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With prices of over one or two thousand dollars for a Queen size, Helix mattresses are anything but the cheapest ones out there. Many people are worried about whether they contain fiberglass. Let’s find out if you should be concerned and whether Helix mattresses have fiberglass.
Do Helix mattresses have fiberglass inside?
No, Helix mattresses DO NOT contain fiberglass.
Here’s a statement from their website:
No, every Helix mattress is made without the use of fiberglass. All Helix mattresses are designed with a fire retardant yarn made from a chemical-free Rayon barrier that is in the form of a small foam layer. Rayon fiber is a manufactured fiber composed of 100% regenerated cellulose.
About a year ago, Helix was clumsily telling their customers that their mattresses contain fiberglass. But if you carefully looked at their response at the time, you’d see that it wasn’t actual fiberglass they were using as a fire retardant.
This was their response to one of the inquiring customers:
Our FR-inherent fabric is sourced and made in the US where the fiberglass core is enclosed with polyester fibers. This means that there are zero risks that your skin would ever get in contact with fiberglass.
I’ve already done my fair share of explaining the difference between fiberglass (the big dangerous no-no of mattress materials) and glass fiber core-spun yarn encased in a protective sheath (this is a material that does contain some glass fibers but is designed so that it acts exactly like any other safe, natural material and it does not and cannot break into or leak shards of glass). More details on that are in our Does TempurPedic have fiberglass? article.
However, many people think that all glass fibers are the same and equally as dangerous as glass-enforced plastic, aka fiberglass.
At Helix, they did the opposite – their employees knew that their fire-retardant sock wasn’t dangerous, but they still called it fiberglass. Just because it has literal glass fibers.
This wouldn’t be a big mistake if there hadn’t been for fiberglass exposure lawsuits and if thousands of people hadn’t reported how fiberglass ruined their homes and caused severe health issues. That’s why Helix customer support had to get their vocab updated.
So, to sum up: Do Helix mattresses have fiberglass? No, there’s no dangerous fiberglass in Helix mattresses.
Are Helix mattresses safe?
Fiberglass-wise, Helix mattresses are completely safe because they are fiberglass-free.
If you opened a Helix mattress and tore up the fire barrier, you would suffer zero fiberglass exposure. The proprietary-woven silica sock acts like other materials which have no glass fiber in them whatsoever and by this I mean it stretches, it’s not brittle, and if damaged, it won’t harm anyone.
To compare the Helix fire barrier to fiberglass, fiberglass doesn’t even have to get damaged to shed a small portion of glass particles onto surrounding materials. It’s super easily damaged though, so if anything goes slightly wrong during the manufacturing, you’ll get a brand new, glass-shedding mattress.
If the fire-retardant sock gets damaged from some time of normal use or if you remove the mattress cover to wash it, you’ll end up with a huge fiberglass problem.
What problem exactly? The list of fiberglass risks is below.
But there is another point at which you might want to stop and consider the safety of Helix mattresses and it mainly depends on two factors – the sensitivity of your nose and whether you’ll be letting kids sleep on them.
Helix mattresses, like most memory foam mattresses, off-gas chemicals.
This is way more noticeable with new mattresses, but memory foam releases gasses for much longer than one or two months. If you’re concerned about this, we recommend choosing a mattress brand without memory foam instead.
It might even go on forever, just in much smaller amounts. The thing is, memory foam is made of artificial and toxic materials/chemicals that get slowly released in the form of gas, especially when you sleep.
The reason is that foam warms up from your body heat. Warmth and body movement help chemicals become gas and speed up the gas release. If you noticed your mattress off-gassing a lot at night, that’s why.
Back to safety – gasses that leave your mattress may come from more or less toxic foam. Of course, it’s better if you get a mattress with lots of certifications vouching for its quality and absence of certain toxic chemicals, but there’s no such thing as 100% toxin-free memory foam.
That being said, foam in Helix mattresses has these certifications:
- GREENGUARD Gold Certification (low chemical emissions – meaning low off-gassing)
- CertiPUR-US (no ozone depleters, PBDE flame retardants, mercury, lead, heavy metals, formaldehyde, and low off-gassing)
But still, some people have trouble sleeping on their mattresses because of how badly they smell. The chemical smell is there and sensitive people may get eye irritation, sore throat, and congested nose just because of the chemicals.
Regardless of certifications, synthetic materials such as memory foam contain cancerogenic substances, albeit in such low quantities that they probably won’t harm any adults, but you should certainly avoid having your child sleep on this type of mattress.
Risks of sleeping on a fiberglass mattress
The list of risks of sleeping on a fiberglass mattress seems endless. There’s a plethora of health issues, property damage, and financial problems on top of the emotional distress you could suffer from fiberglass exposure.
First of all, most people don’t know whether their mattress contains fiberglass or not. If any health problems appear, they may not realize that their mattress is the culprit until it’s too late.
