Tempur Professional Plus SmartCool mattress overview: a dream to your joints or too mushy for consolation? | Sleep

Let’s get the Nasa factor out of the best way first. Reminiscence foam, so the web tells me, repeatedly, was developed by the US area company within the 60s to cushion astronauts throughout flights. Good story, however there’s no excessive G-force in my mattress, only a pair of middle-aged folks eager to sleep. Do we actually want Nasa’s dear marvel materials for that?

It does assist, in small doses. I’ve discovered {that a} layer or two of reminiscence foam can flip a very good mattress into a fantastic one. This mushy, cosy materials moulds to your physique and does an excellent job of tempering the solidity of springs in hybrid mattresses, such because the Simba Hybrid Professional and Otty Unique Hybrid. It additionally absorbs bounce so effectively that it’s helped me and my husband sleep in peace regardless of one another’s fidgeting.

A mattress made solely from reminiscence foam, although? I wasn’t certain I’d get pleasure from mendacity on 25cm of chewy marshmallow. Mercifully, Tempur makes use of foam of many alternative firmness ranges, together with high-density base layers designed to offer help as sturdy as springs. I got down to uncover how effectively it really works by testing considered one of Tempur’s hottest mattresses, the Professional Plus SmartCool.

How I examined

Tempur despatched me a double-size Professional Plus SmartCool for sleep-testing in July. It was the most effective of occasions and the worst of occasions to check this mattress, as a result of my bed room was stifling. I used to be despatched a medium mattress as a substitute of the requested medium-firm, and this was unlucky as a result of warmth could make reminiscence foam even softer – and I discover firmer mattresses extra comfy. A minimum of the balmy situations had been excellent for testing the claimed cooling properties of the SmartCool material cowl.

Earlier than any snoozing might happen, my husband, Alan, and I ran our typical mattress-testing experiments. Reminiscence foam tends to entice warmth, so we had been eager to see if the SmartCool cowl might offset this. We used a warmth pad, a thermocouple and our bottoms to measure how effectively the floor cooled down, and we additionally took the temperature of the froth beneath.

We then deployed weights and wobbly cups of water to measure components reminiscent of sinkage, movement isolation and edge help. Our household testing panel came to visit to attain the mattress out of 10 on firmness, breathability and luxury.

I favor to sleep-test mattresses for for much longer than every week as a result of even the firmest cushioning supplies soften over time. The Simba and Panda Hybrid Bamboo felt considerably softer after a few months. The Tempur was mushy from the beginning, although, and Alan and I discovered it too cushioned for consolation. After every week of poor sleep, we gave it to my dad, Don, 85, to see if its strain aid would possibly assist soothe the joint ache he’s been struggling in his hip and shoulder (extra on which beneath). He returned it to us for a second leg of sleep testing as soon as temperatures had cooled down in late July.

What it’s essential to know, from worth to firmness

Tempur, based within the US in 1992, was among the many first manufacturers to make mattresses from viscoelastic polyurethane foam. “Reminiscence foam” is how you recognize these items, however Tempur calls it “Tempur Materials” and makes use of its personal proprietary formulation that cowl a variety of densities.

Reminiscence foam moulds to your physique and doesn’t spring again rapidly when pressed. It feels fairly totally different from the straightforward seat-cushion polyfoam utilized in many sprung mattresses underneath the sleep floor (within the Ikea Valevåg, for instance). It’s additionally dearer.

And so, as with many mattresses that comprise excessive proportions of reminiscence foam, Tempur mattresses are costly. The Professional Plus SmartCool sits in the course of Tempur’s vary, costing from £1,499 for a 21cm-deep single to £4,299 for a 30cm-deep 200 x 200cm (“particular measurement”). The 25cm-deep double I examined prices from £2,299, nearly twice the worth of the Simba, the subsequent most costly mattress within the Filter’s roundup.

The medium SmartCool has 4 layers of froth, of various densities: a 5cm higher layer of sentimental, elastic reminiscence foam for cushioning and strain aid; then 5cm of adaptive foam; after which 3cm of even denser supportive foam. Lastly, the 12cm “DuraBase” layer of even denser foam gives help and sturdiness.

