Safest Non-Toxic & Natural Pillows for the Whole Family- Gift Guide

Which brands produce the safest non-toxic & natural pillows free from VOCs, formaldehyde, and other contaminants? Mamavation evaluated the most popular pillow brands to help you avoid all the chemical nasties that are prevalent in the pillow industry. You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you best organic mattresses, safest organic bedding, best air purifiers, & safest weighted blankets, now join us as we bring you our latest investigation on the safest non-toxic pillows.

Disclosure: This post was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN. This post also contains affiliate links. 

Why Non-Toxic Pillows are Preferrable for Your Health

There are many materials to avoid when looking for the safest pillows for your family. Here are the materials that are toxic that you’ll want to avoid when making your purchase.

• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)–Health effects range from headaches & dizziness to cancers and central nervous system problems. VOCs also bond to ozone in your home creating smog in the sunlight.
• Pesticides, Herbicides & Fertilizers–Conventional cotton is a crop that requires huge chemical inputs like pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. It’s also very common for cotton to be a genetically engineered (GMO) crop. Traces of these chemicals can remain in the cotton when purchased.
• Chlorine–Most conventional cotton is bleached with chlorine, which has trace amounts of dioxins present. Dioxins are carcinogens.
• Formaldehyde–These chemical emissions are found in fabrics, adhesives, and foams. It off-gasses from the adhesives used and the petroleum-based polyurethane foam. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen.
• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE) –These chemical fire retardants were banned in 2005, but if you have an older or used mattress or pillow, they may still be present. These chemicals were linked to developmental toxicity and lowering IQs in children.
• Organophosphates (OPs) — These chemicals have replaced other PBDE fire retardants. The most common one is organophosphate chlorinated Tris (TDCPP). These chemicals have been linked to reproductive, nervous, and skeletal systems issues and are now on the Prop. 65 list of chemicals that can cause cancer or reproductive issues.
• Polyurethane foam–Many pillows we found were made from “memory foam” or some type of foam. The problem with these pillows is they off-gas VOCs while you sleep.  Manufacturing these foams also involve formaldehyde and benzene which is both bad for workers and public health.
• Ethylene Glycol — Used in manufacturing to produce polyester pillows. This chemical can off-gas over time as the pillow breaks down. It’s linked to
• Antimony Trioxide–Most polyester is manufactured with antimony trioxide, which is a toxic metal according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Over time this can become released from polyester (or if used as a flame retardant) and can expose you dermally or can be inhauled.
• Down Alternative–These alternatives to down are made from virgin or recycled polyester blends and will have the same issues as regular polyester.

Understanding Pillow Certifications

Certifications can become very confusing, especially when brands abuse them. The most important part of your pillow purchase will be ensuring that your pillows have very specific certifications, especially when you are paying a premium for them. You’ll also want to make sure those certifications are found on the pillow when you receive it; otherwise, you may not have a real certified product. Here are the best certifications.

Best Certifications for Non-Toxic Pillows

• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Organic: The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification is the golden standard of the organic pillow industry. They certify pillows, but they also separately certify individual materials like cotton fabric made by a cotton fabric company. It mandates that the cotton or wool contents used are USDA-certified. They also determine how products are processed and manufactured and what chemicals like chemical adhesives can be used during that process. And finally, they also determine what other types of materials can be used with the product that is not organic. This certification restricts fire retardants, but not all of them. However, this is the gold standard when you can find it.
• Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) Organic: The Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) certification is a standard for certified organic latex and finished latex foam. The standard also determines what other types of processing and materials are prohibited. The product has to maintain a minimum of 95% certified organic raw material of the total weight.
• Made Safe: MADE SAFE certifies that products are not made with cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Materials in mattress products have been scrutinized to ensure they do not contain harmful ingredients, off-gas dangerous vapors, or create byproducts that could impact human health. Best case scenario is to find this certification with the GOTS certification together.
• OSC 100 Organic Cotton Standard: The Organic Exchange Certification Program tracks the organic material from the source to finished product. This certification gives you more piece of mind that the product contains what it says it contains. They only certify organic cotton or wool components of the mattress, not the entire thing. They act as a tracking system. This certification isn’t as strong as a certification as GOTS. A product cannot contain both GOTS and OCS 100 Organic Cotton logo on the product to protect the consumers from confusion.

