Selling mattresses, pillows and bedding online: flammability, law tags and infant sleep

Most people know the mattress tag that says "do not remove". Behind it sit two federal flammability standards, one for a smouldering cigarette and one for an open flame, which every mattress must meet and label. Online, bedding adds an image rule too: never show a baby with pillows, loose bedding or a weighted blanket.

This page covers the standards, crib mattresses, state laws, the products eBay bars, and images.

What this page covers: mattresses and toppers, pillows, duvets and comforters, weighted blankets and crib mattresses.

The short version

• Mattresses must meet the federal cigarette-ignition and open-flame standards and carry their labels.
• Crib mattresses have a separate standard with warnings.
• Amazon treats bedding and quilted products as restricted and may ask for state law labels.
• Walmart asks sellers delivering mattresses to follow state mattress laws, such as California's recycling act.
• eBay bars weighted blankets, swaddles and sleep sacks for infants, and pillows marketed for infant sleep.

Which flammability standards must a mattress meet?

Every mattress sold in the US must meet two federal flammability standards, one for cigarette ignition and one for open flame, and carry their labels. Crib mattresses have a separate standard and warnings.

Show the law label in one image. It answers the question a careful buyer asks first.

Do state mattress laws apply to online sellers?

Yes, on Walmart. Walmart asks sellers who deliver mattresses to follow state mattress laws, naming California's mattress recycling act. Amazon treats upholstered furniture, bedding and quilted products as a restricted category and may ask for state law labels.

What are the infant sleep rules for bedding?

Infant sleep is where bedding listings carry the most risk:

• eBay does not allow weighted blankets, swaddles and sleep sacks for infants, or pillows marketed for infant sleep.
• Images. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has asked sellers to stop showing blankets and pillows in cribs, and Walmart bars images of infants sleeping in unsafe positions or places.

Never show a baby with pillows, loose bedding or a weighted blanket. Our page on baby product rules covers the rest of the safe sleep rules.

What should mattress and bedding images show?

Mattress and bedding images should show the real size and the law label. The set that does it:

• The mattress or bedding on a made bed, at its real size, in a tidy room.
• The law label, readable.
• A cut-away or corner image of the layers, from your photo of the product.
• A weighted blanket shown with an adult, never with a baby or a young child.

How Commicorn helps

• Placed at its real size. Our scenes place bedding as homes do: on the bed it fits, against the things around it.
• Real size, from your measurements. The Dimensions image shows the measurements you give us.
• Your label, as printed. On the Untouched product route your photo's pixels are never redrawn, so the law label stays exactly as printed.
• You check the scenes. Look at any scene with a baby before you export, and make another if anything soft is near them.

Questions sellers ask

Which flammability standards apply to mattresses?

Two federal standards, one for cigarette ignition and one for open flame, and every mattress must carry their labels.

Do crib mattresses have a separate standard?

Yes. Crib mattresses have a separate standard, with warnings.

Can I sell weighted blankets for babies on eBay?

No. eBay does not allow weighted blankets, swaddles and sleep sacks for infants, or pillows marketed for infant sleep.

Does Amazon restrict bedding?

Amazon treats upholstered furniture, bedding and quilted products as a restricted category, and may ask for state law labels.

Can a bedding image show a baby with a pillow?

No. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has asked sellers to stop showing blankets and pillows in cribs, and Walmart bars images of infants sleeping in unsafe positions or places.

Before you list

Have the labels for both federal flammability standards, a readable photo of the law label, any state law labels Amazon asks for and, for a crib mattress, the warnings its standard sets ready before the listing goes live. Anything near infant sleep is settled by eBay's product safety policy, Walmart's baby products rules and the CPSC's call to stop showing blankets and pillows in cribs, all linked below: when a baby is in the scene, nothing soft goes near them.