by Have you experienced any smell from your brand-new mattress when you unpacked it? The smell is the chemical by-product A.K.A VOC emissions A.K.A. Off-Gassing. Off-Gassing can be unpleasant for some people, and others might not even notice it.
In this article, you will know everything about off-gassing and how to control it. So, read till the end.
What Is Off-Gassing?
Off-Gassing is the emission of smelly gasses that emerge while unpacking a new mattress from its cover. These gasses are strongly noticeable, but there is no evidence of them being harmful. Generally, these gasses are related to today’s commonly-used mattresses, The-Mattress-in-a-Box (check the top rated bed in the box mattresses).
These gases originate from a chemical infusion of mattresses and are referred to as Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions. VOCs are a byproduct of synthetic foams in mattresses. The most common foams are memory foams or poly-foams.
Moreover, Off-Gassing is not just related to VOCs. It defines any initial odor from unpacking a brand-new mattress, bedding, toppers, pillows, and other sleep products.
How Long Does Off-Gassing A Mattress Take?
The fresh feel of a mattress always brings happiness and the urge to lie down. However, the smell of unpacking due to VOC emissions of infused chemicals inside the mattress can be unpleasant for the nose.
An independent researcher opined in for the average or minimum time required for off-gassing varies with the overall quality of the mattress and the amount of VOC material induction in a mattress.
Accordingly, a mattress off-gassing is finished within a few hours, and in some cases, it might take a few days. Moreover, placing your mattress outside in fresh air in some open space is recommended to speed up the off-gassing process.
How Do You Speed Up The Mattress Off-Gassing Process?
Getting rid of those unpleasant gasses as soon as possible is important. There haven’t been any medical emergency cases reported due to these gasses, but you don’t need to smell them for a long time or let the smell spread in your things around your bed. So, it’s important to open your mattress in an open place. In the following ways, you can speed up the off-gassing process:
Let It Air Out For Days
The simplest and most effective method for off-gassing is to let your new mattress dry through the natural air by placing it outside. If you can survive for a few days after getting the new mattress and have a backyard, it’s better to unpack your new mattress there. Place it so that fresh air hits the mattress from almost every corner.
After a few days, the smell and the chemicals on your new mattress will minimize their harmful impact. However, check the weather forecast for the next week, as you don’t want your mattress to get wet from rain or fly away from any tornado. Look for stray cats and dogs who might consider your new mattress their own.
Leave It In The Spare Bedroom
If the backyard is not the option or you live in an apartment, you can still avoid smelly off-gassing by placing and unlocking your new mattress in a spare bedroom for a few days. If you live in a house or an apartment with a room to spare, then initially shift your new mattress and lock the door.
Open the bedroom windows, if available, to let the fresh air in, and the smell goes out. After 2-3 hours, revisit the room for a small inspection. If it’s completely gone, shift it to your main bedroom. On the contrary, let it be in the room for a minimum of 24-36 hours for effective results.
Let It Dry Out In The Sun In The Backyard
Utilize the warm sunny days to eliminate the extra chemicals and dust off the unwanted smell of off-gassing. Give your mattress a sun bath for a couple of hours to break down any harmful chemicals and boost the off-gassing process. Besides being the best Vitamin-D source, the sun’s UV rays effectively clean your bedding.
Remove the mattress packing outside and choose a corner or wall with full sunlight. With this process, you don’t have to wait for a few days or many hours. The effective results will be received in less time.
The White Sock Treatment
The White Sock Treatment makes Off-Gassing a fun activity. Your children will love to do that for you and with you. In this method, you have to jump or bounce on the freshly unpacked mattress for the chemicals’ smell to wick away.
Constant jumping all over the mattress will allow the gases to emit with more speed. However, avoid being in the room for more than 8 to 10 minutes so that you or your little ones don’t inhale the toxic and unpleasant gasses. Keep the windows open for the gases to exhaust out of your home.
It’s better to go through the instructions and warranty related to the mattress because it varies from warranty to warranty according to the manufacturer.
