NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Because of deaths caused by mattress fires, there are new federal standards to make them safer.

Video: New Mattresses Repel Fires

Statistics show that more than 300 people are killed each year in mattress fires.

Since July 2007, the mattress industry is required by federal law to make mattresses more flame retardant.

Nashville's Capitol City mattress company showed Channel 4 how a layer of flame retardant Rayon is rolled into each bed.

"If your mattress is exposed to a cigarette lighter, a candle, any kind of open flame, it will help slow the fire down. It will not stop it, but it slows it down," said Matt Harper of Capitol City Mattress Company.

Using a candle's open flame, Channel 4 demonstrated how an older mattress quickly ignited. In just four minutes, the entire mattress was engulfed. In 12 minutes, there was nothing left but metal springs.

WSMV then tried the same experiment with a newer, flame retardant mattress.

In 12 minutes, most of the new flame retardant mattress were still intact.

Some mattress customers searching for a better night's sleep do not only pay attention to fire protection.

"Fire protection, I think that's very important these days. You hear of too many people catching on fire in their beds," said one customer.

While the new federal standards are good news to many consumers, there's another problem that experts said can't be ignored.

A popular misconception is that most fire victims die from burns, but the real killer in most fatal fires is smoke, and even flame retardant mattresses contain toxic chemicals.

"Now you're taking that mattress and burning it. Now you're also releasing gases like carbon monoxide. You're also releasing gases like hydrogen-cyanide," said Dr. Jeffrey Guy of the Vanderbilt Burn Center.

"When they have a fire, they try to put it out themselves. The problem is once it breaks the surface in a mattress, it gets in all the padding within the mattress. They think they have it out. They leave it in the home," said Nashville Fire Marshall Danny Hunt.

The results can be deadly. The key to escaping a mattress fire is reacting quickly, getting away from the deadly fumes and calling the fire department right away.

Slower burning, flame retardant mattresses can also have another benefit.

"The products around the mattress are the same products that have been buying for 20-years, the bed clothes, the wood bed, the carpet. All that stuff is still not as flame retardant as the mattress," said Harper.

Fire officials remind everyone to keep anything that might create a spark or flame far away from your mattress.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the newer flame retardant mattresses are safer than the older ones, but they also cost more.

The extra material used to make the new mattresses burn slower and will add 10 to 15 percent to the purchase price.