Organic Latex Mattress Topper

I'm in love with a mattress topper . . .  We've only shared one week together but I'm in love already. And I don't know if I should tell you this, but . . . we slept together the first night :). hehe

In all seriousness our new mattress topper was delivered last week and it's been a dreamy week ;).
Here's the how, where, why and when of it all:
Our mattress is not that old, it's only about 5 years old . . . we just bought a standard firm mattress. We originally thought that a firm mattress would hold up to Lee's weight better then a soft mattress would. You see Lee is 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs approx 250lbs, most of his 250lbs is in his chest and shoulders (Lee's always lifted weights as a hobby). Having such a handsome, and incredibly muscular husband (I'm so getting brownie points for that line), means that our mattresses get really saggy, really quick. Seriously if Lee's not in bed and I roll over I feel like I'm falling into a ditch (she exaggerated . . .  slightly). The firm mattress has held up okay, it's more of a small divot over there, as opposed to a ditch, but it's only been 5 years. We do rotate the mattress every 3 months or so but it's not really a 'fix'. Mostly we decided a new mattress was a necessity, not just a want, when Lee kept waking up exhausted with moderate back pain every morning.

So we started saving for a new mattress. Knowing more now then I did 5 years ago, I wanted to make sure it was a natural Latex mattress, with an organic wool or cotton topper. So we saved and we saved some more. After about 6 months I thought we'd have saved enough for a new mattress so I started checking around, I turned to Lee and said "well we can afford about half of a mattress" when it hit me, We can afford half a mattress . . . a mattress topper.

 Honestly I was never too stoked about getting rid of our existing mattress, mattresses are a HUGE source of waste in North America and after all, our mattress was only 5 years old, it's not off gassing anymore, and it was clean (as you can see from our Mattress Vacuuming post) why not just top it. 

So the hunt began for an organic latex mattress topper with an organic wool or cotton cover, we had a $500 budget, and I was adamant that it come with a cover, I wanted to be able to wash the cover and keep the latex topper itself as clean as possible!

 Lots of Internet leg work and we found This one on Amazon.
It boasts: 

• Natural non blended latex topper made from eco-friendly botanical all natural components (rubber from rubber trees), with no toxic chemicals or synthetic or petroleum based fillers. 
• It is free from chemical additives. 
• ORGANIC COTTON SOFT COVER. This cover is removable for washing and is very comfortable, cool and hydrophillic for sweat free sleep. 
• Being all natural, it has long term health benefits. 
• Non Blended Latex mattresses can last upwards of 20 years.
• *No Off Gassing*
• Organic Latex Mattresses and Toppers are 300% more resistant to the growth of dust mites and allergens.

The Topper cost us $400 + tax, for our King Sized Bed! Which compared to the price of an entire organic latex mattress is a steal!

The main reasons we chose an organic latex mattress topper was to avoid the PBDE's (a flame retardant chemical) that are sprayed on to traditional mattresses. The European Union has banned the use of PBDEs but North America has yet to follow suit. The second reason being the off gassing of the memory foam mattresses, the gases have been proven pulmonary irritants and just plain aren't enjoyable to smell.

I figure if we're sleeping on it for 8 hours a night, every night, it should be as natural as possible.
This is the first of a few green and health conscious changes we're making to the bedroom! I've been working on a sewing project for the bedroom, I hope you'll check back tomorrow to see our next "green" (literally) change to the bedroom. 
Lots of Love!!!