Comments on: Review of Vivetique Organic Innerspring Mattress

By: Grant Ingersoll

Grant Ingersoll — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:50:35 +0000

I stand by my assertion not to buy mattresses online. The only way I could see doing it is if I knew exactly what I wanted. Even then, though, that likely implies that I went into a store to buy it, took up their time, etc. and then didn’t buy from them? Probably better to talk them down on price, IMO.

Consumer Reports won’t even rate mattresses b/c they are such a personal thing. Add to it the fact that the mattress companies make the same mattress and then “brand” it 10 a bunch of different ways for each retailer, and you have a situation that is akin to buying a used car.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:15:50 +0000

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I don’t typically hear of this issue with organic mattresses. I have heard of this issue with certain types of memory foam mattresses. Typically the smell dissipates after a few days. Obviously that was not your experience. I would not go as far as saying that ordering a mattress online is a bad idea …when you comparison shop, you just need to make sure you read the fine print. Some charge you practically nothing to exchange (my company charges $99 and gives you 100 days to exchange on most of our items) and some charge you a ridiculous amount of money. Of course to be fair to the retailer that sold it to you…it cost them on average $275 to ship a mattress one way through most freight carriers and they can’t resell it.
link: Shop for a mattress

By: Zonker

Zonker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:31:31 +0000

I have had horrible problems with my Aurora mattress from Vivetique. Not only did it smell for a long time (smell does go away eventually!) but it sags to the left. Basically, the construction of this mattress is not well thought-out. It has pocketed coils, which are supposed to move independently to cushion you. However, the coils are covered by 2″ of heavy latex, plus wool and cotton, so by the time any pressure gets down to the coils, it’s already spread out across a wide area, rendingering the pocketed coils useless. I’m getting rid of this thing, and probably going to eat the $2000 I spent on it. Sucks.

By: erica

erica — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:26:11 +0000

Does anyone have a good- no, excellent - organic latex/wool/cotton mattress to recommend? Thanks for all of this info.

By: Grant Ingersoll

Grant Ingersoll — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:59:56 +0000

Also note, some people have had success with the smells using these blankets: http://nontoxic.com/activatedcarbonblanket/activatedcarbonblanket.htm

We haven’t tried them yet, but they basically act like a carbon/charcoal water filter does, I guess.

By: kellie

kellie — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:36:46 +0000

I’m really frustrated with the entire mattress industry. I have purchased 4 mattresses in the past 2 years. I’ve had trouble with every single one. I even went and recently purchased 2 mattresses off the floor of the showroom floor to avoid all the off gassing. The problem is they fume for 6 months or more these days. I learned from one salesperson that mattresses are sprayed with fire retardant that can cause long term fumes. He said to look for teflon in the thread instead of fire retardant for less fumes. It does seem like any form of latex fumes for a long time. I was at an organic mattress store in the denver area and the organic latex smelled like old tires to me. The salesperson said they put vanilla in the latex to help mask the smell. I also heard form a different organic store that they can’t truly tell you what real organic rubber is because of internal laws and the fact the rubber comes from Asia. I don’t remember this being so hard 10 years ago. I really feel sick from new mattresses…even the box springs.
I get sore joints, sore throat and headaches. I wonder if there are recent laws that make all new mattresses get sprayed for fire hazards and in the process we will all get exposed to cancer chemicals…. all for the mere chance there is a fire in our houses. I mean seriously, the chemicals probably cause more harm.

I found this online:
http://www.peopleforcleanbeds.org/

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:27:49 +0000

Hi,
After weeks of internet fact finding causing me to change my mind on a daily basis from pocket sprung to memory foam to pocket with memory foam then finally to organic pocket spring, I thought i’d finally come to a logical conclusion. I was going to order a King size organic mattress and couldn’t wait for its arrival. I couldn’t believe how little sleep I’d been getting due to worrying about which mattress to buy to give me a good nights sleep :-). However on the day I was going to order a King size organic mattress I unfortunately read this site and was thrown back into a state of confusion due to the “organic smell”. I contacted Abaca for their point of view on this issue and had an email whizzing back to me within 24 hours. Here is my email and their reply……

