I’m not sure why, but one industry that has managed to hold on to being not made in China is the bedding business. Mattresses I can understand because of their size and weight, but there are also lots of good options in bed sheets.
Happily, there are also lots of options with mattress covers. I tend to put these into three categories: mattress protectors, which are a thin sheet of waterproof material to protect your mattress against spills (and “leaks”), mattress pads, which are essentially mattress protectors with a thin layer of padding, and mattress toppers, which essentially add a few inches of material to the top of your existing mattress to provide comfort and support, essentially making it feel like a brand new mattress.
Few countries (including the US) have laws in place to regulate the use of the word “organic”, so GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) filled that gap by creating a certification standard that looks into how textiles are processed, not just material-wise, but also things like damage to the environment and fair treatment of workers. Needless to say, Xinjiang was removed from GOTS consideration back in 2022, so looking at GOTS certification is another step you can take to make sure even the raw materials in your mattress protectors and toppers don’t come from China.
Most of these protectors have a thin polyurethane barrier that keeps the liquid out.
Mattress toppers are a perfect example of how China dominates markets. Look at noname brands like “Bedsure”, “SafeRest”, “Leisure Town” and “Easeland” and you’ll see tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of reviewers raving about how wonderful their mattress protectors are. It’s disheartening to see how blind they are that they, one $30 mattress topper at a time, are subsidizing environmental harm, slave-like labor, and a totalitarian state. But it’s not their fault; companies like Amazon encourage this kind of ignorance. Hopefully more of us speaking up—respectfully and gently—will help wake them up.
Best Mattress Protectors and Toppers Not Made in China
1. Saatva Mattress Topper, Mattress Pad, or Waterproof Mattress Protector
Consumer Reports names a lot of mattress toppers to their “best of” list, including Dormeo, BedStory, Viscosoft, Tempur-Pedic, and Casper. ALL of them are made in China, despite many of these brands outright lying on their Amazon product pages. I got my hopes up when I saw that Tuft & Needle was made in the USA, but it turns out their shell is made in China.
Not altogether surprisingly, two of the brands that I put in my list of best mattresses not made in China made their way to the list of Consumer Reports’ top choices: Saatva and Avocado.
On their Web site, Saatva says that their mattress topper is made in the USA, but they don’t say that about their Mattress Pads nor their Mattress Protectors. However, when I contacted them they assured me that everything was made in Massachusetts.
Until someone tells me differently I’ll take them at their word. Buying a Saatva mattress topper is the next best thing you can do to buying a Saatva mattress, at a small percentage of the cost. If you’ve got an old worn one, saggy mattress sitting in the guest room, do your guests a favor and buy one of these.
2. Avocado Mattress Topper or Waterproof Mattress Protector
As with Saatva, Avocado was named by Consumer Reports as one of the best mattress toppers, and it’s the next best thing to buying an Avocado mattress (which I named in my list as the best mattress you can buy—and I’m sticking with that).
I love Avocado’s transparency. They say right on their page that their Mattress Topper is made in their own factories in Tecate, Mexico. It uses GOTS-certified organic latex, wool, and cotton and comes in firm or plush. As with their mattresses, they boast an alphabet soup of certifications that show that they only use natural, certified organic, non-toxic materials.
They don’t say on their product page where their waterproof Mattress Protectors are made, but all indications point to them being made in their California factory.
3. Plushbeds Waterproof Mattress Protector
Like a lot of other mattress companies we’ve seen, PlushBeds makes their mattresses in the USA, but also makes their mattress protectors here too.
According to PlushBeds customer service, these are made and sourced in the USA. They do feature GOTS certification for their cotton. Similar to other protectors, it has a thin, smooth surface but remains breathable, waterproof, and protects against allergens and dust mites. It’s also one of the more affordable not made in China options you’ll find.
4. Brentwood Home Organic Waterproof Mattress Protector
This mattress protector from Brentwood Home is made in Pakistan, and like all the options above it use GOTS-certified organic cotton. It’s waterproof, machine-washable, and thin (avoiding the “plastic crinkle” problem that you find in many other mattress protectors).
Reviewers love how it sleeps cool and yet protects against even big spills. This is done with a special design that allows humidity to escape through tiny pores, while also including a super thin polyurethane layer that provides a waterproof barrier.
Check out Turmerry for another great option made in Pakistan.
6. Whisper Organics Mattress Protector
Whisper Organics is a family owned and operated business out of upstate New York. They’re one of the highest rated mattress protectors on Amazon, and are refreshingly transparent about their supply chain; they get their cotton from GOTS certified fields in India and Turkey, and manufacture their products in India. Its 300 thread count covers ensure unprecedented comfort.
It’s not 100% waterproof, but that’s by design. This protector is designed more for comfort and cooling than to protect against Junior crawling into bed with you after drinking a gallon of water before bedtime. It may not protect against Niagara Falls, but it will save your expensive mattress from sweat, humidity, and the occasional spill.
7. Naturepedic Organic Waterproof Mattress Protector Pad
I was a little skeptical to put Naturepedic on this list, knowing that at one point they outsourced to China. But all recent reports indicate that they’ve since moved to India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
You can find their mattress protectors on their own site or on Amazon.
Conclusion
Hat tip to Sustainable Jungle’s excellent write-up of natural and organic mattress protectors, which helped me validate a lot of the research I was doing. It’s rare to see fellow bloggers put so much research into their posts, but Jenny Bell did her homework and went deep into finding out not just where protectors are made, but where their raw materials came from. I typically spend hours or even days doing the research to put together one blog post, so I know how much work she went through.
I try to keep my “best of” picks to a short list, but if you want to shop around, her post revealed a lot of other options, including:
- Parachute – Made in Portugal
- Coyuchi – Made in Michigan using cotton from India
- Happsy – Made in the USA
- Boll and Branch – Made in the USA using cotton from Turkey and Portugal
Do you know of other mattress protectors that are not made in China? Let us know in the comments!
