Composition for use in flexible polyurethane foams

A plasticizer with a crosslinking/chain extending agent is incorporated into a water-blown flexible polyurethane foam formulation to provide acceptable softness, openness, and tensile strength characteristics. The class of plastisizers is selected from the group consisting of alkyl benzyl phthalates, phosphate esters and benzoates. The aromatic polyhydroxy compounds are a preferred class of crosslinking/chain extending agents, particularly dihydroxyaromatic compounds, more particularly resorcinol. Other classes of preferred crosslinking/extending agents are saccharides, alkyl glycosides, and alkylene oxide adducts of aliphatic triols. Other preferred crosslinker/extenders include epoxidized soybean oil, polymeric 1,3,5-trimethyl, 2-hydroxy-benzene, selected phenolic resins, selected low molecular weight adducts of a polyfunctional aliphatic amines, and polyoxyalkylene polyols wherein the hydroxyl number is less than about 200 and the average number of hydroxyl groups range from about 3 to about 8.