The Best Natural Materials for Non-Toxic Bedding

Sick of sleeping on sweaty synthetic polyester sheets? Concerned about conventional cotton comforters? Want to know if linen or hemp is better for summer sheets? Here’s the 101 on the best natural materials for non-toxic bedding.

Whatever’s keeping you up at night, I can help (assuming it’s a worry about bedding). As part of the Leaf Score Guide to Non-Toxic Bedding, I take a closer look at eco-friendly bedding fabrics and fibers, examining the pros and cons of a variety of natural materials for safe, non-toxic sheets, shams, pillows, duvets, and more.

Why choose natural, non-toxic bedding?

Regardless of which natural materials you choose, bedding made with natural materials is better for breathability, comfort, durability, and the health of people and planet. With the right care, natural bedding can also save you money. That’s because a quality set of sheets could outlive your mattress and may last for several decades without needing to be replaced.

If more people choose eco-friendly sheets, this could help keep millions of tons of material out of landfills, significantly reduce water waste and water pollution, reduce workplace exposure to toxic chemicals for those making your bedding, and help clean up our environment.

In the course of researching this guide to non-toxic bedding, and just in the pursuit of a more eco-friendly home, I’ve tried out a lot of different kinds of bedding materials.

Below, I offer my take on the best eco-friendly materials for bedding, with insights from my personal experience, academic research, and time-tested knowledge.

The best natural materials for non-toxic bedding

Now you know they why, what about the what?

Five of the best natural materials for bed sheets are:

• Organic cotton
• Organic wool
• Hemp
• Flax linen
• Linen/cotton chambray blends.

As for duvets, pillows, and comforters, top choices for natural materials include:

• Organic cotton
• Latex (for pillows only)
• Kapok
• Wool
• Buckwheat and millet (for pillows only).

Other natural materials are sometimes used in bedding but are less eco-friendly, healthy, and ethical. These include:

• Silk (which can be a good option, depending on the source)
• Bamboo (not always eco-friendly, depending on the processing)
• Down and feathers (recycled without harsh chemicals).

It’s increasingly common to also see recycled polyester and other recycled plastics in bedding, especially in pillows and duvets. While laudable in reducing plastic pollution and the use of virgin plastics, we don’t typically recommend these materials as they can be a source of toxic chemicals in the bedroom and, frankly, don’t perform as well as natural materials for safe, comfortable sleep.

Pros and cons of organic cotton bedding

Conventionally grown cotton is resource-hungry and involves the use of pesticides and other chemicals that damage the environment and are bad for human health.

In contrast, organic cotton is grown and processed without the most egregious pesticides. Note, though, that while some cotton is grown organically, bedding manufacturers may treat the raw materials using hazardous chemicals. As such, it’s best to choose cotton products where the final item is certified organic, not just the raw cotton.

A report published by the University of Cambridge, UK, found that in a life cycle analysis of a t-shirt, using organic cotton instead of conventional cotton reduced the product’s toxic impact by more than 90%. For larger items such as bedding, the impact of switching conventional for organic cotton is huge.

Eco-friendly cotton sheets, pillows, and comforters are made with organic cotton grown, washed, spun, and dyed using natural processes and safe treatments or left undyed and unbleached with a natural ecru tone.

Care and use of cotton bedding

Because cotton can shrink when washed in warm or hot water, it is best to wash on a cold gentle cycle and air dry. Some organic cotton sheets are produced ‘pre-shrunk’, so you can wash them on a warm water cycle without having to worry about shrinkage.

Cotton comforters do best with spot cleaning and a good airing out in the sunshine. You don’t want to soak a cotton comforter as it can take a long time to dry and may get moldy.

Cotton can be a great bedding fiber for year round use but you’ll likely want to choose different weaves for summer and winter seasons. I love a percale weave for summer, especially because I sleep hot. For winter, a sateen or flannel weave works well as these are more insulating.

You’ll also want to choose a lower thread count (but high-quality cotton) for summer. This is because tightly woven cotton can leave you feeling too hot and sweaty by trapping body heat. Again, as a hot sleeper, a good percale weave is my top choice, ideally in the range of 300 single-ply thread count.

Pros and cons of hemp bedding

Hemp is a wonderfully sustainable, renewable resource with myriad applications across multiple industries. Hemp sheets are particularly good because hemp is one of the most breathable natural materials around. This fiber manages to keep its cool even in hot and humid temperatures and helps wick moisture away from your skin. This means it’s good for keeping bedding feeling fresh.

