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You may have heard horror stories about fiberglass contamination from mattresses. Does TempurPedic have fiberglass? There’s a lot of confusion out there, but we found the definitive answer. Let’s take a look and see if TempurPedic mattresses are safe to sleep on.
Does TempurPedic have fiberglass in their mattresses?
TempurPedic mattresses DO NOT contain fiberglass.
Those who say otherwise do not know the difference between glass fiber and fiberglass. And I’m not playing with your sanity; if you’re really interested in the whole fiberglass thing, you should learn the difference.
Fiberglass
Fiberglass is a subtype of glass fiber, which means there are various types of glass fibers out there and fiberglass is one of them. Those different types have different properties.
Fiberglass is also called Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP). It is brittle and when it breaks, tiny pieces of glass shards fly into the air and all over the room. They cause eye and skin irritation, lung irritation, and a lot more.
Fiberglass is cheap to produce and that’s why cheap mattresses typically contain it as a flame retardant. All the horror stories about fiberglass leaks you may have heard come from this type of glass fiber.
Glass fiber core-spun yarn
The type of glass fiber TempurPedic uses is an expensive-to-produce glass fiber core-spun yarn. To put it in simple terms, it’s a material whose core is made of glass fibers.
They are encased in “a flexible protective sheath”. This “sheath” could be Tempur’s own special material that they developed.
The most similar thing to this that I found is a patent for these glass fibers stating that they are encased in Polytetrafluoroethylene, also known as Teflon. Teflon acts as a protective layer making each fiber flexible, reducing friction, and greatly increasing the durability of such fabric.
Tempur’s “netting”, that is, fire-retardant barrier, is made of glass fiber, modacrylic, and cotton. So, the glass is deep inside this thick fabric.
Glass fiber in TempurPedic mattresses – just how safe is it?
Not all glass-containing fibers are the same; some are cheap and dangerous, others are high-tech and safe.
In my correspondence with TempurPedic customer support, a specialist said “we’ve made millions of products using this technology without a single incident of consumer issues.” This alone says a lot.
You shouldn’t worry about any kind of glass-related issues when buying TempurPedic mattresses.
Tempur-Sealy places the fire retardant barrier in the, as they say, “deeper layers” inside the mattresses, and their customer service insists that it’s completely inaccessible. You can remove and wash the TempurPedic mattress cover all you want, but you wouldn’t come anywhere near damaging the fire-retardant fiber.
Speaking of the location of the fire barrier, when you ask their chatbot about it, it says:
The Fire Sock is a fire resistant netting sewn around mattress; between mattress and mattress cover, referred to as “fire-retardant layer” or “netting”.
Still, although not so deep inside the mattress itself, the barrier is still not in the cover, it’s absolutely not a brittle material, and the glass fibers are deep within their own netting fabric, so it’s impossible for it to create a fiberglass leak.
So, does TempurPedic have fiberglass inside? No. Does it have a glass fiber material? Yes.
What really happened in the past few years is that cheap fiberglass mattresses (Zinus, Nectar,…) became notorious for leaking fiberglass particles and contaminating thousands of homes across America, leading to numerous lawsuits.
People developed rashes and breathing issues, had their babies hurt, and lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of property due to fiberglass contamination.
This gave fiberglass a bad name, as it should. People became wary of all mattresses and many seek fiberglass-free options. Some of them are freaking out if they notice that their mattresses contain fiberglass or anything that might point to any glass presence.
Now, the majority of the general public doesn’t have a degree in this branch of science and they simply disqualify anything suspicious. Some people wrongly disqualified TempurPedic.
TempurPedic walking on eggshells
The whole new situation with the word “glass” being equated to pure evil is where mattress companies like TempurPedic have to tiptoe in order to avoid being put in the same basket with cheap and dangerous fiberglass mattresses.
I’ll feel free to assume that this is why they changed the name on their tag from “glass fiber 37%” to “silica 37%”.
Silica is used to make glass, so it’s just them trying to avoid the hated term. It’s still not helping them too much, though; some of the cheap mattresses that have fiberglass use the same word to hide what’s in their fire barrier and avoid saying “fiberglass”.
