FAQ

Founded 2012 in Ireland, Pure Zees knew the baby mattress needed improving and set about bringing it into the modern era by developing it to the criteria set by the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America. Our goal was to produce a mattress that dealt effectively with the concerns of the asthma & allergy concerned parent, not use foam which always requires dubious chemicals, substantiate all our product claims, and meet 100% all safety standards and regulations. Made in Ireland for the USA and European markets.

There are plenty of baby mattress options out there. But for those who are seeking the safest and healthiest of environments for their precious little one, Pure Zees have created a mattress like no other.

A Breakthrough Fabric Prevents Contaminants Getting into Mattress.
Pure Zees mattresses use a breakthrough fabric that prevents house dust mites (and other contaminants – faeces, vomit, etc.) from getting into the mattress in the first place, while still allowing your baby’s skin to breath and thereby staying comfortable.

Our extremely advanced inner fiber core is firm, durable and most importantly inherently flame retardant. 

Our comfort cover has been developed to successfully draw the sweat and any other moisture away from baby's body and dry quickly.   

We have been tested for harmful chemicals, emissions and irritants so that you can be reassured that your baby’s mattress is providing a safer and better sleeping environment.

Firstly, there is a distinction between dust mites themselves, and dust mite allergen, both in terms of how to remove them, and in terms of how allergenic they are. People are generally not allergic to dust mites themselves; they are allergic to the waste and other materials the dust mites produce.

To remove dust mites, washing in high temperatures is best. For example, when ASTHMA AND ALLERGY FOUNDATION OF AMERICA and ALLERGY STANDARDS LTD test washing machines and dryers for asthma & allergy friendly®certification, they test that they can reach and maintain temperatures of at least 55 degrees Celsius for a period of time. This is to kill dust mites.  

However, when they are looking at bedding, their approach is not to look at killing dust mites: you use a washing machine or dryer to do that, so it’s included in those standards for machines that are certified. Instead they are looking at whether the bedding item acts as a host and reservoir to the allergen. If you are someone with allergies, you should be washing your bedding regularly, and it should be possible to remove the allergen from the bedding when you wash it. This is also because there can be other allergen present, like cat dander or even pollen that has been transferred from clothes or hair. 

Any bedding that is certified has been tested to show that after seeding the bedding with dust mite allergen, and washing at 40 degrees Celsius, that at least 90% of the allergen is removed. They use 40 degrees because this is part of an international industry standardised test for washing items (ISO 6330). They also use 40 degrees because they are always trying to model the way in which the consumer will interact with their certified products. While many items say on textile labels say that they should be washed at high temperatures, many households use the same standard wash cycle to wash everything. If it is possible to remove 90% of allergen at 40 degrees, then at the very least it will be possible to remove that amount also at 60 degrees, or an even higher amount.

However, washing at a higher temperature can also have the side-effect of increasing the wear over time on the product. Another test they do on all of their certified bedding is a repeat wash test – to make sure that if someone washes their bedding item regularly, it is of sufficient quality to withstand this cleaning. They don’t want to see consumers reducing the regular washing of items, because with higher temperature cleaning the product is getting worn out or shrinking.

Most parents are reluctant to re-use their baby mattress for fear that it harbours contaminants from previous use. Standard advice is to buy a new mattress for each baby. However, Pure Zees is not a standard mattress – because of our unique microporous encasement cover, which is skin breathable and yet amazingly at the same time still impermeable to liquids (such as vomit, urine or faeces) or house dust mites, it is perfectly okay to re-use your Pure Zees mattress since nothing gets inside the core to cause a mess and the resultant possible bacterial problems.

Research from the independent testing body of AAFA informed us that spring areas create the space for the large gathering of dust mites.   

Spring also generally needs to be covered with foam and the problem with foam is the amount of manufacturing chemicals or flame retardant chemical added that can be harmful to a baby.

