Tempurpedic Classic and Rhapsody Beds

(Cleveland, OH, USA)

My wife (38) and I (42) prefer a firm mattress, and we first purchased the Classic Tempurpedic.

We were intrigued by memory foam, liked the projected longevity, had read lots of good reviews, and the Tempurpedic Classic felt good in the store.

However, we were not prepared for the "off-gassing" smell that Tempurpedic mattresses have when they arrive. It took a good 3 - 4 weeks of airing out the room before my wife felt comfortable sleeping on it.

Our salesperson also said that it takes time to get used to a Tempurpedic, so when I woke most mornings with back pain (which did not exist before), I thought I'd wait it out.

Two and a half months went by and I still awoke with back pain two out of three days, though my wife was fine with the comfort. Since Tempurpedic has a 90 day trial period (with a fee for exchanging), we decided to try memory foam one more time and went up to the Rhapsody model.

We were more prepared for the off-gassing this time, putting fans in the windows, using Bounce dryer sheets, and even putting cut apples in the room to absorb the smell.

After about a week I felt comfortable sleeping in the room. The Rhapsody is better than the Classic and seems very good for side sleepers, but as a back sleeper, regretably this still does not work for me.

At $3,500 for a mattress set, I shouldn't feel this way. So, we are now shopping for a mattress again *sigh* and are moving away from memory foam. Still miss my old two-sided mattress that we had for 14 years.