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Sealy has roots going back before the Great Depression, and in 2012 it was purchased by competitor Tempur-Pedic. Under the newly formed company, named Tempur Sealy, the Sealy branded mattress lines are still in the top five of all mattress sales in the United States.
People mostly email me asking about fiberglass in cheap mattress brands on Amazon. However, I wanted to dig deeper into Sealy’s possible fiberglass use because they’re so popular. It would be a shame if Sealy’s popularity was allowing them to fly under the fiberglass awareness radar because of the misconception that “only cheap mattresses have fiberglass”.
What does Sealy have to say about Fiberglass?
Sealy does not mention fiberglass a single time on its website, at least not anywhere that I’m able to find. A Sealy help page titled “Are the mattresses flame retardant?” is one of the few places I found any mention of flame retardants. This is what that page says:
“We’ve designed and manufactured our mattresses without chemical retardants, but do use an industry-standard “fire sock” made of non-toxic materials. The “fire sock” allows our mattresses to withstand grueling flame-resistance testing and still meet all federal, state, and local fire regulations, including the National Flammability Standard.” -help.sealy.com
The only other mention of a flame retardant on the Sealy website that I could find is on the Sealy Naturals product page. The Sealy Naturals mattress page states that wool is used as a flame retardant instead of synthetic materials.
So, does that mean all the other Sealy mattresses have a synthetic flame barrier, perhaps made of fiberglass?
Is it Bad if Sealy Contains Fiberglass?
In 2006 and 2007 the government set federal flammability regulations for mattresses being sold in the country. Fiberglass is a cheap flame-retardant material mattress makers started using to pass the new flammability testing regulations. Fiberglass is used in many other applications as well, such as boat hulls, patio furniture, and the pink insulation found inside the walls of most houses.
The problem with fiberglass is that its threads are made primarily of glass. When used as a fire barrier in mattresses, the glass fibers are constantly flexed until they break apart. Once fiberglass particles have come loose from the fire barrier, they make their way outside the mattress and contaminate the surrounding areas.
Touching fiberglass can cause tiny cuts on the skin, and lead to itchiness. Fiberglass can irritate the eyes and make them inflamed. Airborne fiberglass particles can cause irritation of the nose and the throat, as well as aggravate bronchitis and asthma.
Fiberglass is not something you want to be sleeping on, it can lead to many health complications. Some people have even had to move out of their homes because the fiberglass contamination was too severe to be cleaned up.
So, Does Sealy Have Fiberglass or Not?
Since Sealy seems to avoid the topic of fiberglass on their website, almost to a point of suspicion, it can be hard to discern whether they use it or not. However, a while back I decided to ask Sealy directly through email whether they use fiberglass or not. This was Sealy’s response:
“To comply with the Consumer Product Safety Commission fire safety regulations, some manufacturers rely on exposed, brittle, easily crumbled fiberglass (a cheap technology that has made headlines in the past with dermal exposure and rashes). Conversely, the glass fibers in our mattress products are comprised of a core-spun technology that encases the glass in a flexible protective sheath housed within the internal mattress design, and is completely safe and inaccessible in normal use, even if the cover is removed.” -Sealy
Sealy Definitely Uses Glass Fiber
In the reply email, Sealy support directly admits the use of “glass fiber” in its mattresses. Evidence doesn’t get any more concrete than that, and every mattress article on the internet saying Sealy mattresses are glass-free is dead wrong.
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Last Updated on May 4, 2024
While shopping for his daughter’s first “big girl” bed in 2019, John learned about the hidden dangers of fiberglass in mattresses. Since then, he’s made it his mission to expose as much hidden fiberglass in mattresses as possible. His ultimate goal is federal regulations that ban fiberglass from being used in mattresses, or at least a law that requires it to be listed as a material on required tags.