The priority with a baby mattress is safety. One of the main requirements in European and American infant mattress safety standards and regulations is that the mattress is “firm”.  A baby needs to sleep on a firm surface and that when a parent comes to choosing a mattress for their infant child they should not look at it from an adult’s point which is generally nice spongy soft comfort, but rather the baby’s requirement of a firm mattress that will not sag, and holds its shape.

Pure Zees uses a special High-Density fiber free of harmful chemicals that gives the perfect surface firmness.

Our advice is to not succumb to an adult’s idea of comfort for a baby mattress but rather the baby’s safety needs and comfort requirements – firmness of sleeping surface, breathable materials that are waterproof so as to protect from core mess, impenetrable cover to stop the march of the dust mites, and an air circulating comfort layer that is not a cause for overheating.

To answer that there’s nothing quite like scientific proof, which comes in the form of a scientific study undertaken in Melbourne. The study was designed to assess the effect of different mattress covers and floor coverings on mite allergen concentrations in the homes of mite-sensitive children with asthma in the city of Melbourne, Australia. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9058687What they did was measure the concentration of the mite allergen Der p1 on mattress covers and mattress surfaces at the start and three more times over a 5 month period in 107 of these homes. They did this for each of the sheepskin, wool and cotton coverings, and also for an impermeable mattress.

The Der p1 measurements were in microgram per gram of fine dust. The differences were incredible. The initial measurements were Sheepskin 116, Wool 113, and Cotton 19 vs Impermeable encased mattress 0.4. So that meant that wool had a concentration of dust mites that was more than 282 times that of the impermeable encased mattress.

So, obviously everyone should go for impermeable encased cot mattresses as opposed to wool or cotton, right?
Yes, but we wouldn’t recommend any old impermeable encased mattress. You want one that you know your baby is going to be comfortable on and not sweat too much as we have already discussed above.

And you should get one that has been tested for harmful chemicals because some baby mattresses contain what are known as VOCs (volatile organic compounds)such as phenol, neodecanoic acid and linalool, as well as formaldehyde benzene, toluene, perchlorethylene and acetone.

For these reasons, you should choose Pure Zees, the world’s first baby mattress that has been proven to be better suited for those with asthma and allergies in independent tests by Allergy Standards Ltd and approved by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

VOC's are naturally present as well as being man made and produced. VOC stands for “Volatile Organic Compounds”. They are air pollutants which can have detrimental effects on human health by contributing to respiratory illnesses, and some VOCs are mutagenic or toxic to reproduction and harmful to the unborn. Pure Zees baby mattress is tested for nasty VOC's

We are not aware of any issues with the motion sensor objective of this product and the Pure Zees baby mattress. However we are aware of issues with mold being caused by the monitor on any mattress brand irrespective of the filling or textiles used in the makeup of the mattress. 

Angelcare know of this potential issue and they do draw the consumers attention to it in their monitor instructions and also on their website to which you can find the link below. We believe it is best that you know before hand that the Angelcare monitor could cause mold on any mattress exterior given the correct conditions but it is not always the case.
https://angelcare.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004092671-Why-is-my-baby-s-mattress-damp-around-the-Sensor-Pad-area-  

Our baby mattress goes way above and beyond the term hypoallergenic. In order to be certified asthma and allergy friendly, a product or service must undergo and pass through a rigorous series of proprietary lab tests - proving they help reduce exposure to allergens and irritants, provide increased environmental control and withstand routine cleaning and care guidelines. 

The use of the marketing world manufactured word Hypoallergenic is an empty claim. It is used by many companies on their product packaging and information websites and one consumers have accepted without questioning. It can make us believe that our asthma and allergy concerns are better served by products with this what can sometimes look like a official medical stamp of approval. Read more:

We believe the AAFA Certification makes us the greatest baby mattress yet because we have addressed the factors that other manufacturers have over indulged in - suspect polyurethane foam, springs, FR chemicals, anti bacteria biocide & probiotic treatments, anti-dust mite chemical treatments, and unsubstantiated product claims. 

Click her to find out more on Why Certification Makes Us Brilliant.