Disclosure: In order to write this review, we were provided a mattress free of charge from Live and Sleep. Prior assurances as to the nature of the review, whether positive or negative, were not given.  The review reflects our honest, authentic opinions.

How much time do you spend in your bed? If you get enough sleep, one-third of your entire life is spent on a mattress. The contents of that mattress are important to your health and our environment, as is comfort and durability.

How to choose an eco-friendly mattress

When eco-friendly mattresses first came on the market, there were very few options, and they were very expensive. Now there are many choices with a variety of price points.

Shopping for an eco-friendly mattress can be confusing. There are no regulations from the government that define what an “eco-friendly” mattress is, thus consumers have to do research and weigh their options. You have to decide what is important to you: no chemicals, fewer chemicals, zero waste, organically-grown materials, VOCs, etc.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers the following cautions when choosing a mattress:

Most mattresses on the market are full of chemicals that can pollute your bedroom air and harm your body. This includes polyurethane foam that can emit volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, harmful chemicals that can cause respiratory irritation or other health problems; flame retardant chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption and adverse effects on the immune system; and PVC or vinyl covers that can damage developing reproductive systems…

If you decide to buy a polyurethane or memory foam mattress, look for one that is low-VOC certified by an independent certification body like Oeko-Tex Standard 100 or Greenguard Gold.

EWG’S HEALTHY LIVING:Home Guide

Live and Sleep Memory Foam Luxury MattressReview

We were sent a memory foam Live and Sleep queen size Luxury Mattress. It shipped quickly and arrived promptly (two days) in a small box that was easily lifted by two people, though I did manage to pick it up by myself (this is not recommended).

The Luxury Mattress in the queen size retails for $849 and ships for free. It even came with a free pillow! It has a 20-year warranty, consists of CertiPUR-US Certified memory foam, and comes with a “100-night, no-hassle return policy” This includes free returns and full refunds! Live and Sleep really stands by their product!

The Luxury Mattress consists of four layers:

The first outer layer of the mattress is made of a hand-selected soft breathable fabric that contours to the body’s individual shape, with a soft touch and flexibility that you won’t find with other mattress covers.

The second layer is made of a 12-inch-thick responsive memory foam design, consisting of a 2.5-inch Premium Memory Foam layer that helps the mattress further form the body’s shape while providing pressure point relief.

The third layer is a 1-inch gel-infused Cool Memory Foam layer that adds both cooling and pressure relief.

Finally, the mattress features a fourth total body support core layer, which is made of an 8.5-inch-thick performance core support base.

What makes this Live and Sleep mattresses eco-friendly?

First, any mattress that is compressed and shipped directly to the consumer reduces transportation emissions. It eliminates the “middle man” to reduce costs and “keeps it simple”. Furthermore, the 20-year warranty means this mattress is designed to last reducing the need for replacement.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is great for comfort and durability, but it can come with a heavy, toxic footprint. Traditionally, memory foam contains polyurethane. Live and Sleep uses memory foam that is made with fewer chemicals and certified by both CertiPUR-US^® and OEKO-TEX^® without polyeurathane.

These are certifications you can trust with high standards. It means this mattress does not contain these toxic, harmful materials:

• Ozone depleters
• PBDEs, TDCPP, and TCEP flame retardants
• Lead, mercury, and other heavy metals
• Formaldehyde
• Phthalates regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Live & Sleep Eco-Friendly memory foam is produced in a state-of-the-art sealed, pressurized chamber which allows the use of pressure rather than chemicals to control the physical properties of the foam.

Because manufacturing occurs in a contained environment, eco-friendly manufacturers are able to control variables such as barometric pressure, heat and humidity, which can cause inconsistencies in ordinary foam and break down much faster.

A memory foam mattress comes with a lot of advantages; however, it is important to seek out one that is eco-friendly. The certification is equally important since there are no regulations to determine what is and what is not eco-friendly by the government.

The vast majority of foreign and domestic memory foam manufactures’ use the antiquated technology of the non eco-friendly open air manufacturing process which can lead to inconsistencies due to weather (Humid vs. Dry, Hot vs. Cold, High Pressure vs. Low Pressure), resulting in foam that can vary widely in firmness, feel and quality.

Many of these manufacturers use the older process to speed up production and save money. They add more chemicals to cure the foam and expedite it –this results in more chemicals, gases and toxins in order to save money.

VOCs

Volatile Organic Compounds are toxic chemicals that affect our indoor air quality. They are commonly found in consumer products, such as furniture, and continue to be released throughout the lifetime of the product.

