Serta 12-Inch Gel Foam 3-Layer Mattress

I am an overweight 61 year old man with sleep apnea, insomnia, a bad back, as well as the usual aches and pains associated with someone of my age and body type. I honestly do not remember when I last felt like I slept through the night. That all changed last Thursday after a satisfying night's sleep on my new Serta 12-Inch Gel Foam 3-Layer Queen Mattress.

UPS delivered the mattress, shrink wrapped in a plastic bag and folded and stuffed into a plastic heavy duty bag and boxed in a 4 foot high 89 pound box. My wife and I had little problem dragging it into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom. After removing my old mattress, we laid the box on its side, pulled out the heavy duty plastic bag, cut it away from the shrink wrapped mattress, placed the mattress on the bed, used scissors to cut the shrink wrap off and watch the mattress quickly expand into a perfect queen size.

The directions indicated the product would be fully functional after 48 hours and that there is a slight chemical smell that dissipates after that time. I am usually pretty sensitive to chemical smells; however, at bed time I did not smell the chemicals and the bed looked inviting. I made the bed that night with soft flannel sheets and skeptically gave the bed a trial run.

I not only slept through the night, but also through the first 15 minutes of increasingly loud music emanating from my clock radio. That has not happened for several decades.

This mattress does not cure sleep apnea, insomnia, a bad back or aches and pains of aging overweight people; however, I have noticed that I am sleeping much better, feel better and have fewer aches and pains when I get out of bed in the morning.

I look forward to seeing how it functions over time, after all, the mattress has a 20 year guaranty. By that time my wife and I may need some additional help getting its replacement up the stairs. Enjoy!

For over a year, my loving husband has whined that we really need a memory foam mattress. However, I resisted, because I have a memory foam pillow, and I avoid using it during the summer because of the heat. When I had a chance to try this out, it seemed like the perfect solution.

So, here's the scoop. The mattress (which can be used on a platform or a box spring), comes in a box about 4 ft tall, and 3 x 3 ft circumference. It weighs 89 pounds, so count on unwrapping it as a two-person job. The instructions suggest that you prepare the bed ahead of time, (take off any other mattress) and open the mattress ON the bed. Given the weight, I second their opinion.

We opened the box and together managed to turn it upside down, and the weight let it slide out of the box easily, so we slid the box up over it. As soon as I cut the wrapping, it began to expand ... and quickly achieved its full expansion, although it took a couple of hours for the ends to lay flat. The odor was mild, but lingered for a couple of days.

The positive side ...

Heat dispersion: I actually had a perfect way to test the heat dispersion I placed my laptop (which runs hot) directly onto the gel foam. After about 20 minutes, there was one warm spot (where the heat comes out), but overall, the heat had been dispersed. I notice that I did not feel any extreme warmth while using it, so it passed in this category.

Firmness: There are actually two things people refer to when they think of firmness. The first is how firm a mattress supports the body. Does it sag? Or does it provide over-all support? This mattress is nicely firm and supports the body well. The second involves "softness" which generally speaking refers to the "pillow-top" or covering (in this case the memory foam). How does that feel. I love the fact that the memory foam takes the pressure off of my arm I have positional sleep apnea and use the SONA FDA-Cleared Anti-Snore and Mild Sleep Apnea Pillow, which requires me to sleep with my arm under the pillow. This mattress helped me incredibly.

Mattress Cover: The mattress comes already wrapped in its own cover, so you don't have to worry about the foam "coming apart" in any way. It is not washable, but it is "spot cleanable."

The negative side ...

Mattress dips and turning over: The memory foam aspect of this mattress means that it conforms to your body's shape. That's what it is supposed to do. But, for those who do not sleep in one position all night (I go side to side), turning over is a little bit like rolling out of a dip. It takes some time to adjust to.

Sitting on the side of a bed: Unlike a standard mattress, the foam "scrunches down" when you sit on the side of it. For those with limited mobility, this makes getting in and out of the bed (or putting on socks while sitting on it) more difficult.

Physical Therapy Exercises: My husband is on physical therapy for arthritis in his knee. Because of the "giving nature" of the mattress, he could not do these adequately on this particular mattress.

