Love the mattress pad better than I thought. Love, love, love it.

My wife and I are very satisfied with this topper, which we're using to give an extra layer of softness to our basic Sleep Number C2 mattress. Compared to memory foam toppers and beds we've owned in the past, the plentiful polyester fill in the Downlite Extra Plush Bamboo Top Mattress Pad is not quite as luxuriously soft, but much more consistently supportive, noticeably cooler, and has no lasting scent.

WHY *NOT* MEMORY FOAM
Although everyone seems to rave about memory foam, we've been profoundly disappointed by two separate, high-end memory foam beds and one 4" thick high-quality memory foam topper--all of which we've owned in the last 7 years. After a lot of money, frustration, and back pain, here is the truth we finally realized about memory foam... Although it does feel wonderful for the first one to three years you sleep on it, it DOES develop a memory and eventually stops offering you proper support while you sleep!

After extended use--always a little over 2 years in our case--memory foam starts to compress and crater deeper and deeper where you sleep, and takes increasingly longer to "reset." After more than a year or two of satisfied sleeping, we would begin to notice the foam developing semi-permanent depressions under our bodies. These depressions gradually became ruts you could literally roll into if you tried to shift your body position to either side of the depression. Then a few weeks after that phenomenon began, we would start waking with increasingly severe back pain (especially me). For relief, I would have to sleep on the couch for at least TWO WEEKS until the foam would recover and allow the ruts to disappear. Then I could sleep great on the bed for a few more nights again, but the depressions would reappear much more quickly--in the course of only about 3 or 4 weeks. So it was back to the couch for two weeks, back to the bed for three, two on the couch, three on the bed---you get the idea. We've had that exact same experience with two different brands of very high quality ($1000 ballpark) memory foam mattresses and one high quality ($400) topper. For the record, we're not particularly "large" people. I'm 185 lbs. and my wife is about 120. The problem IS the memory foam. Never again!

WHY WE LIKE THE DOWNLITE EXTRA PLUSH BAMBOO TOPPER
Unlike memory foam, the polyester fill in the Downlite Extra Plush Bamboo Topper compresses but does not develop a "memory" to sag. For one thing, it isn't thick enough to sag. I would estimate it as approximately 1.5 to 2" thick, though the quilted construction makes it difficult to measure. When you lay on it, the loft compresses but does not collapse--meaning that it gives you softness and support, but runs none of the back-pain-inducing risks that we've experienced with thick memory foam mattresses and toppers.

Unlike memory foam, the Downlite topper is not nearly as hot at night. We still might get sweaty during our sweltering Georgia summers, but we don't have to constantly kick off the covers to get relief from the suffocating feeling we usually got from memory foam sealing off all airflow to our backs. Since I've been sleeping on memory foam for so long, I can't say how the Downlite topper compares with other kinds of pads and mattresses, but it is definitely cooler and more breathable than memory foam.

There is also no scent. When it first arrived and I removed it from the packaging, there was a mild (but not obnoxious) odor, but it faded before we slept on it that night. By contrast, memory foam ALWAYS has a distinctive smell. It can be quite strong initially, but even if it fades, it never goes away. I don't know how to describe it except as a kind of minty-sweet-plastic smell. We got used to it and stopped noticing it except when laying on our sides with our noses close to the memory foam, but we're grateful that the Downlite topper does NOT have a scent to put up with.

WHICH MATTRESS WE'RE USING
Your satisfaction with this topper may vary based on the firmness of your mattress. We bought it to add surface softness to our Sleep Number C2 mattress. The (air) mattress is adjustable for firmness, but we wanted to make sure we couldn't feel the air bladders and also wanted to make the bed top feel a bit more "cozy" or "snuggly." So far, this is a marked improvement as a topper for our bed. We do miss that undeniably more luxurious-feeling softness of brand new, high quality memory foam, but I will not fall for that trap again.