Sprinkle Baking Soda
Another effective technique using in-house items to off-gas your new mattress is evenly spreading baking soda. Baking soda has the beneficial quality of cleaning surfaces and removing any dust and bad odor from the bedding. Moreover, it will neutralize any toxic chemicals away from your bed in the event of off-gassing.
The method is simple. Unpack your mattress in a separate room with minimum access. Then, evenly spread the baking soda to cover the center and all the corners. Leave it there for a few hours and let the baking soda absorb the chemicals and gasses.
Once you feel no more unpleasant smell, wipe out the baking soda with a clean cloth and use a vacuum cleaner to remove debris from the corners. Don’t worry if some particles of baking soda remain. It will protect your mattress from bugs, molds, and other bacteria.
HEPA Air Purifiers
With modern living standards, backyard and outside off-gassing is not feasible. Moreover, no one has so much time to monitor the unpleasant gasses evaporating consistently. The solution is using air purifiers to clean your surrounding atmosphere.
Air purifiers with top-of-the-line filters will do the perfect purifying for you. High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are the best in their class. These filters are designed to filter out larger and extremely small contaminants from the surrounding air.
The best way is to upgrade your filter in your fiberglass furnace so most of the VOCs in your new mattress is clean to use healthily.
Place A Mattress Cover
The final remedy for protection from mattress toxins is by using a mattress cover on it. Good quality and cool cover will keep you away from the chemicals of the mattress, along with a bug-free sleeping experience.
However, caution should be taken in using the cover as it should not be used immediately after the unpacking. Let it off-gas first to prevent the trapping of toxic gasses.
It is not the best off-gassing solution, but it will protect your skin from the remainder chemicals.
Side Effects of Mattress Off-Gassing
In normal conditions, off-gassing doesn’t create any life-threatening effect on your health. Most people might feel uncomfortable smell for a while when unpacking their mattresses or other bedding like furniture or other types of cleaners.
However, for hyper-allergic people, the off-gassing of TOCs might affect their respiratory system. The smell of chemicals might trigger an allergic reaction, resulting in influenza and coughing with a mild asthma attack. Apart from that, the short-term side effects of off-gassing might be nausea, eye irritation, headaches, or dizziness.
Sensitive people should take care of. They should always use a facemask before unpacking a mattress.
Who Should Care About Off-Gassing?
Most sleepers equally hate unpleasant smells of Off-gassing. However, few people might be more prone to allergic reactions than others.
If you are generally sensitive to high-scented smells, then the extreme off-gassing odor of a new mattress might trigger an unpleasant experience for you. You might suffer from nausea, headaches, shortness of breath, or dizziness. Besides, skin and eye irritation are common symptoms to avoid while off-gassing your mattress.
However, care should be taken by everyone who has bought a new mattress with possible VOCs. You will experience off-gassing, and it is always better to take precautions to avoid the symptoms. Using 3M facemasks and disposable gloves with safety goggles will avoid the first burst of toxins until the off-gassing is completed.
People with kids should always take care before off-gassing. Do the unpacking in a separate room, away from kids, and with a lock and key because kids won’t miss any chance of not going in that room out of sheer curiosity.
Mattress Materials and Off-Gassing
Off-gassing results from synthetic materials used in making foams in a mattress. The prime examples are memory foam and poly-foams. However, all mattresses made from natural materials don’t have toxic chemicals that could create off-gassing. The below table shows the effect of off-gassing on the common materials used in mattresses:
| Material | Off-Gassing |
| Memory Foam | Memory foam is for body contouring and comfort. This NASA-developed product is synthetic, so off-gassing emission is at the top of the chart. However, with more and more environmental sustainability concerns, many mattress manufacturers use certified materials with minimum off-gassing. |
| Poly-foam | Like memory foam, poly-foam is also synthetic, so the rate of off-gassing smell is higher. However, being part of an environmental sustainability initiative, the USA has created many health and emissions tests to certify mattress makers for making high-end products. |
| Latex | As far as natural Latex is concerned, there won’t be any VOC off-gassing. All you will smell is the natural texture of latex in the form of a rubbery and earthy smell. However, the feel of synthetic latex is something else, and you will get off-gassing VOCs. |
| Coils | Coils made from metal would not emit any off-gassing, or the off-gassing would be minimum even to notice. Even the fabric used for pockets for the metal coils will emit VOC-related off-gassing. |
Off-Gassing by Mattress Type
The material of the core layer of a mattress is commonly used to define its significance. The impact of off-gassing by mattress type is discussed below.