VOCs cause a host of health problems from nausea to cancer to organ damage. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, VOC levels can be two to five times higher indoors. It’s not only bad for your health, but it’s also bad for the natural environment as well.

The EPA cautions we limit our exposure to VOCs. You don’t want to spend eight hours a night absorbing VOCs from your mattress!

Live and Sleep uses a process “that limits virtually all VOCs and prevents them from being released into the atmosphere”. This may be perhaps the most important reason to sleep on an eco-friendly mattress.

Flame Retardants

Traditional mattresses can contain pounds of toxic flame retardants. Over 90% of mattresses use toxic flame retardants to meet federal requirements. No one wants their mattress to go up in flames during a house fire, but health and environmental concerns do not need to be compromised for safety.

Flame retardants are neurotoxins. They have been found in household dust, breastmilk, and human blood. Even our pets have high concentrations of flame retardants in their blood. Healthy Child explains:

It’s a sad fact that American babies are born with the highest concentrations of flame retardants of babies anywhere in the world…

Our babies are more vulnerable to these toxins than adults since they are in their most critical time of brain development and their elimination systems are immature. Many of these chemicals are linked to hormone disruption, lowered IQ, attention deficit, learning problems, cancer, changes in DNA, and decreased fertility.

A couch may contain up to two pounds of flame retardants, and it’s very hard to find one without these chemicals. There’s no way of knowing what specific chemicals are in your furniture and mattresses because they are considered trade secrets…If it’s made with polyurethane foam, you can bet it’s got flame retardants since this foam is highly flammable.

Toxic Flame Retardants in our Homes: Solutions for a Critical Issue

Live and Sleep mattresses are still flame resistant, as required by US law; however, the CertiPUR-US® certification ensures this occurs “without the use of harmful chemicals”. It’s another reason why you can trust Live and Sleep.

Unpacking the Live & Sleep Luxury Mattress

After removing the cardboard, the eco-friendly mattress is wrapped tightly in plastic and compressed. It’s hard to imagine a queen size mattress could be in the package!

As soon as you release the outer layer of plastic, you can begin to hear the mattress inflate with air. It’s really very cool to watch and hear.

This mattress does come wrapped in an extraordinary amount of plastic. This may be necessary in order to keep it small and compressed for shipping, but I do think we need to reduce the amount of single-use plastic we consume as a society.

This kind of plastic wrap is not recyclable in my community. I could donate it to a ceramic studio or find another way for reuse, but most likely it will end up in the landfill.

This is my only criticism of Live & Sleep. Perhaps the company would offer free shipping to return the plastic to them for recycling? Recycling is not the best solution; however, and reduction of plastic would be ideal.

Even before removing the last layer of plastic, you can hear the air begin to inflate the mattress.

It’s truly amazing the amount of compression in the mattress prior to opening. It fills quickly, though the directions say it will take 24-72 hours to fully expand.

Although the directions state the “‘new” bed scent will go away within a day or two”, I did not detect any odors. Amazingly, there is absolutely no smell from the mattress! I am chemically sensitive, and the odorless quality of the Live and Sleep Luxury Mattress made me very happy! You can tell there is no toxic polyurethane in this memory foam!

The top fabric is so soft and luxurious. The expansion happens rather rapidly. I don’t know if it is recommended or not to sleep on the mattress the first night, as I wonder if it would affect expansion, but the Live & Sleep mattress was definitely comfortable enough to after only five minutes! The free pillow is an added bonus!

I left the mattress for five days and was impressed at how much it had expanded, the comfort, and the quality. There were no bumps or wrinkles or unevenness from the compression. The mattress was plump and firm with the perfect amount of softness. You would never know that the Live and Sleep Luxury Mattress came in such a small box and cost under $1000.

A lot of direct mattress companies have popped up in recent years, some of them offering eco-friendly mattresses. What I love about Live and Sleep is their product has many green qualities at an affordable price point.

With their 100-day sleep trial, there really is no reason not to try Live and Sleep.

Another aspect of this product that I love is that it requires no box spring further saving money and resources, as well as fitting into modern aesthetics of simplicity.

Live and Sleep is a company cares about social issues. Part of each sale is donated to a non-profit working to end homelessness in the United States. This is important to me to support companies that give back in meaningful ways to our communities.

Given the comfort, quality, eco-friendly nature, and price point, Live and Sleep does not disappoint! It is supportive yet contours to your body and is quite easy to set up. We are really happy with our luxury mattress!