Needless to say, people have seen through this. Now those same people are unfortunately blaming TempurPedic for playing the same word games as the predominantly Chinese-made mattress brands.
This is the same reason why when you ask TempurPedic customer support any question regarding fiberglass, they give you the exact same answer:
Tempur Sealy selects raw materials and manufactures with safety, quality, and the environment in mind. All Tempur Sealy products have been fully evaluated to comply with all laws and regulations, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission and California Proposition 65. 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. To ensure safety and quality for our customers, Tempur Sealy only uses this core-spun glass fiber technology and regularly conducts independent testing to ensure continued safety and that the materials within all Tempur Sealy products meet or exceed all regulatory compliance.
After some back and forth with them (I was borderline offended by this answer because I asked specific questions about the nature of their materials and all I received was the exact same “copy-paste” response I saw in dozens of articles and forum posts online), they told me that this answer was actually made by their legal team and that this is the extent to which they are allowed to comment on it.
I believe that their legal team should have made this response a bit easier to understand for regular people because most of them won’t get into the nitty-gritty of deciphering every word like I did above when I explained the main differences between the dangerous and safe types of glass fiber.
If they had explained it in a bit more plain English, I don’t think there would be dozens of articles out there telling people to stay away from TempurPedic mattresses.
Does it matter whether Tempurpedic mattresses have fiberglass?
It matters.
This is why you should avoid mattresses that have fiberglass as a fire barrier:
- fiberglass presence points to skimping on overall quality,
- you never know when and if the flame retardant sock is going to get torn and start leaking fiberglass,
- leaked fiberglass particles look like dust and they end up all over and under the bed, get airborne and contaminate other rooms, clothes, and toys; almost all of which has to be thrown away,
- fiberglass causes skin rash, breathing issues, irritation of the eyes and nose, and is a known carcinogen (learn about toxic mattress symptoms here).
A lot of cheap memory foam mattresses have fiberglass.
If TempurPedic used fiberglass, they would have no right to put the high price tag as they do. On top of that, Tempurpedic mattresses wouldn’t last as long as they do because sooner or later, some of them would leak fiberglass through the outer cover and we would hear about it in the news. Especially since Tempur-Sealy has millions of mattresses sold and is the biggest name in the mattress industry.
There are occasional complaints about TempurPedic and none of them include this cheap-mattress problem.
This is why it’s important that all mattress models by TempurPedic are fiberglass-free. The fire sock is located somewhere in deep layers of mattresses and not inside foam layers or the cover.
What is TempurPedic made out of?
The top side of the cover is made of polyester, elastane/spandex, and polyethylene. The bottom side is a 50-50 blend of cotton and polyester.
The netting (fire barrier) right under the cover is made of modacrylic, glass fiber/silica, and cotton.
On the inside, TempurPedic mattresses are made of memory foam (aka viscoelastic polyurethane foam). Big mattress brands usually develop their own proprietary foam by experimenting with the number and amount of chemicals they add to polyurethane.
To make a distinction between their proprietary foam and other memory foams out there, the team at Tempur don’t want to call their foam a foam at all, but they prefer the term “TEMPUR® material”. It’s actually just a fancy version of memory foam and the mattress tag on TempurPedic mattresses says so.
Any TempurPedic hybrid model has a pocketed coil spring layer surrounded with high-density foam to provide edge support.
Apart from that, much of it remains a trade secret. There might be special cooling layers with gel, but they don’t tell us exactly what they’re using.
Are there any toxic materials in TempurPedic mattresses?
Yes. There are lots of toxic chemicals in every foam mattress, especially memory foam.
TempurPedic foams are CertiPUR-US certified, which means they are (and this is from the CertiPUR website):
- Made without ozone depleters
- Made without PBDEs or the following Tris flame retardants: TCEP, TDBPP, TDCPP or TEPA
- Made without mercury, lead and heavy metals
- Made without formaldehyde
- Made without phthalates regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions for indoor air quality (less than 0.5 parts per million)
Sounds fancy, but it just means that the mattress isn’t way too toxic.
