73 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Moderate quality memory foam/foam combo,
December 6, 2010
This review is from: Sleep Studio 3-Inch ViscO2 Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress Topper, Queen (Kitchen)
This is an updated review, made on March 29, 2011, or about four months after the original review. It’s been updated and rewritten since then, as my opinion of the topper has downgraded some. I’m reevaluating my review from March 20th, as a local bedding salesperson who knows me has provided me with information that I didn’t previously know.
Counting this topper, I’ve owned 7 memory foam toppers (topper pads) in the last six years. Three of them were unusable and had to be sold/returned. The others varied in quality. During this time, I’ve learned a good bit about memory foam.
The tutorial on buying memory foam has been moved to the end of the review.
After some research, I ordered the listed topper (Sleep Studio 3-Inch ViscO2 Green Tea Memory Foam topper). I did so based on the many reviews that said that there was no, or very little, odor, which is a key issue with me.
The topper arrived packed tightly in a carton, as all do. After carefully removing the plastic wrap and gently pulling the foam apart to a flat form, I let it set and expand. I also measured it. It was a bit short of the advertised 58″ by 78″.
TOPPER HAD AND HAS A STRONG ODOR:
Odor from memory foam is caused by what’s known as “outgassing”, which is basically the release of the chemicals used in the manufacture of the product. With good memory foam, the odor should be slight, and it should go away after a day or two of airing. Low-quality memory foam has very obnoxious, and potentially harmful, odors/outgassing (Serta is notorious for this), and with some, that odor doesn’t go away even after months of airing.
Many reviews of this product stated that it had little or no odor after a short time. This wasn’t the case for me. The topper DID have an strong odor, nor did it go away quickly, as others have stated. It took a full week of airing to eliminate about 2/3 of the odor and a month before the odor had dissipated to the point that it wasn’t a bother.
In fairness to the topper, the odor isn’t as noxious as that of some toppers. The product claims that it’s “green tea”. To me it smelled a bit like chocolate mint, as other reviewers have noted. Even after four months, the odor is still there, and it isn’t “slight” in nature. The bedding expert informed me that “green tea” toppers never really lose their odor, and while it’s essentially harmless, it can seem obnoxious to some people.
UPDATE: October 21, 2011 After about a year with the topper, the odor is about as strong as it is with other toppers, and it’s not noticeable with sheets or covers on. Most toppers that have odor when they ship will never completely lose the odor.
Update: February 2nd 2012. The topper is holding its own; it hasn’t gotten any better or worse since the last update. It still has a mild odor, but it isn’t noticeable with sheets and a cover.
HAND IMPRINT TEST:
With good memory foam, when you press your hand into the foam for a few seconds and remove it, the imprint should linger and very slowly disappear. With cheap memory foam, the imprint will go away instantly or after a second or two. With this topper, I pressed my hand into the foam and removed it. The imprint went away slower than it does on regular foam, but faster than it does on high-quality foam. I’ve repeated this test periodically since then, with the same result. The bedding expert told me that the reason for this may be due to it containing some latex, as latex rebounds quickly and isn’t supposed to pass the “hand imprint test”.
TOPPER WAS A BIT SHORT:
The topper was a full inch short in both length and width. Other reviewers have noted this, as well. Slight variances are normal for memory foam.
TOPPER’S SUPPORT IS SOFTENING:
The topper was a bit on the firm side when it arrived,and it provided reasonable support for a while. Over time, the topper softened—good memory foam should not do this in a few months. After two months, I began waking up with minor back pain—the sign that the topper was not supporting my body as it should (Update: the pain went away after another month; it’s possible that it was related to some minor injury). This worsened to a degree as time went on. Today, less then four months after I purchased it, the topper is a bit softer; it’s lost some of its support. UPDATE October 21, 2011: It hasn’t lost any more support in the ensuing 7 months). While there aren’t any permanent indentations in it (UPDATE: this is still true as of October 21, 2011), it’s not as firm as it was when it arrived. Good memory foam should not do this as quickly as this topper has, nor should latex. The past couple of weeks, I’ve woken up after 3-4 hours of sleeping on this, due to back and/or leg pain. While using the topper is still better than sleeping on a too-firm mattress, it’s clearly lost…
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Good mattress topper, don’t like the ‘undersize’,
February 21, 2011
SIZE DISAPPOINTMENT:
A twin XL is a 39″ X 80″ mattress. I knew that going in but ultimately I’m disappointed that this mattress is actually only 77 3/4″ X 36 3/4″. They say Twin XL on the header but tell you further down it is only 37″ X 78″. This is 9% less mattress than a true twin xl.
So when this is on top of your mattress it is inset 1″ all the way around. I would rather have paid a few dollars more and have it meet my standard twin XL size mattress.
MATTRESS TOPPER HAPINESS:
My density of foam at 13 pounds for the mattress worked out to be 2.82 pounds per cubic feet, close enough to their advertised rate.
It took shape the first day out of the package. I have been told I have the nose of a bloodhound and have to say that there is no chemical smell to it at all and the green tea smell is very very minor and pleasant, even more minor now that it’s been a month. I don’t know if the air holes really make a difference but it seems they would help keep the mattress fresh.
The size issue is the only thing that kept me from giving it a 5 star.
It is firm but not unpleasantly so (5’11″, 180 pounds) though everyone has their preference when it comes to firmness.
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