I have a new waterbed mattress that has a very strong vinyl odor. It’s been over a week and it still smells. Do you have any suggestions?
“The vinyl is ‘outgassing.’ A recommended approach is to accelerate the outgassing by heating the space to 90 degrees for 24 hours, then lowering the temperature, opening windows and operating a fan. This is a procedure used by chemically sensitive persons to eliminate odor from various products including wall coatings.” — Sandra Elizabeth Clinger, Lifestyle Interior Design, 303-388-1565,
“When waterbeds are brand new, there’s always somewhat of a new-vinyl odor — no different than leather or vinyl in a car. That usually dissipates 24-48 hours after being opened up and allowed to breathe. Within three days max, you should not be able to smell that, unless someone is ultra-sensitive. There’s no proven danger from the outgassing, but it is a nuisance.
“On rare occasions, the vinyl has been put into a really hot storage area, which can change the chemical composition and cause it to outgas continuously. I’ve been selling waterbeds since 1964 and I can count on one hand the number of times where this has occurred and we have had to replace the mattress.
“I use a product call MaxiClean Vinyl Cleaner Protectant for cleaning and conditioning waterbed mattresses. But if the odor is coming from inside the water bed, it might be algae. For that, we have another chemical that goes inside the bed called MaxiCare. It’s a shock treatment that will kill anything that may be growing in there.” — Store owner Les Pottern, The Dream Merchant (5603 Leetsdale Drive, Denver, 303-388-9341)
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