It still contains harmful chemicals (they couldn’t have made the foam without them) that get released into the air, which is known as off-gassing and is the most noticeable in new mattresses.
These gasses are even more released as you sleep on the mattress and as the foam is warmed up by your body.
Off-gassing is supposed to stop after a few days or weeks, but new information tells us that off-gassing goes on for months and months, just in much smaller amounts. Apparently, these chemicals are carcinogens, but the amount we’re exposed to isn’t high enough to cause cancer.
More research is underway, so we’ll know in the coming years.
People who are sensitive might have problems with off-gassing, such as eye puffiness and nasal congestion, for example.
How to tell if a mattress contains fiberglass
The first red flag is a tag that says “Do Not Remove Cover”, even though there’s a zipper on the mattress cover.
Why do they ask you not to remove it? Because doing so will damage the fiberglass sock and release a dust of fiberglass particles into the air. And that’s the point of no return.
The second red flag is the Made in China label. The chance of shady business going on there is high.
Finally, read the mattress tag. Look for words such as fiberglass, silica, glass wool, or glass fiber. Yes, now I’m telling you to be wary of “glass fiber” and “silica” words because you can’t trust every single company. For example, if you see “silica” in Chinese-made mattresses, you can assume that there’s actually fiberglass in there.
Of course, you can always ask the company, but sometimes they just don’t give a clear answer that an average person could understand.
And finally, turn to the internet – especially mattress reviews on forums. Search for any individuals reporting fiberglass issues. If a mattress contains fiberglass, chances are someone somewhere had problems with it. And if you have such huge issues, you’ll want to tell others.
Other mattress brands that contain fiberglass
Don’t get disappointed if you find your favorite brand on this list because some of these are pretty big names.
Mattress brands that contain fiberglass are:
Mattresses without fiberglass
Fiberglass-free mattresses that utilize a safer fire-retardant system are Amerisleep, Dreamcloud, Avocado, Brooklyn Bedding, Emma, Helix, Natural Form, Nest Bedding, Nolah, Puffy, WinkBed, Zoma, PlushBeds, Saatva, Sweet Night Twilight, and many more.
FAQs
No, not every memory foam mattress contains fiberglass. It’s mainly the cheapest ones that do. Most of the mattress brands I listed right above have memory foam mattresses in their lineup and they do not contain fiberglass. Some use a similar technology TempurPedic uses, and others have found different ways to comply with the federal regulations about fire barriers.
I personally wouldn’t recommend it because it is so random. Some people had fiberglass leaking as soon as they unboxed their mattresses. Others have used theirs for years and still have no issues with them. If you asked one person in each group, the first one would probably tell you to never ever buy a fiberglass mattress and the other one might even argue that the media is just trying to scare you and that you should get any mattress you like. However, most people who experienced fiberglass issues only noticed them after months of use, whether it was after they removed the cover or the fiberglass itself found its way out. For me, it’s a big no.
Conclusion
You can put your TempurPedic mattress fiberglass concerns at rest.
The mattress cover is removable and safe. There are glass threads in the netting, but they are encased in a flexible material and cotton that preserves its structure.
Fiberglass doesn’t have those properties and it just breaks into tiny shards super easily. To prove the fact that fiberglass and encased glass fibers are not the same, TempurPedic mattresses are sold in millions on the mattress market, and not a single fiberglass leak was recorded, unlike cheap mattresses which are sold by thousands and have hundreds of reports of fiberglass contamination.
If you’re out of money and can’t afford fiberglass-free mattresses, rather opt for making your own DIY mattress than buying a bag of fiberglass and putting yourself, your kids, your home, and your wallet at risk.
Next step: Read our guide to the best all-natural organic mattresses. If you’re concerned about sleeping on toxic materials then you NEED to consider an organic option. We ranked the top five safest brands so you can decide for yourself which one is right for you.
Our article about TempurPedic mattress competitors is another great resource if you’re considering 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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