The government has addressed the problem by requiring mattress manufacturers to put clearly defined labels on their products. Consumers could then make informed choices and avoid mattresses filled with hazardous or coarse materials. The list of “ingredients” directly on the mattress has put dirty rag boys at a considerable disadvantage in the market. To get around the problem, some manufacturers, after fulfilling their legal obligation to add the label, simply ripped it off before shipping it to retailers. Elsewhere, sellers have ripped them off from slow-moving products to support sales. While you don`t have to worry about your new mattress being filled with items from a pile of trash these days, this legal label still offers valuable protection. Some unsavory retailers have been caught salvaging old used mattresses and selling them as new. Selling used mattresses is not illegal in many states, but not disclosing that the product is being used is illegal. Legal labels are required by the law on mattresses, upholstery and fabric items (pillows, soft toys, duvets and linen) in 31 states and Canada. The purpose of the legal label is to inform the consumer about hidden contents or “fillers” in bedding and furnishings products – similar to food labeling. The law label was born in the early 1900s to prevent these items from being made with content like horsehair, corn husks and anything else a manufacturer might find that the consumer would never see. (Source: WikiPedia.) This decision scared off dishonest mattress retailers, but also confused a number of consumers, who dutifully left the labels for fear of lawsuits.
In recent years, federal agencies and many state governments have calmed the minds of law-abiding citizens by changing mattress laws so that labels say, “This label can only be removed by the consumer.” “To ensure that manufacturers and retailers don`t try to remove the labels and sell the mattress as new if it contains recycled materials, the labels indicated that they could not be removed under penalty of the law,” LiveScience explains. Take a look at your mattress pendant and you`ll see that there`s much more to it than the “don`t take me away” warning. The purpose of the label is to reassure consumers that they are buying a new product that has never been used before and to let them know exactly what is in it. The need for this protective label arose in the early 20th century, amid the rise of consumer protection regulations. At that time, mattresses were often built with unappetizing trim – horsehair, corn husks, food waste, old rags, newspapers and anything a manufacturer could get was regularly pushed. Consumers would never see the filling, so no damage, no fault, right? Not really. Some of these things harbored household bacteria and parasites that gave careless consumers a not-so-restful sleep. What is it? Is it really illegal to remove a tag from your mattress? And who came up with this idea in the first place? In the late 1800s and early 1900s, mattress manufacturers sometimes built mattresses with unsanitary materials ranging from used padding from old mattresses to garbage.
So the government began requiring distributors and mattress manufacturers to be clear about what was being used to make their products. “The purpose of the label is to reassure consumers that they are buying a new, never-before-used product and let them know exactly what`s in it,” says an article in Mental Floss. Thus, this day has become the norm throughout the mattress industry. Have you ever noticed the large label on your mattress (or other upholstery) with the big scary warning not to remove it “under penalty of the law”? What is it? Is it really illegal to remove it? The 100% organic cotton tick fabric is not listed in the top section “Fillers” because the cotton tick is not located in the mattress and is therefore listed in a lower section (where changing terms such as “100%” and “organic” are allowed). It turns out that the warning is not for the one who buys and uses the mattress. Instead, it caters to anyone who handles it before buying – for example, transport professionals, salespeople, etc. There is a computer-generated label of stickers stuck with the legal labels with the name of the store, PO and SO numbers, and there could be a date – 14/02/12. Is this valid even if the law sign with the date of manufacture is empty? For mattresses, these percentages vary depending on the size of the mattress purchased. The size of the mattress is given below.
For toppers, they also vary slightly between plush and solid options. If you look carefully at the label on your mattress, you may find that you should not remove this label “under penalty of law”. You can cut the label without worrying about the mattress police kicking your door with boots and dragging you into the gulag. The strict warning of the label is there to protect you, the end user: it is the removal of the tag before the mattress reaches the person who will sleep on it, which is illegal. To end this unethical practice, federal and state authorities have decided that all mattresses should have a label detailing the exact contents of a mattress and all the materials used to make it. Here`s what the legal label says on the standard avocado green mattress (no pillowtop): Made in California with internal materials (based on weight) consisting of natural latex (91%) and wool fiber (9%), plus a 100% organic cotton cover. According to LiveScience, it all started in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Apparently, some mattress manufacturers have put old used bedding in new mattresses.
Mental Floss says some of these mattresses contained unsavory materials like “horsehair, corn husks, food waste, old rags, newsprint, and anything else a manufacturer could get.” This created unpleasant items full of bacteria and fooled customers who thought they were buying brand new mattresses.