If the idea of hemp sheets makes you feel itchy, don’t worry. Hemp sheets are actually very soft and comfortable, and they get softer each time you wash them, just like cotton. If you’ve never slept on hemp sheets before, consider getting a hemp pillowcase first and giving that a try. You might be surprised! 

Unfortunately, hemp sheets just aren’t that widely available, which means they tend to cost more than organic cotton sheets. Hemp sheets are certainly worth the investment, however, especially if you live somewhere particularly humid.

Pros and cons of flax linen bedding

Even more absorbent, breathable, and insulating than cotton, linen is excellent for keeping you cool and dry in a hot and humid summer and cozy and warm in winter.

While textured, flax linen gets softer and more supple with every wash, especially if mixed with organic cotton. Linen sheets also feel heavier than cotton, which can help some people sleep better.

Flax linen is non-allergenic, supports normal sebaceous gland activity, and can reduce how much you sweat, while keeping you comfortable – I wrote a whole paper on the subject here!). This makes flax an excellent option for anyone living in a hot, humid place as well as anyone going through menopause or during the postpartum period.

I definitely regret not having my linen and bamboo blend (and percale cotton) sheets when I had my first baby. Regular organic cotton sheets were nice but still far too cozy in that first sweaty summer.

Pros and cons of wool bedding

Wool is a traditional choice for bedding and is usually present as a natural flame barrier in organic mattresses. It is also naturally moisture-resistant, which is why we love wool puddle pads as a chemical-free waterproofing solution for crib mattresses and kids’ beds.

Wool also helps to regulate temperature and wicks away moisture, helping you to stay cool and dry without feeling cold. In fact, wool can absorb approximately 35% of its weight in moisture and still feel dry, while cotton absorbs just 8% and polyester just 1% before it feels damp.

Wool is also excellent at relieving pressure, meaning it works well as a mattress topper for folks with joint pain.

Although wool is prone to being nibbled by moths, it is resistant to dust mites, mold, mildew and bacterial growth. This makes it a great choice for blankets that you’d otherwise find it hard to wash regularly (because they’re too big for a machine).

Downsides to wool bedding

Downsides of wool include its cost, possible animal cruelty, and the likely use of hazardous chemicals to clean and process the wool. The best way to ensure high animal welfare standards, sustainable sourcing, and no toxic chemicals is to choose certified GOTS and MadeSafe wool products. Ideally, products will also carry kbT certification from the European Union.

As a long-time vegan, I don’t have much call to buy new wool bedding, but I have used it in the past and do own a few hand-me-down wool blankets. As a kid, I loved sleeping under wool blankets at my grandparents’ house. The weight and coziness is especially good for calming my parasympathetic nervous system, like more modern weighted blankets.

Pros and cons of kapok bedding

Kapok fiber is less widely available than cotton, wool, hemp, and linen but is an increasingly popular natural bedding material. This fiber, which is very cotton-like in appearance but much lighter, comes from the seed pods of kapok trees.

Harvesting kapok is cruelty-free, vegan, and fairly straightforward, with no harm done to the trees in the process. This makes kapok an excellent renewable resource ideal for bedding.

Kapok doesn’t require human intervention to grow well and is generally wild-harvested without any use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It also needs no treatment with chemicals to make it safe or useful for humans, making it a natural and organic fiber that is safe, non-toxic, compostable, and biodegradable.

Kapok is also hypoallergenic, anti-microbial, and dust mite resistant, and naturally repels moisture, which helps to keep mold and mildew at bay. It has no discernable smell, unlike some wool, latex, and hemp. It is also buoyant and springy, while being breathable and moisture-resistant. This makes it useful for pillows as it bounces back into shape fast and helps keep your head cool and sweat-free.

Downsides to kapok bedding

Kapok fibers do move around inside pillows and duvets, so one downside to kapok bedding is the potential for clumping and uneven distribution. Like cotton and polyester pillows and duvets, it’s a good idea to shake out and fluff kapok bedding regularly. Quilted kapok duvets are also a good choice as the quilting helps to keep fiber fill more even for less clumping.

The main downsides of kapok, though, is simply that it’s not available in great quantities (yet!). Many more manufacturers are wising up to the beauty of kapok and using it in clothing (like tentree) and other goods. As for bedding, Savvy Rest offers one of the first and best kapok pillows (see review here) and a full body pillow made with kapok (see review here). Rawganique also offers a kapok pillow (see review here).

I love my kapok and shredded latex pillow from Avocado as it combines the support of latex with the softness of kapok. It’s also really nice to be able to adjust the fill of this pillow and, technically, you could just purchase extra kapok fill if you wanted a fluffier and softer pillow feel overall.

