A TikToker warned mattress owners about washing their mattress covers in a viral video posted on Apr. 7.
In the video, which has been viewed 3.2 million times as of Sunday, user Yas (@heart.led) said she bought a new mattress and decided to wash the cover of her old Zinus mattress before giving it away.
@heart.led trying not to hate myself rn for this. but its literlalt happened to hundreds of people :( #fiberglass #zinusmattress ♬ original sound – Yas
“I take off the cover and wash it. Turns out my mattress, which is a Zinus mattress, has fiberglass in it,” Yas said. “I’ve never heard of fiberglass until two days ago. I’ve never seen it.”
Yas said she believed the fiberglass to be feathers and simply left the mattress alone while she washed its cover. Later, she discovered the material had spread throughout her apartment and onto “every surface,” including her new mattress.
“These are bags of clothes and bedding that I just have to throw away because they can’t be saved,” Yas said in the video, showing garbage bags lined up against her wall.
She said she was forced to rent a professional-grade HEPA vacuum to clean her apartment, but because fiberglass continues to break down over time, there was little she could do. She also said there was no warning or label on the mattress to prohibit users from taking off the cover.
“I likely just have to move out of my apartment now, along with getting rid of almost all my belongings,” Yas said. “Don’t take off the cover to your mattress.”
In another viral TikTok posted in December 2022, user Cody (@imcodyjacob) revealed that he suffered skin irritation after sleeping on a Classic Brands Cool Gel mattress he purchased from Amazon, which he later found to be “made almost entirely out of fiberglass.”
Users expressed their disbelief over mattress companies putting fiberglass in their products. “Because of this video, I found out I’ve been sleeping on fiberglass for a couple months now with my 8 month old,” user Lyssa (@lyssaavilez) wrote.
“I have gotten fiberglass splinters. I have no idea why anyone would put that in a mattress,” user Sebastian (@sebastian_the_krab) said.
Canadian users stated that companies are prohibited from using fiberglass in mattress production there. It is also outlawed in European Union countries. Yas said she plans to join a lawsuit against Zinus as soon as she is able.
The Daily Dot reached out to Yas via TikTok comment and Zinus via its website.