Everybody on my panel rated it 5/10 on the soft-firm scale, so the “medium” description is correct. The sleeping floor sank a beneficiant 4.2cm underneath 7.5kg of hand weights. That’s effectively cushioned, however solely marginally greater than the Eve Wunderflip Hybrid, which sank 4cm and is described as medium-firm.

Tempur doesn’t say how the SmartCool’s “QuickRefresh” polyester material cowl dissipates warmth; it merely cites “cool-to-the-touch” expertise. The duvet unzips simply with its trendy inexperienced handles, and it may be washed at 40C. You can even unzip and wash the bottom cowl. Attempting to clean or sponge the mattress inside, nevertheless, will invalidate your assure.

The double-size mattress weighs a chunky 40kg, a couple of kilos greater than the Otty or the Simba, however a lot lower than the 65kg Millbrook Wool Luxurious 4000. The Tempur’s weight and floppiness – plus the absence of any turning handles – make it tough to manoeuvre, however when you’ve acquired it in your mattress, you’ll by no means actually must. You don’t have to show it, though you may rotate it often to take care of even help, in response to the care pointers.

Tempur has a number of showrooms the place you may strive its mattresses earlier than shopping for, though you’ll have to make an appointment. Areas embody Castleford in West Yorkshire, Bridgend, Swindon, Milton Keynes, Durham and each Westfields in London. Whether or not you purchase in individual or on-line, you get a 10-year guarantee and a 100-night trial.

Specs

Sort: reminiscence foam
Firmness: marketed as medium, panel rated as 5/10
Depth: 21, 25 (as examined) and 30cm
Cowl: unzip to clean at 40C
Flip or rotate: don’t flip; you may rotate “to take care of even consolation”
Trial interval: 100 nights
Guarantee: 10 years
Outdated mattress recycling: not supplied in UK
Sustainability credentials: Oeko-Tex Normal 100 licensed; Professional mattresses are Danish Indoor Local weather labelled; UK warehouse operations are zero landfill; Tempur goals to be carbon impartial by 2040

Supply

You wait years for a mattress to show up with out being vacuum-shrunk, then all of them come directly. As with the Millbrook Wool Luxurious 4000, the Tempur arrived full-size and flat. That meant it was able to sleep on instantly, in contrast to the oodles of bed-in-a-box mattresses I’ve examined, and it got here packed in considerably much less plastic wrapping than they did.

The draw back of receiving a non-shrunk mattress is that it’s tougher to get it up the steps. Tempur’s useful supply crew would have finished it for me, however I needed to see how my husband and I coped (sorry, Alan). The Tempur-branded supply crew was good to see after so many third-party couriers, however I needed to wait three weeks for the mattress to reach.

New foam typically has a chemical “off-gassing” odor, and the Tempur is sort of pungent (or aromatic, relying in your preferences) for its first couple of weeks. I don’t thoughts the odor, however it’s possible you’ll discover it distracting, particularly once you’re attempting to get to sleep.

What we love

None prefer it sizzling once they’re attempting to sleep, so I used to be delighted by the genuinely recent really feel of Tempur’s SmartCool cowl. Iggy the cat was significantly eager to hog the stitched material when July’s night-time temperatures exceeded 20C, maybe as a result of his 4kg physique couldn’t sink into the heat-trapping reminiscence foam.

Our our bodies did sink into it, nevertheless. As we slept, the froth fashioned a cocoon round us (primarily our bums), and made us really feel like we had been floating within the mattress somewhat than on high of it. There was no sense of sagging, simply of sturdy, deliberate cradling. Firmer mattresses are extra to my style, however they can provide me niggling ache from an previous rib damage, and the Tempur by no means did. For those who stay with ache and discover it exhausting to sleep in consequence, the reminiscence foam higher layers of this mattress may very well be simply what you want.

My 85-year-old dad, Don, additionally loved the ache aid of the mattress however has since switched again to the firmer floor to which he’s extra accustomed. He first tried it mendacity on his again and stated: “Oh, I like that … I believe,” which echoed my very own ideas. I requested him to activate to his proper facet to check his just lately injured shoulder and hip, and he stated there was no ache – a welcome aid for us each.