Fiberglass mattresses can leak fiberglass particles through mattress covers and it seems like it’s just a matter of time when it will happen.
The tiny shards of glass get airborne and end up on all floors, in clothes, and in other furniture. Many can end up in a person’s skin. Inhaling fiberglass particles brings a host of other problems.
We highly recommend getting a non-fiberglass mattress to avoid these risks.
Health risks of fiberglass mattresses
- eye irritation
- skin rashes/skin irritation/itch (contact dermatitis)
- worsened asthma
- upper respiratory infections
- nosebleeds
- chronic breathing problems
- sore throat
- lung scarring
- coughing and/or wheezing.
Loss of property risks of fiberglass mattresses
Belongings people have to replace include:
- bed and mattress
- pillows and sheets
- carpets
- clothes, shoes, and any items made of fabric
- upholstered furniture, cushions
- toys
- AC units.
Many people who experienced fiberglass exposure and home contamination say they feel like they lost everything.
Financial risks of fiberglass mattresses
- having to buy thousands of dollars worth of house items and clothes
- medical bills
- temporary housing costs
- loss of working days
- a standstill in any major financial plans
- draining of savings account
- taking out bank loans.
Some people suffered up to $20,000 dollars of loss and fiberglass mattress companies weren’t willing to do more than replace a faulty mattress, offer refunds, or offer small amounts of compensation.
Why mattress brands use fiberglass
Until 2018, mattresses were allowed to contain chemical flame retardants, but after those proved to be highly toxic and cancerogenic, they got banned.
Then all the manufacturers of cheap mattresses had to find another flame-retardant material so that they could remain compliant with federal regulations and keep their prices low. Federal regulations require commercial mattresses to be fireproof and pass flammability safety standards.
This new material they were looking for was fiberglass.
Fiberglass started causing problems as soon as it hit the market. If fiberglass gets banned soon, they’ll have to once again look for a safer alternative. Let’s just hope this time it’s not something as highly toxic or dangerous as the two previous solutions.
FAQs
Helix uses a proprietary-woven silica sock that melts at high temperatures and prevents fire from spreading. “Silica” is made from bamboo fiber and it makes up glass fibers, but this is a special type of fiber that acts nothing like actual glass. The glass core is wrapped up in rayon made of bamboo viscose. The fire protection of a Helix mattress lies right under the mattress cover.
Helix mattress covers are made of polyester or polyester TENCEL fibers. For some models, you can get a GlacioTex update for a more cooling feel (50/50 blend of polyester and polyethylene). It’s their proprietary material made of fibers with high thermal conductivity.
It really is shocking that people are still buying mattresses that have fiberglass and nobody is trying to stop this from happening; even though it’s been years since customers first reported huge losses due to fiberglass leaks. Like all things legal, it seems that we have to wait. At the moment, we know that California Assembly has approved a ban on fiberglass in mattresses and that the Bill has been reviewed by the Senate.
It’s usually cheap mattresses made in China with a zipped outer cover that says “Do not remove cover” although there is an easily accessible zip. A high-quality mattress may contain words like “silica” and “glass fibers” and not have fiberglass itself, but the same words on labels of cheap mattresses usually mean it’s fiberglass. Sometimes it openly says “fiberglass”. Finally, some brands are well-known to contain fiberglass, such as Zinus, Vibe, Ashley, and Nectar. On the other hand, you’ll also know it’s a fiberglass-free mattress if it’s: TempurPedic, Avocado, Saatva, Helix, or Nolah, as some examples. If your mattress contains fiberglass, you should take steps to get rid of it.
Conclusion
Helix mattresses do not contain fiberglass.
They are not made of organic materials, either.
Helix mattresses have individually wrapped coils and memory foam. The fire barrier is made of glass fiber encased in rayon. This fire protection sock can be damaged or torn and will never shed glass because the glass fibers in it have a different nature than fiberglass, which is a type of reinforced plastic.
Fiberglass is dangerous and you should avoid it at all costs. A cheap mattress isn’t worth the risk of ending up having to replace most of your belongings and a chronic eye/throat/skin irritation, blurred vision, or, in rare cases, nosebleed and whatnot.
Helix mattresses are completely safe. If you are concerned about other aspects of safety in Helix mattresses, you can look at the properties of memory foam and off-gassing, but you should definitely not be concerned about your Helix mattress and glass fibers.
Next step: Read our guide to Helix vs. Saatva mattresses. We compare the two most popular mattress brands so you can decide for yourself which one is best for you. Also check out common Helix mattress complaints so you can get a complete picture of the brand.
With over 5 years experience writing about sleep and mattresses, she's considered one of the go-to experts on the topic.
She likes cycling, nature, art, and languages. She pays special attention to providing you with accurate and useful information when it comes to your sleep quality.
After solving her personal sleep and tiredness problems, she is on to help others by sharing this invaluable information.
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