An invigorating sleeping night is closer to Chemistry than what could imagine the majority of mattress users. It may be that because they close their eyes too fast at the time of sleeping, many do not notice the presence of Chemistry in each comfort element of their rooms. The softness of the mattress, for instance, is guaranteed by a slab of polyurethane foam, lined with a polyester cloth, tinted with dispersed dyes, like for instance, nitroarylamine. The sheet, as it goes, is manufactured with a reaction of monoethyleneglycol with dimethyl terephthalate or terephthalic acid, raw materials of polyester. Even of the sheet were 100% cotton, its fibers would have been treated with sodium hydroxide for strength.

Even in the intimacy of your bedroom, Chemistry is close to us. Luckily, tired at the end of the day, we do not need to be thinking much about it. But it is all right to know that the wooden bed was very probably coated with a lacquer of nitrocellulose or of polyurethane, better known as varnish. Now, the tubular bed, with all that wrought iron work, is nothing more than cast metal, polished with abrasive acids, treated by phosphatizing agents and coated with an epoxy or polyurethane based painting. It makes one sleepy. But you may sleep in peace. The alarm-radio-clock is going to wake you up on time, thanks to the circuitry of semiconductors welded with a tin and copper alloy on a plate of urea-formaldehyde, produced from chemical reactions. The only possible shock is a loud noise.

As you wake up and leave the bed, you step on the carpet, a composition of polyamidic fibers, polyprolylene and other resins. But if the floor is a wooden one, polished and shiny, it was treated for protection against fungi and bacteria with a thin layer of melamine-formaldehyde varnish. To avoid stepping directly on this layer, you may prefer to use a Arubber slipper - made of ethylvinyl acetate or of polyvinyl chloride and start the day walking on Chemistry, for one more day. Stand up and relax. Even if you do not remember, you are in very good company.

Text: Luiz Carlos de Medeiros (MTb: 12.293) English version by Joe Vianna (translat@mvpisp.com)