I understand how confusing buying a mattress can be. There are times when I want to pull out what little I have left of my hair at the outrageous claims made by suppliers and retailers of “natural” mattresses. Some may be in ignorance, but most are the result of unscrupulous and deceptive information fed to an unassuming public. In reality, the truth about latex is as follows:
Making 100% pure latex is near impossible, but to make 98% pure latex is possible – this is what we use in our Naturelle products.
I recently sold a few Naturelle beds to a client who was trying to decide between us and another company – I will call them XYZ. The differences which I outlined to the client between Naturelle latex and that of XYZ are as follows:
On XYZ’s website, they use the term “natural”. This is then applied by assuming that if a product is 20% natural it is accepted to be 100% natural. I believe this to be ethically wrong. However, I cannot see any declaration of what they are actually offering the consumer at XYZ.
I’ve met with a representative of Latexco, a Belgian company that manufactures synthesized latex, and who I believe supplies XYZ and others. He told me that Latexco does not ship any pure latex to South Africa. He came across as a completely truthful and no-nonsense individual. In fact, he told me that the highest percentage of pure latex in Latexco products coming to South Africa was 20%.
How to ensure you are buying pure latex
The truth is not that hard to establish; if you want certainty that you are buying pure latex, simply follow one of these three steps:
- Email Latexco and ask them to make a ‘declaration that they supply 100% pure unsynthesized latex cores for their mattresses.’
Latexco is a large international organisation and will not allow themselves to be caught up in lies backing false marketing campaigns.
- Ask XYZ for their pure latex guarantee and confirm this information with Latexco.
I’m certain that Latexco will not hesitate to provide you with an answer. Unlike South Africa, EU regulators are very hard on corporations who lie to the public. Undoubtedly you can sense my frustration with XYZ and other companies that continue to sell their products as “100% Latex”.
- Ask what method is used in the mattress’ manufacturing process.
Finally, to make pure unadulterated latex, a process called the Dunlop method is used – it’s the original method. A new method called the Talalay method is also used; however, this “latex” contains a maximum of 30% (often less) pure latex – it is mostly synthetic.
Naturelle only uses latex produced by the Dunlop method – it’s pure, which is why it’s expensive and that is why we claim Naturelle to be the world’s purest mattress.
We don’t hide the truth about latex – our certifications are proudly displayed on Naturelle’s website. Click here for more information on the Global Organic Latex standards.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Andrew Visser
Owner
Naturelle – the world’s purest mattress.