Pros and cons of latex bedding

Natural latex is a very versatile material and is supportive, moldable, and durable. It’s also quite resistant to compression, meaning it won’t let you sink in too far, unlike memory foam or down. Unlike memory foam, polyfoam, or polyester, latex also helps disperse heat, meaning you won’t get a sweaty head while sleeping on a latex pillow.

Latex rubber comes from the rubber tree and is a sustainable, renewable resource. Tapping the tree for the rubber sap doesn’t harm the tree, and a single tree can yield 19 pounds of rubber every year. For a shredded latex pillow in a queen size, you’ll typically want around 7 pounds of fill.

Many companies now offer organic latex pillows made with a single molded piece of latex, textured latex, or shredded latex filling. Each offers different benefits and can suit different sleep styles. (Find out more about latex pillows here.)

Latex is generally considered antimicrobial and unlikely to harbor dust mites and other critters. That said, like any fiber fill pillow, a shredded latex pillow without a tightly woven encasement will inevitably collect dead skin and dust. It’s a good idea to shake out and air pillows in the sunlight once a month or so.

Downsides of latex for bedding

One of the main downsides of latex is its heaviness. This can make it a poor choice if you like to fling your pillows around at night to get comfy. Latex may also be a poor choice for larger pillows, such as body pillows and pregnancy pillows, as well as for breastfeeding pillows, where a lighter fill is usually preferable.

Molded latex pillows may also be a poor choice if you tend to adjust your pillow stuffing during the night. These pillows keep their shape well and can’t be scrunched, folded, or flattened like cotton, kapok, or polyester pillows. As such, you’ll need to find a pillow that’s the right height for you if you’re keen on a molded latex pillow.

Latex can also have an initial rubbery smell that isn’t to everyone’s liking. Typically, organic latex that isn’t blended with toxic chemicals will not smell strongly, if at all. Any natural rubber smell should dissipate within a day or so of unwrapping your pillow.

Pros and cons of buckwheat and millet bedding

Millet and buckwheat pillows contain millet grains and buckwheat hulls. These grains and hulls don’t trap body heat and have natural spaces between the hulls, allowing for excellent breathability and heat dispersion for a cooler sleep.

Buckwheat and millet are both safe and non-toxic, and both are typically grown using organic practice even when they’re not certified as such. In fact, it’s quite hard to track down pillows made with certified organic buckwheat. My Turmerry buckwheat pillow does contain organic buckwheat, but I’m taking this organic claim on good faith as there’s no official certification.

Pillows filled with buckwheat or millet are a great choice for anyone who wants good pillow support that molds and adjusts throughout the night. These pillows aren’t a solid slab of polyfoam or latex and instead contain thousands of hulls or grains that move around as you move. This means the pillow can perfectly support proper posture whether you’re a side-sleeper, back-sleeper, sleep on your stomach, or change positions frequently.

A well made buckwheat pillow will have a zipper that lets you adjust the fill as needed. A zipper also means you can occasionally (every couple of years or so) empty out the pillow contents to air out the hulls or grains in the sun.

Buckwheat and millet are also non-allergenic, making it a good option for anyone allergic to down, feathers, or latex.

Downsides of buckwheat bedding

Buckwheat and millet are only a good choice for regular pillows or nursing pillows. Body pillows would be too heavy and cumbersome and you definitely wouldn’t want a duvet made with these grains. A buckwheat comforter would be spectacularly heavy, rather noisy, and quite uncomfortable.

In terms of noise, I did worry that my sensitive ears would find a buckwheat pillow annoying. I definitely notice the slight shuffle and scrape of the hulls when I first lie down, but the beauty of buckwheat is that your head quickly settles into a comfortable position and you only need to move ever so slightly to stay comfortable all night. This means any noise is very minor and not at all disruptive.

That said, my toddler hates my buckwheat pillow and it definitely takes a while for me to get used to it again after sleeping on more conventional pillows for a while.

You can also put buckwheat hulls in the freezer and the grains will stay cool for several hours. Practically, though, you’d need a big freezer to do this. My freezer is too full of frozen berries and veggies to fit a whole buckwheat pillow. If there’s room in your freezer though, and it’s a really hot spell, this is a great way to cool down at night for better sleep. (Don’t forget to put your sheets in the freezer too!)

The bottom line

In summary, organic cotton, hemp, kapok, latex, wool, buckwheat, and flax linen are great choices for healthy, non-toxic, comfortable and durable bedding. They all have different pros and cons and work well for a variety of types of bedding, from sheets to pillows to mattress pads.

If you’re ready to revamp your bedroom, check out our recommendations for the best:

Eco-friendly bed sheets

Non-toxic pillows

Eco-friendly duvets and comforters.