That tag on your mattress that says “Do not remove”? It’s there for a reason.

In the U.S., all mattresses need to have flame retardants. While this was undoubtedly passed with good intentions — you know, making sure people don’t burn up in mattress fires — it has had an unexpected consequence. Specifically, mattress manufacturers have been filling their products with fiberglass.

“How is this legal?” you ask. To that, I offer two answers. First, this is America; Companies can kind of just do whatever they want. Second, for the most part, companies avoid health and safety concerns by hiding the fiberglass behind a cover that they insist won’t let fiberglass through, warning customers about this with a little note that tells them not to remove the cover.

The problem here is twofold: No one reads labels, and the covers are really, really easy to remove.

As a result, many people on TikTok are taking their mattress cover off to clean it — then accidentally spreading fiberglass all over their apartments.

In fairness, it’s sometimes not their fault, as it appears that some mattress covers do a piss poor job of keeping the fiberglass in. And if you have a memory foam mattress, it’s more than likely filled with fiberglass.

Sweet dreams!