As the title says, i live in Europe specifically in Greece. It was a hard for me to find latex mattress stores that are supplied by companies/manufacturers with certifications and some transparency but i narrowed them down to 2. One is being supplied by VitaTalalay(store name: Dunlopillo) and the other by Novaya(former Artilat/Latexco) under the brand of LoveHomeFabrics that includes TalalayGlobal(store name near me: SnoozeMattress/CocoLatex). Now the hard part starts but lets remove Novaya/TalalayGlobal out of the equation real quick since i couldnt find 1) any certifications like GOLS (since Novaya makes dunlop) or 2) any certifications about their natural rubber content in the finished product to avoid buying something that is synthetic/mixed with natural latex. Leaving me with VitaTalalay, suprisingly RadiumFoamBV(which is VitaTalalay) is listed in the GOLS certification list even tho they make talalay but VitaTalalay doesnt have that certification on their site at all. They do have a certification from a lab that shows a >95% natural rubber content but that was valid until 2021 so thats a dead end there too. Beyond that the confusion is incredible, people stating that ECO-institut certifies for natural rubber content while it doesnt, some saying that cradle gold certification certifies for it but it doesnt and in general its very hard to find any info. I would appreciate any comment from people that know. I am not being weird just for the sake of it, mostly want to buy a latex that is actual latex and not a mixed version without any listed firmness level or %latex content. I had the impression that GOLS certifies for the natural content of the end product(>95%) but i was informed that GOLS is just certifying for the organic in the agricultural level and not for how much % of natural latex is used( correct me if i am wrong). My last option is to keep testing latex mattresses in local stores and once settling on a firmness/layers, order/buy a mattress from one of the GOLS listed companies in Europe : 1)Baumberger(Germany) 2)MAL(Germany) 3)PROLANA(Germany) 4)LatexSense(UK). These seem to state their certifications even tho i would take the risk of buying a mattress from a different country. Any info is greatly appreciated.
I think one of a our community subscribers if very familiar with european certifications, perhaps @RF-Jens might have the answer to this overseas question.
Maverick
Appreciate the response.
This is what we have on our site (American) about GOLS and there is a link to GOLS in the last sentence, if that helps:
GOLS-Certified
GOLS stands for Global Organic Latex Standard - a certification that is respected worldwide. GOLS certification means that not only are materials certified, but the procedure is socially and environmentally responsible. A clear step-by-step procedure must be followed from the field and farm all the way to the manufacturing. A GOLS certified product must contain more than 95% of certified organic raw material. The GOLS standard features permissible limits for harmful substances, emission test requirements, and polymer and filler percentages. More information can be found here.
Thank you for your insight. I did have the same idea about GOLS meaning that you need >95% organic natural rubber even tho that idea was starting to dissipate when others said that GOLS just verifies for the organic procedure and not the natural rubber content. Still interested in what others have to say about VitaTalalay GOLS certification while being talalay and not dunlop.
Hi Chris152,
I was co-founder of the QuL e.V. in Germany in 1996. The QuL label is the highest certification you can get. It’s included the ECO test from Cologne and not only covers the latex foam core but also the fabrics and any quilting materials. For further information please visit https://www.qul-ev.de/index_eng.html .
Best,
Jens
Addendum:
Novaya makes DUNLOP means they use the DUNLOP process. GOLS, as you correctly said, stands for the cultivation method, thus, organic. You can make DUNLOP foam from GOLS latex as well as from “plain” natural latex. By far, most GOLS latex foam is coming from South-East Asia.
Very interesting, im grateful for that info since i wasnt aware of the QUL certification. I have seen it before and knew it was part of the ECO-institut but had no idea that they also test for the natural rubber content of the end product. I would like to clarify myself in regard of the GOLS, i was attracted to that certification not because of the organic label but because i was under the impression it meant that the end product should have >95% natural latex therefore verifying i am not buying something that was 10-20-30% with fillers (correct me if i was wrong about that idea). But now that you brought up the QUL certification i can look for that instead to rest assured im buying actual latex. Even tho neither Novaya or VitaTalalay have QUL.