Ugh. Please avoid memory foam. Endocrine disruptor-city.

If you can't afford natural latex, then get some old heavy wool blankets, wash then thoroughly & layer them.

Or contact these folk & see what fire retardants they use in their afforbdable Japanese futons: http://www.jlifeinternational.com/houseitems/futon/shikifuton/shikifuton_e.html

http://www.inspire.com/groups/ovarian-cancer-national-alliance/discussion/environmental-carcinogens/

Toxic Chemicals in Your Mattress All U.S. manufacturers must meet a requirement that mattresses withstand a large open flame for 70 seconds. They spray mattresses with flame-retardant chemicals like polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), and boric acid (pesticide), antimony, (toxic metal similar to arsenic), formaldehyde (known carcinogen) and decabromodiphenyl oxide (causes hair and memory loss; heart, lung and kidney damage and cancer) to meet this requirement. PBDEs, which have been banned in Canada, Europe and several states, build up in your body over time, and what you absorb or inhale does not go away. PBDE is linked to brain and reproductive damage, decreased sperm quality, thyroid problems and cancer. PBDE is sprayed not only on beds but on furniture and carpet pads as well. It is also part of the housing in wiring and electronic appliances, such as TVs and stereos. Concentrations of PBDEs in human milk have been found to be much higher in the U.S. than in Europe. The PBDE levels in breast milk from Texas were similar to levels found in U.S. blood and adipose tissue lipid from California and Indiana and are 10-100 times greater than human tissue levels in Europe. Their detection in breast milk raises concern for potential toxicity to nursing infants, given the persistence and bioaccumulative nature of some of the PBDE congeners. These results indicate a need for more detailed investigation of the levels of PBDE in people and food, as well as determining if animal fat in food is the major route of exposure of the general U.S. population. Other routes of intake may also be significant. Environ Health Perspect 111:1723-1729 (2003)

In 2005, Walter Bader, owner of the “green mattress” company Lifekind and author of the book Toxic Bedrooms, sent several mattresses to an Atlanta-based lab. A memory-foam model was found to emit 61 chemicals, including the carcinogens benzene and naphthalene. Technically a mattress manufacturer is supposed to honor a prescription from your doctor for a chemical-free mattress, but evidently this is inconvenient, because most companies refuse to make such a special order. There are several companies that sell “organic” mattresses, which means the cotton used was grown without pesticides; and “chemical-free” mattresses, which use wool – not chemicals – to make mattresses flame retardant. Savvy Rest, Nirvana Safe Haven, Soaring Heart Natural Bed Co. and CozyPure are companies that offer organic and chemical-free beds. Organic, chemical-free mattresses are rather pricy though, starting at about two to three thousand dollars. Thefutonshop.com sells organic mattresses for around $800 and they will make them chemical-free if you provide a doctor’s note. Healthychild.com and greenmattresses.com are comparable suppliers of organic and chemical-free mattresses. The state legislated requirement of fire retardants in our beds and furniture is legislation that we should press our congress men and women to abandon.

Here is a 4 inch all cotton futon on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Bond-604-All-Cotton-4-Futon-Mattress-Choose-Size-/150635106906?pt=US_Futons_Frames_and_Covers&var=&hash=item23128d525a#ht_685wt_907 A full is $118.00.

I looked into the manufacturer company and they don't use harmful chemicals to clean the cotton. The manufacturer is Gold Bond (not the itch powder) mattresses. You can find the additional details on their direct site: http://goldbondfuton.com/. They have multiple other futon types, some with foam or innersprings, but I prefer straight up cotton futons. You have to rotate them a lot, but they hold up well.. plus make moving easier!

We have had a memory foam mattress for a little over a year, and we're so over it. It is so comfortable (in a squishy way) but not good for our backs, so we're trading it in for a queen futon, and these were the best prices I could find.

We sleep on a queen size futon mattress, no frame, topped with a memory foam and goose-down mattress topper. Easily bought for under $300.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH DRAGONFLY!!! AVOID MEMORY FOAM!!! GET SOMETHING VERY VERY NATURAL!!! I got a 100% cotton mattress.

Maybe you can use a couple of cotton blankets like in the Princess and the pea story?

I used to work with a futon manufacturer. The all cotton futons don't always hold up well, the best ones I recall for thin would be the cotton/wool layered.

Basically, a futon is made of layered bats of the materials. SO a thin cotton/wool would be 2 or 3 cotton bats with wool bats on the outside.

The cotton/foam is great and holds up even better over time, but you will end up with about 7 inches thick (you could get down to 5, I guess)

To do it yourself, if you can find surplus wool blankets, 5 or 6 of them (or 7 or 9, whatever) layered together and loosely stitched into a batt with some thick line (I'd use something like a strong yarn, actually) will make a good core. You basically want a stitch every 5-8 inches to hold the shape and keep things from bunching up. Then you make a cover for that out of cotton with buttons or velcro to close it and you are done. (you can get any length you want by sewing the edges of blankets together, just make sure to stagger those seams like a brick wall)

You could, of course, make the bat and just put a sheet over it.

A decent thin, cotton/wool or cotton/foam futon from a real futon shop, in XLT (Extra long Twin) or full should run no more than $200 with a cheaper basic cotton cover.

Have you considered a hammock?

I don't know if they still have them, but my parents got a 2 inch memory foam king-size mattress topper for $125 at Costco a couple of years ago. Whenever they move, they sleep on that on the floor until their real bed arrives.

Get a blue foam pad from K-mart. The kind you take backpacking. It will provide warmth under your body on colder nights and take the edge off the hardness of the floor. Don't worry, your hip bones will get used to it after a while. Otherwise, just sleep on a sheet or blanket on the carpet. I've done that lots of times. I don't consider sleeping on piles of memory foam to be the same as "sleeping on the floor."

I use an old thick comforter and sleep on the carpet... Cheap alternative....

I've made something pretty simple with a couple of queen-sized duvet inners folded in half and stuck inside a single duvet cover. Cheap and washable.