Odor: While it doesn't bother me, I do notice that the "new smell" that comes from the foam is still present a couple of days later. The packaging says that it is safe, and that it will dissipate in time, however if you are sensitive to odors (or have allergies) I would be cautious.

Results: While I love this mattress, and could sleep on it forever, after the first night, I found my husband up and sleeping in the recliner. So, I moved the mattress to the guest room where I could enjoy it for my naps, so that he would return to bed.

It takes time to adjust to this mattress, so I recommend trying them out in the stores in advance of actually using one, to decide if this is really for you.

A different consideration, if you already have a mattress with the right firmness (but not the right softness) is the gel foam cover, that you can place over the mattress. Amazon carries them in a couple of depths for those wanting the gel foam, Serta 2.5-Inch Queen Gel-Memory Foam Mattress Topper and for those wanting the memory foam, Serta 4-Inch Memory Foam Topper, Queen.

I loved it and my husband couldn't adjust to sleeping on it. I noticed that he slept deeper when he was sleeping, so I gave it four stars. I'm sure he would give it a lot less. ;-) But, I get to write the review, and I will continue to use it for my naps in the guest bedroom.

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I was looking for a mattress to go with my new bed and after seeing the Serta 10 inch memory foam mattress at Sams I was intrigued by the small package and thought how could they fit a queen sized mattress into such a small box and wondered if it could be any good. I did some research and found these mattresses are highly rated and recommended by a wide range of users so I took the dive and purchased the Serta 12-inch gel foam 3-layer mattress without even laying down on it, or a comparable mattress.

The mattress arrived (not in the box I expected but this is a review of the mattress not the packaging) I opened it and it did its magical expanding thing and it was a U shape for about 20 minutes before it lay flat. The smell was overwhelming and I can see why people complain about it, I'm not one easily bothered by such smells but this had me take a step back it was a mix of nail salon and paint thinner but the smell dissipated and today, the third day, is negligible.

Now for what REALLY matters, how it sleeps. I must admit I had very high hopes for this mattress and truth is I'm not all that impressed with how this mattress feels, I'm not on a cloud and I'm not on a concrete floor either for me this mattress feels just right its not too soft or too firm but I don't feel its much better than my old spring mattress. Some other major issues I've read about one being the 'heat trap' is not an issue for me and I have yet to feel hot but I will say it is winter here in Massachusetts and I would have to wait for the summer for a true test of the heat trapping capabilities of this mattress. The box is heavy when it comes in but nothing unmanageable, if you have a helping hand its a cinch. My wife likes it and describes it as 'not bad' but neither of us has said its the best mattress in the world. I'd sum it all up in saying that overall it's a good mattress but for me didn't live up to the hype, if I could do it again I would still buy this mattress because it is comfortable and I don't regret the purchase but I could have been just as satisfied with a spring mattress.

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I bought this mattress about 1 year ago and it is sinking...horribly. First, I had to pay $35 for Serta to come out and inspect my mattress. I qualified for the mattress replacement; however, I had to call for everything because they never got back to me. When they did, I found out I had to pay over $150 dollars for the delivery of the new mattress...paying almost $200 for my warrenty that they call "best customer care warranty" is unfair and a bad way to keep customers loyal. I wont be buying a Serta again.

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My wife moves us to our guest bedroom during the summer because our mattress is too uncomfortably hot. This summer, we would like to sleep in our bedroom. As the desert heat approaches, we decided our 5-year old pillow top memory foam mattress goes and we try this Serta gel memory foam mattress at Amazon's less than a 1/3 the cost of a latex to see if we can tolerate a summer in our master room. We are hopeful.

Happily, this mattress has been a good replacement. The mattress has given us good nights sleep both relieving pressure points and keeping us cooler (it's only end of April). I am a side sleeper so I prefer a softer mattress' give to relieve pressure points which otherwise cut off circulation as my weight hits hips and shoulder. My wife is a back and stomach sleeper with more body surface exposed to the mattress and she prefers stronger support. We are noticing that the body heat no longer feels trapped below our bodies as it did in our older pillow-topped memory foam but there is still more retained body heat than our original traditional natural fiber mattress. Hopefully, this mattress will continue to suit each of us this summer.