If I ever buy another memory foam topper, it won't be any thicker than 1.5" because memory foam just doesn't have the long-term support anyone who suffers from even mild back pain truly needs. No one ever seems to tell you that, so I hope you can learn from our expensive mistakes. I'm convinced the reason you see so many rave reviews of memory foam is because people review it during the initial, impressive phase of its life--before sleeping on it for several years to discover its defects.

See my review of the C2 Sleep Number mattress if you want more information on the Sleep Number beds. If you have one of those (basic) mattresses, this is a nice upgrade to the surface softness.

CONCLUSION
Overall, I recommend this topper. It's nicely padded, nicely supportive, nicely constructed, and almost entirely scent-free. I'll report back to update this review later, after we've slept on it for a substantial period of time.

[UPDATE 9/10/2013: After two full months sleeping on this topper and our C2 Sleep Number bed, I am THRILLED with the improvements in my neck and back pain--which have essentially disappeared. Each time I lie down on the bed, I'm still aware that the initial "cushy" softness of the memory foam is missing, but after lying down for a few seconds, that observation immediately gives way to a pleasant impression of how firm and supportive the bed feels against my back. After two months, that same initial impression continues to replay in my mind when I go to bed each night.

More importantly, I can now attest with full confidence that this topper and bed combination alleviates ALL of the neck and back pain issues I was experiencing with the memory foam mattresses and toppers we have previously slept on. In two months, I haven't had ANY serious problems with pain--and that's a remarkable change from the almost daily pain I was experiencing before.

More impressively, a week ago, I strained my back badly when I slipped while raising a sailboat mast and strained to catch the mast before it slammed down onto the concrete. The last time that (same incident) happened, I couldn't move out of my bed for two full days and I suffered excruciating lower back pain for three weeks before I recovered full mobility. This time, although the pain and strain felt nearly as bad as last time, I was able to get on my feet the next morning and now, a week later, although my back is still tender, I'm recovering exponentially faster than before with near-full mobility and can again lift modest amounts of weight (like my one-year-old daughter) comfortably. The only possible explanation is that this bed is so supportive, it is accelerating my recovery. I now realize now that the last time I injured my back, the memory foam topper we had at that time was probably exacerbating the strain at night, stretching out my pain and debilitation unnecessarily.

Suffice it to say that I am well pleased with this topper and our C2 Sleep Number mattress. My wife--who is now pregnant--has remarked a few times that she misses the cushy softness of the memory foam a lot, but even she (with her much better back) agrees that this bed's supportiveness is still much better and gives her better "through-the-night" sleep comfort. She just likes her bed to be very soft feeling, and this topper just isn't as initially soft as a more foam-like material would be.]

We have a memory foam bed and no matter how cool it is at night I would wake up with a sheen of sweat covering my body. Not a great way to wake up every morning. 4 nights ago, I decided to take off the mattress cover we had on it (spill resistant) to see if it did anything to help that. While it did, I was still waking up a tad damp. Again, not cool. So my search began in earnest on Friday. I saw this item and read many of the over 2,000 reviews and decided to give this one a shot.

First of all, I am a huge supporter of products made in America. Double that with the fact that this product supports veterans and I am all in. Couple that with the reviews that I have read about it being plush as well as helping to keep the heat off the body from the memory foam mattress and I am, once again, in.

I received it a day early and put it on the bed. There is NO SMELL. It was packaged well and opened right up. I pulled the bedding off the mattress, put this on and it fit perfectly (18" deep mattress), remade the bed and couldn't wait for bed time.

When I first got into bed last night, I felt concerned that perhaps the filling in the quilting would heat up. That does not seem to be the case, well not to the degree the mattress and old mattress pad would. In Southern California we've been having very warm evenings and even if it isn't warm, it's been very humid. So I let myself fall asleep. I woke up this morning not covered in moisture ... I was well rested and not sore at all. I will update my review later this week when the weather heats up again but, thus far (after only 1 night) it's a vast improvement over what had been going on for the past 10 months.