Airbed
Air chambers in an airbed might produce some smell. However, off-gassing emissions will be noticeable if the comfort layer is made from memory foam or poly-foam.
Hybrid
The coils part of a hybrid mattress will produce minimum to zero off-gassing emissions. However, the material selection of the support layer (i.e., synthetic or natural) will decide the percentage of emission. In general, off-gassing is comparatively low in hybrid mattresses (check the best selling hybrid mattresses).
Innerspring
The traditional spring mattress with a minimum support layer will have minimum to no issue of off-gassing (check the top rated innerspring mattresses). Moreover, the airflow from coils will keep smell dissipation.
Latex
Natural latex won’t produce the smelly odor of chemical by-products. However, synthetic latex has the same off-gassing as other synthetic mattresses.
All-Foam
All-foam is the highest off-gassing emitting mattress since all the materials used in making an all-foam are synthetic, so you cannot be safe from the bad odor of chemical by-products.
How To Speed Up Mattress Off-Gassing: Key Takeaways
Understanding Off-Gassing
Off-Gassing refers to the emission of gaseous byproducts, known as Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions, that arise when unpacking a new mattress. These gasses, although strongly noticeable, have no proven harmful effects.
Duration of Off-Gassing
The time taken for a mattress to off-gas can range from a few hours to several days, depending on the mattress’s quality and the amount of VOC material in it.
Methods to Speed Up Off-Gassing
Letting the mattress air out in open spaces, drying it under the sun, using baking soda to neutralize chemicals, employing HEPA air purifiers, and practicing the White Sock Treatment (jumping on the mattress) can accelerate the off-gassing process.
Side Effects of Off-Gassing
While off-gassing is generally non-hazardous, it can trigger allergic reactions in hypersensitive individuals, leading to symptoms like nausea, eye irritation, and respiratory issues.
Who Should Be Concerned?
People sensitive to strong odors, as well as those with children, should exercise caution when dealing with a new mattress. Protective measures such as using masks and gloves can help avoid immediate exposure to VOCs.
Material Matters
Mattresses made of synthetic materials like memory foam and poly-foam have higher off-gassing emissions than those made of natural materials. Coils and natural latex produce negligible to no off-gassing emissions.
Conclusion:
Off-gassing is important to consider, especially in synthetic mattresses. The VOC emissions can be toxic to health, and the threat to health can be mitigated with proper care.
After reading this article, you will know what off-gassing is and how to control it. But, in the end, healthy sleeping is important for everyone.
References
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20190710/is-your-mattress-releasing-toxins-while-you-sleep
How to speed up mattress off-gassing FAQs
How Do We Test For Off-Gassing?
The best way to do the off-gassing test at home is to use a VOC test kit from any renowned vendor, such as Home Air Check. Then, all you have to do is run the test for 2-3 hours and send the vendor the tubes for the results. Once the results are communicated, you can take preventive measures.
What Can I Do About My Bed’s Degree Of Off-Gassing?
The key is time and lots of ventilation. Your new bed will emit off-gassing, so it’s better to keep it in a well-ventilated area for a few days before utilizing it permanently.
What Type Of Mattress Is Best In Terms Of Off-Gassing?
Mattresses made from natural materials such as natural latex, innerspring, and coil-based mattresses are best for off-gassing.
How Do You Neutralize The Smell Of A Mattress?
The most common and effective method is to give your mattress a sun and air treatment in your backyard. Another tip is to use baking soda to neutralize the chemicals as well as the smell of a mattress.
How Can I Speed Up My Mattress Decompression?
The moment you receive the delivery of your mattress, unpack it immediately. For decompression, air and heat are required. The best way is to place it in your backyard under the sun and fresh air. Your mattress will decompress in speed.