This Serta gel foam mattress comes in only one firmness. We both agree that the mattress seems to isolate motion well and is silent. The mattress doesn't move when one of us gets out of bed so there's no more waking each other up with night movements. It is a one sided mattress, meaning it cannot be flipped. You will need to turn the mattress head to toe to minimize sagging and body impressions. Replacements are covered only once during the 20 year limited warranty period and cover "severe body contours" which it's owner's brochure defines as "impressions which exceed 1.5 inches in depth below normal level of the product". As a reference, Sleep Like the Dead, a consumer product website I found, states owners experiencing greater than 1.5 inches sag have a greater tendency to complain of back pain in and out of bed so if you do experience excessive sag, seek remedy.

When Walter Bader's 2007 book, Toxic Bedrooms: Your Guide to a Safe Night's Sleep was published, I made a note to add it to my reading list before our next bed. His well argued preference for all natural, organic rubber latex made from the sap of the rubber tree, with no added chemical fire retardants surprised us because we had recently seen products labeled as "latex free". Why would you want a latex mattress if you sought "latex free" in other products? We needed further research.

We discovered through various websites that, with repeated exposure, some people become sensitive to latex. They develop allergies and a hideous range of side affects. People most at risk seem to be those with food allergies to bananas, chestnuts, kiwi fruit, avocadoes, tomatoes and people who frequently have been hospitalized, especially at a young age. Since natural latex can refer to a natural and chemical latex composite, organic rubber latex is preferable as it may create less allergic reaction. My take is, it's hard to know what side effects of a new mattress, if any, will be until you and your family try it. In short, our world has become more complicated and manufactures don't make bedding like they use to! So we must rely on our own experiences and those trusted others.

Getting a mattress from Amazon without really physically testing it would be a concern for us if it were not for our experience with Amazon's great return policy in the past. I try to always verify return policies and you should too. Having the nearly 90-pound, 3.5x2x2 foot box delivered at our door was handy. The box was reasonably easy for two people to unpack and manage over box springs (or a platform bed). It swells to size once released from its airtight seal. Off-gassing is apparent but nothing so bad as our last memory foam mattress. A minimal smell remained after only an overnight airing.

The documents packed with this new gel memory foam mattress state this is a "Sleep Innovations" mattress appearing under the Serta name. The product tag says its contents are polyurethane foam pad 69%, gel 31% with polyester topside so it appears to have some petroleum composites. When I called customer service number on the brochure, Overstock answered and they couldn't provide the additional information I sought. Serta confirmed that Sleep Innovations is the distributor and referred me to Sleep Innovations' customer service. When I called customer service I was told that none of the memory foam manufactures are bound by law to provide a list of ingredients in their foam mattresses and prefer not to divulge proprietary information for competitive reasons. I was told that the mattress is made in the USA at one of two manufacturing plants: Chicago and Baldwyn, Mississippi. To me this suggests that the bed likely is not manufactured using organic latex, but IS subject to US oversight, which I like. Goggling by model and ASIN code, I found Sleep Innovations has multiple distributors including perhaps, Costco selling the Novafoam Gel Memory Foam Mattress that came up came up in the search results.

In the next several years, I want to replace the beds for my family and myself, ideally moving to organic latex mattresses. Happily the cost of latex has dropped but regrettably, it is still high, even on Amazon. But when I am ready to make those purchases, I hope that Amazon will carry the all-natural, organic rubber latex. The closest mattress available on Amazon now seem to be the Posture Select Organic Cotton-Natural Talalay Latex Green Mattress--King and a Naturally Organic Latex Crib Mattress (only available through The Clean Bedroom) most important for infants! And when I do replace our mattress again, I hope this gel memory foam good enough to move to the guest room without forcing our own body contours on overnight friends.

One economical tweak you can make right away is to add a good cotton pad. The existing cover is not natural fiber, and the directions say not to remove it, which I normally would do a couple of times a year for cleaning both mattress and cover.

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