Better Certifications for Non-Toxic Pillows

• GreenGuard Gold: GreenGuard was acquired by Underwriter Laboratories (UL) and has changed the parameters of their standard. They no longer carry the lowest emission “Select” category and have introduced a more watered down “Gold” category instead. Green Guard is an air quality environmental testing company. They are looking into the off-gassing of specific contaminants. But today they no longer consider flame retardants, PFAS chemicals, phthalates, and microbes. This standard does test for about 350 common VOCs. We just wish they went further to get some of the worst offenders. Green Guard will certify the entire pillow or any of the components instead.
• OEKO-TEX Standard 100: The OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Certification is a European certification that verifies textiles are free from certain harmful substances like allergenic dyes, bisphenols, heavy metals, & formaldehyde. They have recently adopted a ban on PFAS “forever chemicals” as well.

Not Our Favorite Pillow Certification

• Certi-PUR:The CertiPUR-US^® name and logo are registered trademarks of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc., a business league founded by polyurethane foam producers. They state that this certification was created by the foam industry “in close collaboration” with environmentalists, chemists, and research scientists, but any changes to the certification program can only be made with the consent of its board of directors. This makes it appear to be the industry creating a standard for themselves. This certification does NOT mean that the entire mattress (or even the foam) is chemical-free, safe, non-toxic, or free of carcinogens. And polyurethane foam can never be certified organic. While this certification does ban certain substances (like CFCs) and they do conduct some testing for VOCs, the other qualifications they require might not make much of a difference at all. For example, they say that their certified mattresses are free from heavy metals and formaldehyde. However, they also admit that heavy metals or formaldehyde are rarely found in polyurethane foam in the first place.

Some Confusing Details About GOTS Organic Certification

Some companies claim to produce GOTS-certified pillows but may not. Instead, what could be happening here is they are using some GOTS-certified material. But how much? We are unsure. This is important to understand, but it can get confusing. You can check to see if the brand you are purchasing has their own GOTS-certification here.

If they do not have their own GOTS certification having to do with pillows, you can assume one of three things:

1. Either they are telling the truth and everything is made from GOTS-certified materials, OR
2. They may be using some GOTS materials but we really don’t know what else. Could it be possible they are using 10% GOTS organic cotton and 90% conventional cotton? There’s no way of knowing unless that brand has its own GOTS certification to produce pillows OR
3. They are not using GOTS-certified materials and there is no way of proving this either way without that GOTS certification on the pillow.

When a brand has its own GOTS-certified pillow, you can rest assured that all the materials used are approved under the GOTS standards, which is the gold standard. Getting their own certification would mean they would also be restricted on other materials they used in that pillow. But with no certification, we can’t be sure what else is inside. It could be possible that 10% is from this organic supplier and 90% is something else. Certification makes all that clear. Then when you receive that pillow, it should also have a GOTS-certified label on it.

To be super careful, for every brand of pillow that claimed the GOTS certification, we checked to see not only if were they in the GOTS database, but also checked to see if they were certified to produce a GOTS-certified pillow. In the database, you’ll want to find “pillows” or “pillow cushions” or something similar to verify these claims. Not all brands that are found in the GOTS database have the ability to produce a GOTS-certified pillow. This is what we were looking for when we put them in the “best” category.

