Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After waking up with a stiff, and very sore, back for the last few weeks, a friend recommended I might need a new mattress. I hadn't considered that as the cause of my pain but after realizing my old Sealy coil pillow top mattress was almost 19 years old, I thought my friend just might have a very good point. So I purchased this mattress after spending a couple weeks reading multiple reviews and changing my mind several times. I just received the mattress around lunch time today. This will be a multi-part review and will update as time goes on, ideally after the first night sleeping on it, one week, one month and if I remember, six months. The box arrived slightly damaged (water damage from a heavy rainstorm the night before) and the FedEx guy showed it to me before he pulled it off the truck. He inspected it earlier and said the mattress didn't appear to be damaged. I checked it myself and was satisfied there wasn't any damage. See attached pictures for detail. I think it's important to include this in the review so folks know how well packaged and protected this item will be during shipping if they choose to buy it. Just make sure the plastic isn't ripped and you should be good. As others have pointed out, this item is heavy. I had a heavy duty hand truck ready at the front door and would have had a difficult time moving the 88 pound box without it. It's not just the weight, this is a bulky item at roughly four feet tall by two feet square. But with a hand truck I was able to move it to the bedroom easily. I tore the box open and carefully inspected the plastic. Everything seemed to be OK so I used a knife to begin opening. NOTE: The instructions clearly state to NOT use a knife. However, it was difficult to tear the outer plastic as it is much thicker. I pulled the outer plastic away from the mattress and made the initial cut safely away from the mattress so as not to damage it. I then put the mattress on the bed and removed the rest of the outer plastic. Once I did that, the plastic slid down easily. NOTE: BEFORE you remove the outer plastic, when it is still rolled up tightly, put it on the bed. Once that outer plastic is off, it opens up to full size. It's easier to manage removing the second layer of plastic while it's on the bed already. As soon as you do this you will hear the mattress begin filling with air. I opened the mattress fully and realized it was upside down. The removable mattress cover zipper should be on the bottom. So I managed to flip it over while it was still inside the second layer of plastic. That second layer of plastic is much easier to remove by hand. Once that happens the mattress will fully inflate, so to speak, within seconds. It was full height before I even got the plastic out from under the mattress. There will be a distinct smell. It's not too bad but it is noticeable. I left it as is and do not plan on putting any sheets on it for several hours in order to let it air out. In fact, I'll most likely remove the mattress cover and wash it this afternoon. I also purchased the waterproof mattress cover that comes recommended by Amazon to purchase together. I second that recommendation. It arrived yesterday and I've already washed it, so once the other is ready I'll put both of them on and that should help with the smell. The mattress is firmer than I thought, but this is a good thing. I haven't lain on it yet. I want to give it plenty of time to fill out and I'll try it out tonight. But so far I'm impressed with the packaging (you can see how wet the box got and the mattress wasn't damaged at all), shipping, unboxing and initial impressions. The real test will happen tonight. This is my first memory foam mattress and the first mattress I've ever bought without having tested it in the store first. More to follow.... Update 1: After sleeping on this for a night I can say this was better than I expected. My concern is that it would be too soft and I'd feel like I was being swallowed up. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it just firm enough and extremely comfortable. I also noticed this morning that I didn't have the usual pains (back, neck, feet) that had when sleeping on my old mattress. There was still some discomfort but that comes from being active and over 40. The mattress also 'inflated' if that's even the correct term, in about 7-8 hours, reaching it's full height of 12 inches. In that time I didn't lay on it or even sit on it. I just let it rise on it's own and I'm glad I did. Recommend you do the same if you purchase this item. Two additional things: First I recommend you get the waterproof mattress cover that Amazon recommends is commonly purchased with this item. It's approximately $35 and well worth it. My reasoning? The mattress put off a smell that was confined to the bedroom, but after 7-8 hours I could smell it in other parts of the house. It's not a bad smell but you can smell it. Once I put the waterproof mattress pad on before bed, the smell went away. So highly recommend that item. Second: The removable mattress cover that comes with this mattress is not recommended for laundering. Spot clean only. I wish I had contacted their customer care support PRIOR TO unzipping it from the mattress because zipping it together again was a near impossible task. Don't do it unless you absolutely have to for some reason. Just buy the waterproof version recommended above and launder that one instead. Zipping that thing back on took nearly 20 minutes and it was incredibly frustrating. Other than those things, I highly recommend this mattress. I'm going to provide another update after a week of sleeping on it but after the first night, I was extremely happy with this mattress.