I choose to sell GOLS Organic Latex. Why? In part because of the thoroughness of the standard, but honestly, mostly because we as consumers have come to equate the word organic with a quality product. When you hear the word organic, you realize that while you still want to read the label, someone else is out there holding your product to a standard. In our case, the standard is GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) similar to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), which we use for all of our fabrics.
Organic is a buzz word. It has been subject to green washing, to inflated prices and to eye rolling at someone’s careful choice. BUT it is also subject to buying confidence, to a gold standard and to a product’s broad care and oversight. This broad care means that not just the final product of a latex core is certified, but also the growing procedures for the tree, the molding facility, the packaging, and that the worker’s wages are paid out fairly and their working conditions are respectable.
Is there a difference in the end product between natural latex and organic natural latex? My suppliers tell me there is just the difference of paperwork, and as all organic certifications do, the standard certifies 95% of the product. With the final product of both natural and organic latex being 96% rubber, both products surpass the certifications requirements for the product.
In the end, all natural latex, whether organic or not, ends up containing the following ingredients:
- Organic Latex Rubber 96%
- Zinc Oxide 2%
- Fatty Acid Soaps 1%
- Sulfur 1%
- Sodium 1%
Item 1 is pure, natural rubber harvested exclusively from the “Hevea Brasiliensis” tree, which grows primarily in South-East Asia.
Items 2 thru 5 are foaming agents that are essential to the vulcanization, foaming and curing process that all latex cores must go though. The finished core is then washed a minimum of 3 times to remove any residuals that may be left over after curing.
I feel assured that we are getting and selling a product that, for being man-made, is quite natural. You can find the document of organic certification in our organic latex product.