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From Conscious Shopping and Good Care to Healthier Environment

How long does a wool mattress last?

While most of the conventional mattresses last 7 to 10 years, wool mattresses’ life span is much, much more. Truth is, a wool mattress could be with you and serve you incredibly well for 30, 40, 50, and more years to come if you take good care of it.

We would suggest you do good research before buying a mattress and after that take care of it so that it stays with you for as long as possible.

At Home of Wool, we do believe in conscious choices and how they can make us and our environment healthier. We create our mattress with the belief that the less we buy, the less we throw away, and the more we reduce and repair, the longer our planet will live, and the healthier our children will be!

That is why we always stress on the importance of informed and conscious choices and on the care for our wool creations. The care that will help them live longer. Or in other words, the importance of Reduce, Care, and Repair.

In this post, we cover the consequences of the ongoing over consumerism trend concerning mattresses and the importance of conscious choices. As a bonus, we give you some tips on how to prolong the life of your mattress.

What is the problem with changing your mattress every 10 years?

Why would you want to make such a huge investment every 10 years? From a personal finance point of view, it simply doesn’t make sense. But the more important answer, in this case, would be that changing your mattress every 10 years is just bad for the environment we all live in.

When we throw away our old mattresses, they end up in landfills where they take up a lot of space. Mattresses are bulky and do not break down easily. They take hundreds of years to decompose and release harmful chemicals in the process. These chemicals can pollute the air, soil, and water, causing harm to plants, animals, and people.

Additionally, the manufacturing of new mattresses requires a lot of resources, such as oil and water, and generates a lot of waste and emissions. By disposing of our mattresses responsibly and considering more sustainable options, we can reduce our impact on the environment and help preserve our planet for future generations.

In fact, according to the Green Business Bureau mattresses pose a serious problem to the environment. ‘’These large household products take up more than their fair share of space in landfills because they’re difficult to compact, clog machinery, and create large soft spaces that can turn into sinkholes after filling.’’

The conventional mattress is a complex product and most of the elements it is consisted of could be recycled. The latter, however, is not always happening in the majority of the cases. What happens is that most of the mattresses end up in the landfill. And it is not just the mattresses we get rid of after several years of use. Have you thought what happens to the mattresses you can try out for 100 days and then return for a full refund? Of course, some of the returned trial mattresses go for charity, but most of them get a wild ticket to the landfill where they will rarely biodegrade and never to a full extent.

US households, for example, throw away 18.2 million mattresses a year, with only a very small and highly unproportionable number of facilities to be able to recycle them, the Guardian reports, alarming together with environmentalists that mattresses are ‘’a global environmental nightmare’’.

‘’Zero Waste Scotland has estimated that if the 600,000 mattresses Scotland throws away every year were stacked on top of each other, the pile would be more than 100 times taller than Ben Nevis,’’ the Guardian reports.

In the end, it’s all about wise and conscious choices on shopping for a new mattress and disposing of an old one. Good research on what the best alternatives are will help both your sleep and the environment.

The Conscious Shopping

When in need of buying a new mattress or bedding, or pretty much anything, research. See how whatever you are buying is produced and what are materials used in the production.

Think about everything you take into your home as you think of the food you fuel your body with. Your home, with the air you breathe inside, is as important to your health as the food you eat.

When shopping, think about how will any product impact not only your family’s health but the health of the environment as well.

Bet on natural, non-toxic products whose production, life span, and disposal options don’t harm the environment and pose a risk to the future of the planet.

Wool mattresses are a fantastic option for conscious shoppers. Wool is natural, renewable, and biodegradable material with a much lower carbon footprint than its synthetic counterparts. In addition, it’s naturally fire-retardant, meaning that it does not require the use of harmful chemicals to meet safety regulations.

Choosing a wool mattress is not only good for the environment, but it’s also excellent for your health. Wool is naturally hypoallergenic and resistant to dust mites, making it a perfect choice for those with allergies or asthma. It’s also moisture-wicking and temperature-regulating, ensuring that you stay comfortable throughout the night.

So next time you’re in the market for a new mattress, consider the impact of your choices and pick a wool mattress for a more conscious and healthier you.

Care & Repair: How to Make Your Mattress Last Longer

Wool mattresses should last you 30, 40, 50, or even more years depending on how you care for them.

No matter what kind of mattress you own, however, there are simple ways to help it live longer and thus do your fair share of reducing waste.

Flip & Rotate: Flip and rotate your mattress once a month, so that it compresses evenly with use over the years. That will also help it air out better.

Sunbathe: At least once a year let your mattress enjoy the sun for a day to air out and kill off any bacteria. Use the natural anti-microbial properties of the sun. It will naturally disinfect and revitalize your bedding.

Protect: Use a mattress protector to act as a barrier to stop moisture from entering your mattress and to protect it from dirt. Protectors offer a washable top layer over the mattress under the sheets, which is much thicker than sheets. They can also be made of natural wool fabric, instead of synthetics. Use a puddle pad if you have a baby sharing the bed with you or a toddler coming over for a sleepover.

Vacuum: Vacuum your mattress to pull air through the fibers. That will help it air out, remove the accumulated dirt, dust, and moisture.

Do not forget that pretty much anything can be fixed and repaired: an old sweatshirt, a favorite sweater, a pair of shoes, and even a wool mattress.

Adjust the firmness: You can easily adjust the firmness of your wool mattress, for example. If at any point you find the mattress to be too firm or if the wool compresses unevenly, you can easily reach in through the zipper to adjust the wool filling or add more loose wool on top of the existing wool, for a fresh fluffy layer.

Owning one of our mattresses assures you don’t have to buy a mattress in the near future – or far! Wool mattresses can last you more than 30 years, or a lifetime, which equals multiple latex of foam mattresses that are impossible to decompose and pollute the environment.

Repair tufting: Sewing a button to repair a tuft on your wool mattress is also not an impossible task. In fact, it’s as simple as sewing a button on a shirt.

Voila! Simple as that!

Thinking over the choices you make as a consumer and following the above easy tips that will surely help your mattress live longer is the key to reducing waste and making the Earth a slightly better place.

Sources:
The Green Business Bureau
The Guardian: The mattress landfill crisis: how the race to bring us better beds led to a recycling nightmare

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