Today's consumer is being marketed to by some less than scrupulous companies claiming their products to be organic in nature and in some cases that their bedding products are “certified organic”.

Mattresses are really a combination of raw materials. The raw materials that are used in mattress production that possibly could be “certified organic” are materials such as ticking, fiber (both cotton and wool), quilt backing, bottom cloth, and dust cover and perhaps thread. However the majority of the bulk or weight of most mattresses is either innerspring, foam, or latex foam. Neither of those raw materials can be certified organic. While some materials can be certified organic, others cannot. Latex foam rubber, the one component that stands apart because of its orgin from the sap of rubber trees, although deemed "natural", cannot be certified organic.

To my knowledge, only mattresses made of 100% Certified Wool or Cotton could achieve this status. Then every step from field to final production and sale of the product would be subject to compliance of organic standards as a processor, handler or distributor of these products. Each processor, handler and distributor is responsible to document their use materials meeting these standards and is subject to inspection audits to verify their claim.

Let me just say that of the requirements given to companies by official United States Department of Agriculture certifiers, there are no companies that I am aware of meeting all of these standards. That is not to say that there are legitimate bedding manufacturers that are using many raw materials in their beds that may in fact be certified organic. As far as I know, today there are no bedding manufacturers who hold a certification insuring their mattress is “certified organic”. There is no dispute that many companies, particularly on the internet claiming that they sell organic mattresses. The reason is that it is virtually impossible for them to make mattresses that contain 95% certified organic material.

Even though there are a few bedding manufacturers who have gone to great lengths to produce mattresses as organic as possible, there are no truly certified organic mattresses being sold in United States today. Herein lies the problem, there are those who claim their mattresses to be organic. They may contain certified organic raw materials not subject to the process required for verification by an official USDA certifier. To these manufacturers it is just the latest fad in bedding and is used only for the purposes of marketing their products that no one can confirm are organic, natural or even green at all.