleep. Some of their best features include graphite-infused memory foam, nano coils, and cooling cover fabric.

The mattresses offered on the Tuft and Needle official site also do not contain fiberglass. This means as long as you stick to the official website, you can get a quality fiberglass-free mattress for under $1,000.

FAQs

How do I know if I am suffering from fiberglass exposure?

If you’re suffering from repeated fiberglass exposure, you will have some pretty specific symptoms. You will likely experience widespread skin rashes that don’t go away over time. You may also experience eye issues like redness, dryness, a gritty feeling, and blurred vision. And you may experience breathing problems and chronic lung infections, as well.

Keep in mind that these are all also symptoms of other illnesses. This means you will need to speak to a doctor if these issues persist. A doctor can tell you whether you’re experiencing fiberglass exposure or have something else going on.

Will my sheets protect me from fiberglass in my mattress?

Even the best sheets will not protect you from the fiberglass inside your mattress. The tiny glass shards released by glass cloth are so small that they can make their way between the woven threads of fabric. Since both sheets and your mattress cover are made of woven fabric, fiberglass shards can easily make their way through these barriers and onto your sleep surface.

The only thing that can protect you from fiberglass inside your mattress is an impermeable mattress protector. These protectors are designed to prevent tiny particles of dust and droplets of water from making it down to your mattress, but they also work in reverse to ensure that glass particles cannot make their way up to you.

Do mattresses that don’t have fiberglass cost more?

Mattresses that don’t contain fiberglass typically do cost more than mattresses that contain it. But this is not entirely due to the lack of fiberglass. There are other fire barriers that are not all that much more expensive than fiberglass.

However, mattress manufacturers that use this unsafe material inside their mattresses often cut other corners to bring costs down even further. This means that mattresses containing fiberglass are typically cheaper than mattresses that don’t because they are overall lower in quality.

These mattresses may contain impure foams or substandard coils to offer a lower sticker price. This means you can expect them to be less durable and less comfortable as well as less safe because of their fiberglass content.

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

If you discover your mattress has fiberglass inside it, the best thing you can do is get rid of it. However, this is not always in everyone’s budget. If you cannot replace your mattress, there are a couple of things you can do.

Waterproof mattress protectors can do a good job of preventing fiberglass particles from making it all the way to the sleep surface. They might make it through the cover, but that is as far as they will get because they will not be able to get through a mattress protector’s impermeable barrier.

Mattress toppers can also provide a few inches of foam between you and the fiberglass in your mattress. Just make sure you’re still putting your topper underneath a protector and it doesn’t contain fiberglass itself.

How can I tell if my existing mattress has fiberglass in it?

The best way to tell if your mattress has fiberglass inside it is to search for it online by its brand, model, and year. Many mattress brands have pages dedicated to each of their models, and these web pages should give you a list of ingredients and materials used in the mattress.

If you are unable to find your mattress brand and model, check out your mattress tag. If the care tag affixed to the cover prohibits you from taking off the cover, this is a big sign that your mattress has fiberglass inside it. Often, a prohibition on removing the cover is to protect you from the fiberglass underneath. This is especially true if your mattress is low-cost.

Bottom Line

If you want a quality mattress at a reasonable price, Tuft and Needle might be the bed for you. They avoid the use of fiberglass in their mattress models without exponentially increasing their prices. Just make sure you’re shopping on their official site, as their Amazon mattress model does have glass fiber inside it.