FAQ's
General FAQ's
Mattress FAQ's

FAQ: General

• Do you have a catalog? No Catalog? EcoChoices tries to be as environmentally responsible as possible. And since with the typical mail order catalog, less than 5% of catalogs sent to people actually result in orders, we decided to concentrate on an internet store for now. This eliminates the over 95% paper waste of printed catalogs.
• Web Site Error. We do our best to make sure that our site is current and error free. From time to time, there may be an error listed on the site. EcoChoices is not responsible for any html or pricing errors. Customers will be charged the correct price. We will notify customers if we find an error that will effect their order. Sometimes the cart can list a shipping price that is too high, we automatically adjust it to the lower price when we process your order.
• Do you have a store? I'm sorry to say that we do not have any physical retail stores at this time. The mattresses are made in Southern California. A mattress showroom is available in Los Angeles County, California, by appointment, Monday through Friday, 9am-11am, and 12pm to 2pm.
• Other Questions? The best way to contact us is by email 24 hours a day 7 days a week at service@ecochoices.com. You can also contact us by fax at 626-969-3717 or by phone Monday through Thursday, 9am-3pm, at  626-969-3707.

FAQ: Mattresses

1. What is the difference between a natural mattress and a synthetic mattress?  
2. Choosing the Firmness
3. Feeling of a coil system versus a latex system. In general, a coil system pushes up against the body for support and a latex system conforms to your body and has a much denser feeling. All of the Bed Frames that we sell allow the mattress to breathe on all sides.
4. 100% Pure Natural Latex Mattress: FAQ
5. Warranty Information
6. Choosing a bed frame: When choosing a bed frame for your natural mattress, it is important that the mattress is able to breathe on each side. This means that you do not want to put an all natural mattress on top of a solid piece of wool. There needs to be slats, air holes, or some other way so that the mattress will be able to breathe on all sides.
7. My Partner moves around a lot. The best mattresses to minimize the movement of a bed is our 100% Pure Natural Latex Mattresses. If you prefer a coil mattress, then the Natural Aurora mattress would be the best choice. Otherwise, the Natural Latex would be the best choice.
8. Which foundation should I choose? That depends on your preference and what type of bed you are choosing. But in general, here are some typical guidelines: 
   • Standard Foundation: It is a wooden boxed foundation covered with fabric. It has no springs and is the firmest and most inexpensive choice (7" thick"). This option is good to help minimize movement and is most commonly used with latex mattresses.
   • Box springs: The box springs have the more give (7" thick) and is primarily used with innerspring mattresses.
   • Coil On Coil: For our Natural Aurora and Aurora, we have designed a box spring that is pure luxury, using the same innerspring as in our organic cotton and pure grow wool mattresses. 
   • Maple Platform Bed Frames: Our standard platform bed frames do use a foundation. You can place our mattresses directly on these standard bed frames. Bed frames that can hold sets are also available.
9. Can I get one Custom Made? If you don't see the exact mattress or bed set that you are looking for, we do make custom beds as well. To get a quote, please fill out the Custom Mattress Form.
10. What is the height of the mattresses? Most of our mattresses are handmade and the height of the mattress will vary between 7 1/2" - 8". The exception to this is our Natural Aurora mattress which is 11" - 12".
11. How long will it take for me to get my mattress? Please see shipping information. 
12. Do they need to be turned over?  All  beds should be be turned over. The all natural beds need to be turned over every couple of weeks for the first couple of months and then every other month after that. However, with our Latex, Aurora, and Natural Aurora Mattresses, we recommend that you turn them over only once or twice a year. Instruction on turning over a mattress.
13. Do your mattresses have ventilation holes? No. Ventilation holes are normally used on synthetic mattresses. Mattresses that are truly 100% natural breathe all over so ventilation holes are are not helpful with 100% natural mattresses.
14. Can you sit on the side of your mattresses? First of all, our mattresses are designed for laying down. If you find a mattress that was designed to sit, then there is probably something wrong with it. However, even though our mattresses were designed to lay on, you can sit on the edge of any of our mattresses. The most comfortable mattresses for sitting on the edge are our Organic Cotton and Pure grow wool Mattresses, Hemp Mattresses, and Cotton Mattresses. 
15. Why are all natural mattresses not available in regular mattress stores? There are actually a couple of reasons. First of all, these mattresses are made by a mattress manufacture that puts it's money in quality natural materials and quality employees, and not in the marketing of these mattresses. So the manufacture is not able to offer the advertising benefits that the large conventional mattress manufactures are able to do. It is much easier for the retail stores to sell mattresses that have had a lot of money spent in advertising. These mattresses would have to sell at much higher prices to market them in this way and we do not want to do that to our customers. Second, most stores do not want to bother to training their employees to understand the benefits of natural mattresses. In addition to training the employees, the employees would need to dedicate a lot of time to teaching the customers about the differences. Third, no one is getting rich from selling natural household products. Because the materials often costs several times more and they are made in small quantities, the margins are usually not as high as a mattress made of the cheapest materials possible. The government only has regulations on mattresses to protect people from fires. They do not regulate what people put in them or even how toxic the materials used may be. So most conventional mattresses end up being made as cheaply as possible with high mark ups and slick ad campaigns.  In other words, it is much easier and more profitable to sell conventional type mattresses than all natural mattresses. But then again, we never went into this business to get rich. We are in this business because we understand the need and importance of teaching people about the benefits of natural environmentally friendly products over conventional products. 
16. Only the Conventional Cotton Mattresses and Hemp Mattress use Borate powder (boric acid) as a flame retardant. Is this toxic?
    
    

    Boric treated cotton (with 10 to 14 percent boric acid by weight) passes FR 1647, the Federal Flammability Standard also called the cigarette smolder test. The study, done by Intertox, Inc. of Seattle, WA, presents conclusive proof that boric acid, under the specific trade name Boron#10TM, which is sodium polyborate, is not toxic. The studies tested to look for adverse health effects on the The test showed that it has a toxicity level similar to table salt. The report states, "Four of the six studies reviewed indicate no observed adverse health effects from exposure of the test animals to the Boron#10TM added to cotton batting." Richard Pleus, the author of the report also stated that in an oral toxicity study a benchmark toxicity measure, LD50, for the product Boron#10TM was successfully established. Many boron compounds exists naturally throughout our environment, including fruits, vegetables, and water which are digested daily in small amounts by humans. This report, A Review of General Acute Toxicity Studies of Boron#10TM in Cotton-Based Batting Product, is available by sending a letter of request and a 9" x 12" SASE to: Mr. Jim Blasius, Incide Technologies, Inc., 50 N 41st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009.-Editor (Excerpt from Futon Life, Summer 1998)

    
    Borate powder is used only on our Conventional Cotton Mattresses.
    
    
17. How should I dispose of my old mattress? We recommend that you contact you local Salvation Army and ask them if they would pick up your old mattress for you. Some customers have found additional local charities that would also like you to donate your old mattress to them - missions, homeless shelters, abused families, foster care, etc.