Getting a good night’s sleep is imperative for your health, which is why the type of bedding you use is so important. People typically associate their quality of sleep with the mattress they’re using at the time, but there are other aspects that could be playing a part in your unrest. A chemical-free pillow, for instance, can have many sleep benefits while getting rid of some of the things working against your good night’s rest.
You can sleep confidently with a chemical-free pillow, knowing for sure that you won’t be inhaling toxic chemicals through the night like with synthetic pillows. While you’re sleeping, you’re having some of the most concentrated breathing hours of your day, so you want to make sure you’re conscious of what your pillows are doing to you.
It’s much easier to find a chemical-free pillow than you might think. At Plank and Coil, there are over 30 chemical-free pillow options to choose from, and they can all accommodate your sleep preferences. Filled with options such as wool, kapok, buckwheat, latex, down and more, these pillows will give you a good night’s sleep, without the added hazards that come with chemicals.
If you’ve been wondering how you can achieve a better night’s sleep, a chemical-free pillow may be a great choice for you. Here are a few reasons why you should switch to a chemical-free pillow today.
Chemical-Free Pillows Don’t Use Fire Retardants
It may seem like a good thing to have around, but fire retardants aren’t a chemical you want to have in your pillow. These chemicals are added to items and will slow or prevent fires from occurring on their surfaces. Their presence can be helpful in some items, but when added to your pillows, they can become dangerous to your health.
For starters, polyurethane is found in many foam pillows. Over-exposure to polyurethane can lead to breathing problems such as asthma, coughing, and shortness of breath. But due to polyurethane’s high combustibility, fire retardants in the form of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) can also be added to these pillows. PBDEs are known to emit hormone disputants that can contaminate breast milk for mothers and build up in your home.
There are many types of chemical-free pillows that don’t add fire retardants, such as wool pillows—a favorite at Plank and Coil. A chemical-free pillow can provide you with the same sleep support without the potential health hazards of pillows that use fire retardants.
They Are Environmentally Friendly
Recycling isn’t the only thing you can do to be more kind to the environment. You can give back to the environment by intentionally purchasing items that don’t aid in its destruction. Every item that you buy either contributes to a safer and healthier environment or aids in its toxicity, and a chemical-filled pillow will be doing the latter.
When your chemical-filled pillow wears out, you may unknowingly be harming the environment by throwing it away. The chemicals found in the pillow may find their way to water sources, which can contaminate the living environment and water source for various types of wildlife. Another issue with these products in the environment is that the substances they’re made of usually cannot be recycled, and they take a long time to naturally break down. With a chemical-free pillow, you can rest assured knowing that your purchase is both healthy for you and for the environment.
They Don’t Have Volatile Organic Compounds
If you’ve ever purchased a pillow with chemicals before, you may have noticed a chemical smell after opening it from the packaging—the “new pillow” smell. This odor usually goes away, but it’s caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Foam pillows specifically are known to contain VOCs that are released through a process called off-gassing. This process releases those chemicals into the air, which can then easily enter your body when you breathe them in.
Pillows with these types of chemicals in them are known to create a reaction in the body. Symptoms such as asthma attacks or eye and nose irritation are likely to happen when using pillows with VOCs. They also have the potential to create long-term effects that may include issues like damage to the kidneys and liver. Purchasing a chemical-free pillow from Plank and Coil is a great way to avoid the toxicity and the potential health hazards that may come with standard pillows.
They Can Be Hypoallergenic
Allergy symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, and watery eyes are even more frustrating when they happen during the night. If you or someone in your family is prone to allergies, you know how important it is to eliminate anything that has the potential to induce symptoms. For many, this means making sure to dust and making sure to keep the air quality in the home high with a good HVAC system. Still, many people don’t know that a chemical-filled pillow could also be causing these symptoms or making them worse.
When you switch to a chemical-free pillow, you’ll typically be purchasing one that is hypoallergenic, which means that it’s unlikely to cause allergic reactions. The lack of extra chemical additives is the reason for this change. A pillow with natural and organic material allows you to experience fewer allergy symptoms during your sleep, which also contributes to a more restful, less-interrupted sleeping experience.
They Don’t Use Hazardous Perfumes
A pleasant-scented product can make the decision to buy it much easier. This is often the case for pillows, as people think that a scent-infused pillow will contribute to their sleeping better, but it can sometimes have the opposite effect. Unnatural scents can actually do more harm to you than good.
In most scenarios, companies scent their pillows with artificial scents, perfumes, and deodorizers. These perfumes are usually filled with many chemicals that can cause adverse effects on the skin. Though it may smell good to you, their intent is not always to produce a likable scent for customers. Scented pillows are often over-scented to mask the smell of the chemicals being emitted. With a chemical-free pillow, any scent is natural and doesn’t contain harsh chemical additives.