With increased scrutiny on product safety in America, the mattress and furniture industry is receiving a new wave of attention due to the fire safety regulations it is subject. While the Furniture Industry must treat their foams with chemical fire retardants, the Mattress Industry does not have to treat its foam with chemicals. The Mattress Industry only has to pass on open flame test and cigarette burn test. This means that the Mattress Industry can use any material they see fit to pass these tests. And as such, there are many creative materials being utilized in the Mattress Industry.

While there are many types of materials being used, such as Kevlar, chemically-treated sock materials with chemical blends from companies such as Dow, there is one material that makes for the perfect fire retardant material without utilizing any synthetics: Wool.

Natural wool is a great fire retardant material. Natural, untreated wool is naturally fire resistant due to the existence of moisture naturally occurring in the strands of wool. This moisture content prevents the wool from igniting and suppresses the fire. Wool has been used as a fire retardant for decades. Hollywood stuntmen wear wool lined clothing when performing scenes where they are lit on fire. 

There are some uneducated and uninformed people on the internet touting that wool can only be fire retardant when treated with chemicals. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, the majority of the producers of natural and organic mattresses, like the ones we carry at Nest Bedding, send their mattresses with natural, untreated organic wool to fire testing and it passes the federal fire requirements every time.

If you are looking to decrease your exposure to toxic chemicals, your mattress and bedding are an area where you spend a lot of time with your body in direct contact with potentially toxic materials, such as polyurethane foams and toxic fire barrier materials. Nest Bedding offers USA made organic sheets and natural, organic mattresses which can reduce your exposure to these chemicals.