You’ve heard of the dangers of polyurethane foam, right? That’s why you’ve bought (or wish you could buy) an organic baby mattress. Great! But, did you now that polyurethane foam lives in lots of furnishings throughout most American homes? Unfortunately, it’ll take more than organic mattresses to prevent polyurethane foam from polluting our indoor air with it’s small airborne poisonous particles and ongoing release of VOCs.
I didn’t discover the plethora of polyurethane foam products in our home until last fall. My frustration spilled out in this blog, when I read labels on our sofas, armchairs and every mattress in our house, admitting to containing large amounts of polyurethane foam. Since then, I’ve also realized that our padded dining chairs are filled with this stuff and even my little tabletop ironing board sports a nice layer of toxic filling. Clearly, no one is using cotton anymore. Cheap, chemical-ridden foam is all the rage.
If you’re like me, it’s not possible to replace all of your tainted furnishings at once. But, improving indoor air quality is not an all-or-nothing question. Every little bit counts! I started with replacing my children’s twin mattreses. Since they spend about 12 hours a day sleeping on them, I was sure that was a good investment! Then, this weekend I recovered my ironing board. It was incredibly easy (tutorial here) and the results are so pretty! I used one bath towel in place of the polyurethane foam – much better – and a staple gun to make quick work of it. Many other furnishings can be recovered much the same way, from entry benches to foot stools. Old bath towels and thrifted cotton blankets make for plush padding with none of the chemicals. In the next few months, I hope to make time to recover our dining room chairs too.
Since I learned about the popularity of polyurethane foam with manufacturers, I’ve made a point to check labels anytime I’m considering bringing home something soft and plush. Every little storage cube, kid’s chair and soft toy is suspect. Unfortunately, so many of them are guilty. Finding a couch that’s polyurethane foam-free is not so easy. So far, I’m partial to those offerred by Crate & Barrel, who uses a soy based polyfoam instead and uses many other sustainable components as well.
We’re not ready to buy new sofas now, but when it comes time you can bet it’s going to be polyurethane free! Until then, I just keep opening the windows…
This is part of the Healthy Child Blog Carnival – an effort by Healthy Child Healthy World to help inspire a movement to protect children from harmful chemicals.
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- Today's Green Mama
- Why Buy Organic Cotton?
Tags: air quality, polyurethane foam
Thanks, appreciate it.
Great info! I had no idea it was in so many things. I’m definitely going to pay attention from now on, and keep my windows open.
[...] Rooting Out Polyurethane Foam [...]
Yep, it’s everywhere. Including in my gliders where I often nurse. I try to make sure the covers are in good condition. Threw out a padded arm chair thing b/c it was torn (now the chair just has one arm cushion). I did just buy my kids a mattress made only of cotton and latex — no foam! But I had to pay for it!
I remember reading a report about an Ikea sofa that was advertised as being safe and led the woman who bought it on a search to root out hidden contaminants in our lives. My life was changed by reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck. I know about flame retardants now and cringed when my daughter announced she and her husband had purchased a new sofa. It’s great that you have started taking action. We all need to take back our lives. Refuse the toxic chemicals that are being hoisted upon us.
Most upholstery fabrics COVERING the foam also off-gas the many chemicals that textiles are soaked in during manufacturing. So if you go through the trouble to switch out the foam, make sure the fabric is safe, too. A good choice is organic cotton, but make sure that it has been processed (woven, dyed, printed, finished) without the use of harmful chemicals.