Side note; When washing items like this, cold water, gentle cycle, fluff dry. Seriously don't wash and dry on high heat.

UPDATE: OCTOBER 11TH, 2015 - I was waiting for this weekend to update my review because we were going to see triple digit weather in Los Angeles and I wanted to make sure that we had hot overnights before I spoke about the "cooling" quality of the topper.

When people say this mattress topper "cools" I believe it's a bit of a misnomer. It doesn't miraculously cool down your body as you sleep. What it does do, however, is create a barrier between a memory foam mattress and your body preventing heat transfer which is what causes the heat build up. I know this now to be 100% true as our bedroom was average 85 degrees at night and I know that prior to this topper I would wake up drenched in sweat. October 10th I slept until 9:30 am and that was with the sun coming in my window shining on me in the early morning hours. I never sleep till 9:30. Not only am I not drenched when I wake up, I am well rested. The only thing wrong with this topper is that it's making me NOT want to get out of bed in the morning.

I've not washed this yet, so I cannot speak to that. However, I will update either way, good or bad, after I do.

UPDATE: 11/3/2015 - We had some pretty hot days mid to end of October and this topper for sure keeps the heat at bay from the memory foam mattress. I was getting bummed about that but am bummed no longer. I believe this also helps in the "cradling" effect that I was so hoping for with the bed. Now that it's (finally) getting chilly in So Cal, I am looking forward to the warming properties. Buy this topper !!!!!!

Makes my bed so comfy, and as someone who runs hot body-temp wise during the night, I am glad that this keeps my temperature regulated. No more waking up sweaty

Last year we remodeled our master bedroom and invested over $3000 in a luxury pillow top tempur-pedic type mattress. Nothing wrong with our old king mattress, but after 10 years with it we figured it was a good time to upgrade that as well. BAD DECISION. While my husband is comfortable and happy with the pillow top mattress, I didn't realize (because I did NO research, just lied down on it in the furniture store) it took no more than the first night on my new mattress to discover it took my body heat and used it to heat the bed, and me, like a huge insulated warming pad all night long. I lost so much sleep on that mattress. We could not return the mattress, so I tried everything to make it more comfortable (while mourning the loss of my perfectly fine old spring mattress) : I bought cooling gel bed toppers (they were so cold at first then eventually overheated as well), i bought a futon to put on top of my mattress (stupid idea, plus I'd be a good inches higher on my side of the bed), the Chilli Cooling Bed Topper (super expensive, noisy and both units I bought and returned leaked), a bamboo bed topper (it did work somewhat but I could feel the slat-like matting under my bed sheet), gel mattress toppers - I tried the flat one as well as the corrugated (textured) one that claimed greater breathability and air circulation. Since my husband did not want me to compromise his side of the bed I bought a twin size. Its a cumbersome bed topper, so you wouldn't be putting it on top of your mattress and removing it night after night, so having it permanently on my side of the bed made the mattress 3" higher on one side, a stupid look when the bed is made. Plus it was squishy, smelled terrible, and I was STILL hot at night. Finally I just slept on the guest bed many nights and had some heavenly rest. Investing in yet another mattress was out of the question. So I kept up my search for a solution.

I came across this product that promised a comfortable sleep and comfortable relief . At $10 it's very pricey for a mattress cover but I value a good nights rest more than almost anything, and plus, if it didnt work I could easily return it on Amazon (as I did all the above mentioned remedies!!!) IT WORKS. I dont know HOW it works, but it works. I think that the material that lines the underside of the cushioney topper prevents your body heat from sinking into the mattress pillow top and therefore re-circulating your body heat. This mattress pad seems to actually dissipate your body heat. I don't sleep like a baby, never have, but at least I am no longer waking up several times a night roasting like a pig in a blanket like I did before. I am so happy and relieved to have found this product. Its miraculous.

Amazon had probably been waiting for my return of this item, as I did the previous 15 mattress "solutions" I purchased from them, but I am happy to say that I'm keeping my bamboo mattress pad.