>
> comments: Hi, I have been looking to buy a new kingsize mattress over
the last few weeks and have spent a fair amount of time researching on
the internet. The conclusion I have reached was that an organic
mattress was the way forward. However today, I have found an article on
a website forum regarding the issue of smell from an organic mattress,
which seems to stem from the wool inside. This article was for a
different manufacturer in the US but it has set alarm bells ringing. I
realize smell is a personal judgement and i imagine a mattress will
smell a little for a few weeks until aired properly. However I am now
worried that if I bought a new mattress, in 6 months time I will still
feel like I am sleeping in a sheep pen due to the smell :-). Can you
offer me any advise on this subject.RegardsJason
>

Hi Jason,
I have also seen pieces on the internet about smells from organic
mattresses …. mostly about cotton rather than wool, and have been
puzzled by how extreme the descriptions are. All natural materials have
their own smell …. our wool certainly has a ‘woolly’ smell, but it is
not strong or unpleasant and seemms to dissipate within a few weeks of
the mattress being delivered. I am going to send you some samples of the
cotton and wool, reasonable size pieces that have come off the rolls
today so that they are ‘fresh’ so to speak! If you still have concerns
after receiving the samples, then it’s possible for us to cut enough
wool off a roll to make your mattress, then ‘air’ it for a few weeks
until the woolly smell has all but disapeared.
Hope that helps
Best Wishes
Rhiannon

In the next few days I am moving house and the level of customer service I have had to endure from estate agents to broadband supplier to van hire etc has had me pulling my hair out with contempt and frustration. I wonder how certain company’s can possibly stay in business and no doubt the coming recession will sort them out.

I am very very impressed with the reply from Abaca and even feel obliged to order now due to their obvious care for potential customers. I’ll let you know how I get on….

By: Grant Ingersoll

Grant Ingersoll — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:27:47 +0000

Yeah, it probably is a few isolated incidents. I hope for Vivetique’s sake, it is. Also note, that most beds don’t smell in the showroom. They’ve been out in a large, well-ventilated room for a good deal of time and have already out-gassed.

From what the sales guy said, apparently, the wool smell (if that is what it was) can vary depending on when the wool is harvested.

Bottom line: even in this day and age of the Internet, some things are still better purchased locally.

By: Cate

Cate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:15:07 +0000

Hi Grant (and Tamara),
So sorry to hear about your troubles. I just wanted to give you both a HUGE thank you for posting about your organic/Vivetique mattress issues. I’ve been researching and was almost ready to order the PureWool mattress and now will find an organic mattress that I can actually sit on and try out.

That said, years ago I worked for Earthsake which carried/ies Vivetiques - they did not have a weird smell, so perhaps it is a few isolated incidents?

On that note, I am still in the process of returning/exchanging a Cisco Brothers organic wool sofa that I ordered and was broken by the delivery people, I suspect. I ordered it sight unseen and unsat on, as well, which I won’t do again although it does look just fine. There IS an odor coming from the sofa but I suspect that it’s the slipcover, but maybe it’s the same wool odor you all have. It made my eyes water and after 3 weeks, is finally getting milder (or I can tolerate it now?)

This is just so frustrating - thinking we’re getting something healthy that technically might be fine except for the smelly wool batch here and there? Ugh.

Hope you all get some resolution and that the manufacturer has something to say soon!

Best,
Cate
Marin County, California

By: Ceri

Ceri — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:15:12 +0000

Hi,
We make organic mattresses in the UK (Abaca Organic) and I’m really sorry to be hearing the poor customer service that is being offered to you! We also sell direct over the internet, but our Trading Standards state that we have to accept any returns within 7days with a full refund regardless of reason. If Abaca suggest that you try it for longer then that is our responsibility and we should and will accept the ‘return’.
We often suggest that we post material samples to the customers before making the mattresses to make sure any smells are flagged before we accept the order.
All that said we couldn’t offer this to an export order!

In a nutshell; by selling mattresses on the net you save the massive overheads of a real showroom (rent/staff/etc) so if it means you have to accept the odd mattress returned; so be it! Hope you’re able to resolve your situation.
Regards