The mattress’s movement isolation is exceptionally good. That is one thing I’ve discovered to count on from extremely cushioned reminiscence foam as a result of it absorbs the motion of your physique and dramatically cuts down on bounce. Alan and I are fidgety sleepers, so movement isolation helps us relaxation with out being disturbed by one another.

What we don’t love

As talked about, among the higher-density layers of Tempur’s mattress are decidedly agency. The Professional Plus SmartCool can also be obtainable in two firmer variations than the one I examined. However the medium model rapidly turned out to be an over-enthusiastic hugger, a minimum of for our tastes. After the initially pleasurable cradling, it simply saved going till it appeared to be swallowing us.

“My bum is disappearing into it,” stated Don. He and I are very small, so we didn’t sink as far into this mattress as an individual of bigger construct would. My husband, Alan, completely common measurement, sank too far for consolation and declared it “like being sucked into quicksand”.

We needed to provide the Tempur a good likelihood, so we used it on our slatted mattress base for a number of nights, then Don used it on his stable divan base. It by no means felt lumpy or saggy, however my decrease again felt unsupported, and our sleeping our bodies made impressions so deep that it turned troublesome to roll over. In case your sleep type entails loads of tossing and turning, a firmer mattress will swimsuit you higher.

Edge help is frankly poor for a mattress that prices this a lot. Even a mushy mattress ought to have some agency reinforcement across the sides to make it straightforward to get into and out, however after we tried sitting on the sting, all of us felt like we had been sliding off it. Sitting as much as learn is troublesome as a result of your weight is concentrated in your bum, and also you simply, effectively, sink.

Even the quilt’s cooling means had its limits, as Alan and I found when sinking into the froth beneath it. We woke within the night time, complaining that we felt we had been cooking within the warmth of our sleeping our bodies. The duvet helps by forming a barrier between you and the froth, however we discovered – in our expertise and our heat-retention assessments – that it couldn’t cease the froth getting hotter than a mattress that incorporates springs. For those who are likely to overheat at night time all yr spherical, an all-foam mattress isn’t for you.

Sustainability

Environmental kudos is a problem for a corporation that makes use of this a lot foam. Excessive-viscosity polyurethane foam is non-biodegradable, has a chemical-intensive manufacturing course of and is tougher to recycle than material or springs. Given all this, Tempur has made first rate strides in sustainability.

Essentially the most noticeable instance for me was the dramatic discount in plastic packaging in contrast with bed-in-a-box mattresses. There isn’t even any cardboard to eliminate. Behind the scenes, Tempur’s merchandise are Oeko-Tex Normal 100-certified, and its Danish manufacturing facility is ISO-certified for high quality, setting, well being and security, and vitality. Tempur mattresses are made in Denmark, and its Professional and One mattresses are licensed by the Danish Indoor Local weather Labelling scheme, a voluntary however internationally recognised customary for chemical compound emissions. Tempur’s UK warehouses and distribution centres have been zero landfill since 2019, and the corporate goals to be carbon impartial by 2040.

Foam isn’t straightforward to recycle, however Tempur affords concepts on its environmental sustainability web page. Outdated foam “could be cleaned and shredded to be used in new merchandise, reminiscent of carpet underlay”, it says, so I’m disillusioned that the corporate doesn’t provide to do that with its UK clients’ previous mattresses. Mattress assortment is obtainable within the US “on request”, however not right here. Tempur UK does a minimum of run an internet outlet retailer the place you should purchase refurbished merchandise, together with mattresses which have been returned by patrons throughout the 100-night trial.

Tempur Professional Plus SmartCool: ought to I purchase it?

The medium model of the Professional Plus SmartCool is a mushy, cradling mattress with wonderful strain aid. For those who love your beds on the plush facet, it’s possible you’ll resolve it’s price each penny. Nevertheless, this luxurious mattress shouldn’t be for everybody – together with my household and me. Maybe the quicksand sensation was too near our childhood nightmares to provide us the sleep of our desires.

Jane Hoskyn is a options journalist and WFH pioneer with three many years of expertise in rearranging bookshelves and “testing” espresso machines whereas deadlines loom. Her work has made her a low-key skilled in all method of consumables, from sports activities watches to photo voltaic panels. She would at all times somewhat be within the woods