RESIDENCE LIFE MATTRESSES
A Guide for the Educated Purchaser

It seems that nothing is simple anymore. Take the purchase of the mattresses for your residence halls, for example. It used to be that you would simply call up a local mattress manufacturer and order your requirements from their basic line of institutional or hospitality contract products. Today, the demands of regulatory bodies for code compliance, budgeting authorities for service life and your student residents who require comfortable sleep surfaces have combined to make the purchasing process more complex than it has ever been before. The good news however, is that by understanding a few key concepts you can make the mattress purchasing process simple once again.  

There are four primary areas of mattress performance with which you should be familiar in order to regain control of this purchasing process and return it to a state of simplicity.  These areas are open flame resistance, clean-ability, biohazard containment, bedbug resistance and student comfort. 

OPEN FLAME RESISTANCE

Purchasing open flame resistant mattresses specifically designed for high risk occupancies, such as university housing residence halls, is an integral part of an overall fire safety strategy that may also include the installation of detection and suppression systems.  The importance of a comprehensive fire safety strategy is to diminish the potential for catastrophic fire events. 

Not only is this course of action dictated by a prudent liability mitigation strategy, but also laws and regulations increasingly require it.  Currently, all mattresses sold in the United States must be open-flame resistant. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission recently instituted a similar nationwide standard, CPSC 16 CFR 1633 which went into effect July 1, 2007. To ensure your mattress suppliers meet these minimum performance requirements as well as more stringent high risk occupancy standards, you should incorporate the following language in your bid specifications: 

“The mattress must comply with CPSC 16 CFR 1633 and BFD IX-11. A copy of the fire tests conducted by the bidding company at an independent laboratory must accompany the bid, otherwise the bid is deemed invalid.” 

The only way mattress flammability performance can be certified is if the mattress has been tested by an independent lab where a written test report indicating the passing result is provided by the lab. Not only must residential life mattresses be open-flame resistant, but potential fire hazards must be eliminated.  One such fire hazard is the student’s unauthorized placement of convoluted foam pads (also known as “egg crates”) on top of the mattress for added comfort. You can substantially reduce the probability of this fire hazard occurring by specifying that your residence hall mattress to be manufactured with a high quality (1.8lb/ft³ minimum density) convoluted foam pad to be placed inside the mattress and underneath the fire barrier fabric. This mattress construction method provides the luxurious comfort students seek while eliminating the need for an ad-on product that is a potential fire hazard. 

CLEANABILITY

The fabric you select to cover your mattress plays an important role in the expected service life of the unit. The ability to effectively clean the cover fabrics is critical to achieving the maximum service life from the mattress. 

Traditional fabrics have not evolved over the past several decades and are still subject to objectionable levels of staining. Additionally, out-dated vinyl or PVC based fabrics are subject to cracking, excessive body heat and are noisy. 

In order to have mattresses that do not show the wear and tear of normal use in a university housing setting, mattress manufacturers are increasingly switching to polyurethane coated nylon fabrics. These fabrics have their roots in healthcare settings and can be cleaned and sanitized regularly. The incorporation of anti-microbial treatments in these fabrics not only helps control odor during the life of the mattress, but also helps control growth of mold and mildew.  SOFlux OX-V^® is a smart choice within the family of polyurethane coated fabrics because it is manufactured without PBDE, an additive being investigated by the EPA and which will be banned in the state of California in 2008.  

BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT

The contamination of mattresses by blood and other bodily fluids is well documented. On the exterior of the mattress this is evident as staining, which is an aesthetic problem.  On the interior however, there can be fungal and bacterial growth or the accumulation allergens and body fluid such as blood. These biohazards could trigger a serious reaction in another student using the same mattress next year which is clearly a student health and welfare issue. 

Standard cloth fabrics fail to block these fluids. PVC fabrics will crack and can also provide a path for such contaminants while conventional taped edge mattress can break open and/or allow bodily fluids to be absorbed into the mattress via the tape edge sewing seam holes.  The interior of the product will then serve as a virtual science experiment for the growth of countless unacceptable contaminants. There is even some discussion of mattresses that have been contaminated with blood or other bodily fluids may have to be treated in the same manner as biohazard medical waste, due to the concerns over the danger posed by blood-borne pathogens. 

BEDBUG RESISTANCE

Recently bedbugs have made a dramatic resurgence into college and university residence halls. As reported in a recent Dateline NBC story, bedbugs love to hide and lay their eggs in the tape edge seams of conventional residence hall mattresses. You can eliminate potential interior biohazards while also diminishing your risk of bedbug infestation by specifying that your residence life mattress be manufactured with an inverted seam located along the side of the mattress and with NO tape edge seams along the top or bottom surfaces of the mattress.   

BREATHABILITY AND STUDENT COMFORT

In the past, you had a choice between fluid-proof vinyl (PVC) that did not breathe or fabrics that breathed but were not fluid-proof and stained so quickly that they had to be disposed of prior to the end of their expected useful life. Now you can specify polyurethane coated nylon fabrics which are not only fluid-proof and anti-bacterial, but are also breathable and create less body heat build up, which translates into a comfortable night’s sleep.  Cleanup is a breeze with soap and warm water allowing for a clean presentation in the fall to new students and their parents.  Mattresses with a polyurethane coated nylon cover fabric deliver the best of both worlds and are specified widely in the university housing market. 

Of all the purchases you consider, it is possible that no other acquisition has as much impact on the everyday lives of your residents. Between sleeping, relaxing, studying, and socializing, it is likely that your students will spend more than half their time in close contact with their mattresses. There have been significant advances made in addressing health, safety, and comfort in the design of residential life mattresses and furniture.  These advances allow you sleep a little sounder at night knowing your students are using and enjoying state-of-the-art residence hall mattresses.

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University Sleep Products, Inc.
Leaders in Innovative Mattress Technology
Phone: 800-548-2072  Fax: 800-548-2072
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