What Is the Purpose of the Warning Label on a Mattress? And What Happens If I Rip It Off?

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Here is an Imponderable that happens to be one of the foremost
moral issues plaguing our society today. Many transgressors are
consumed with guilt over having ripped off mattress tags. Some are
almost as upset about impetuously doing in pillow tags, as well.
We are here to say: do not be hard on yourself. You have done
nothing legally wrong. You have not even done anything morally
wrong.
Those warning labels are there to protect you, not to shackle you.
If you look carefully at the language of the dire warning, there is
always a proviso that the label is not to be removed “except by the
consumer.” Labeling laws are up to the individual states. Thirty-two
of the fifty states have laws requiring mattress tags, and none of the states cares whether the purchaser of a
mattress rips up the tag.
So how do these warning labels protect you? Most important,
they inform the consumer exactly what the filling material is made
of, because the fill is not visible. The label also notifies the consumer
that the manufacturer is registered with all of the appropriate government
agencies and has fulfilled its obligations in complying with
their regulations. There is also manufacturing information on the
tag that may help the consumer when and if a warranty adjustment
is desired (though this is a good argument for keeping the tag on
the mattress, or at least filing it for future reference).
One of the reasons why mattress warning label laws were imposed
in the first place is that some less-than-ethical merchants used to
palm off secondhand mattresses as new ones. It is legal, in most
states, to sell secondhand mattresses as long as they are properly
sterilized. A white tag guarantees a new mattress; a sterilized
secondhand mattress carries a yellow tag.
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