Safest Non-Toxic Materials for Pillows

Here are all the safest materials you want to see when making pillow purchases:

• GOTS-certified organic cotton batting
• GOLS-certified organic latex
• Organic Kapok fiber
• “organic fibers”
• GOTS-certified wool
• Responsible Down Standard certified down
• Alternatively, feathers from local sustainable farms
• Buckwheat hulls
• Any additional GOTS-certified materials

Mamavation’s Investigation of Pillows

This pillow investigation became a verification of certifications for you. We’ve done all the hard work so you don’t have to. Here’s how we broke down the categories:

• Not Our Favorite Pillows: This category was not our favorite. We don’t know very much about what they are using in their pillows. They lack real non-toxic certifications or are using polyurethane foam or some type of petroleum-based products.
• Better Pillows: This category is great, but not perfect. A few things are happening here: (1) This brand could be using some GOTS-certified or “organic” materials, but the pillow itself is not GOTS certified and therefore we do not know if ALL the materials used are actually GOTS-certified without that certification of the finished product; (2) This brand may have had a lawsuit finding toxic chemicals in their latex and we just haven’t been able to verify their “clean” status yet with our own independent testing so we have them here as a precaution; (3) This brand is using “natural latex” materials instead of organic materials which cannot be verified and we have no idea about additional toxic inputs, (4) This brand has additional “better” certifications and have avoided polyurethane foam for this product, or (5) this brand is using plant-based PLA which is not organic, but the other portions of the pillow are organic.  Please note that products with a * are made with organic materials and should be considered “better” than their counterparts in this list.
• Best Pillows: This category represents pillows that are GOTS-certified and all the materials used can be found in the GOTS database as “pillow cushions” or something similar. Therefore these brands are certified to make an entire GOTS-certified pillow and thus we know that every material is safe and GOTS-certified. This category also has GOLS and FSC-certified organic latex with GOTS-certified pillowcases OR uses down from sustainable farms not from China.

Not Our Favorite Pillows

This category was not our favorite. We don’t know very much about what they are using in their pillows. They lack real non-toxic certifications or are using polyurethane foam or some type of petroleum-based products.

• Boll & Branch Down Alternative Pillow
• Brentwood Home Zuma Foam Wedge Pillow
• Brentwood Home Oceano Wedge Pillow
• Brooklyn Bedding Luxury Cooling Memory Foam Pillow
• Brooklyn Bedding Premium Shredded Foam Pillow
• Brooklyn Bedding Latex Pillow
• Casper Original Pillow
• Casper Hybrid Pillow with Snow Technology
• Casper Down Pillow
• Casper Foam Pillow
• Coop The Original Adjustable Pillow
• Cozy Earth Bamboo Down Alternative Pillow
• Cozy Earth Bamboo Down Alternative Body Pillow
• Layla Kapok Pillow
• Layla Memory Foam Pillow
• Nectar Tri Comfort Cooling Pillow
• Nectar Dual Cooling Pillow with Premium Pressure Relief
• Saatva Graphite Memory Foam Pillow
• Saatva Down Alternative Pillow
• Sertapedic Won’t Go Flat Pillow
• Sertapedic Cool Nites Bed Pillows
• SleepNumber ComfortFit Pillow
• SleepNumber True Temp Pillow
• SleepNumber ResponseFit Pillow

Better Pillows

This category is great, but not perfect. A few things are happening here: (1) This brand could be using some GOTS certified or “organic” materials, but the pillow itself is not GOTS certified and therefore we do not know if ALL the materials used are actually GOTS certified without that certification of the finished product; (2) This brand may have had a lawsuit finding toxic chemicals in their latex and we just haven’t been able to verify their “clean” status yet with our own independent testing so we have them here as a precaution; (3) This brand is using “natural” materials instead of organic materials which cannot be verified and we have no idea about additional toxic inputs, (4) This brand has additional “better” certifications and have avoided polyurethane foam for this product, or (5) this brand is using plant-based PLA which is not organic, but the other portions of the pillow are organic.  Please note that products with a * are made with organic materials and should be considered “better” than their counterparts in this list.

Best Pillows

This category represents pillows that are GOTS-certified and all the materials used can be found in the GOTS database as “pillow cushions” or something similar. Therefore these brands are certified to make an entire GOTS-certified pillow and thus we know that every material is safe and GOTS-certified. This category also has GOLS and FSC-certified organic latex with GOTS-certified pillowcases OR uses down from sustainable farms not from China.