I’ve been lurking on the site for a while and have found it very informative. The one think I just couldn’t find was any personal discussion of the SmartSilk Mattress Protector. As a way to repay all the useful information I’ve received from the site, I thought I’d write a review.
I bought the King size version bundled with pillow protectors from Costco. The pad is thin, just a few millimeters, with three layers. The top layer is smooth 100% cotton. Then there’s 100% silk fill… The bottom is a water resistant polyester membrane.
That information about the polyester was hard won. The materials label doesn’t mention it. The website talks vaguely of “non-woven material”. The customer service rep I spoke to actually didn’t know what the membrane was made of and had to call someone else within the company to find out. That rep told me that the membrane wasn’t breathable, but the silk was so good at wicking away heat and moisture that it kept everything very cool.
We put the pad over our week-old Brooklyn Bedding “Best Mattress Ever”, which we had found very comfortable with a thin cotton mattress pad. The SmartSilk pad completely changed the feel. The polyester made the bed feel crispy. The deep pockets on a 10" mattress left enough looseness in the pad that my weight caused it to form stretch wrinkles that were incredibly uncomfortable to lie on. The silk seemed to distribute my weight, meaning that I hardly sank into the top layer of latex on the bed – it was as if my medium firm mattress had suddenly morphed into an extra firm.
I wish I could report on whether the silk was as wicking and cooling as the rep claimed. That was a big draw, as my wife and I both sleep hot and wind up kicking off the comforter during the night. Unfortunately, after only 10 minutes in bed my wife wanted to remove the pad. I was far too uncomfortable to argue with her, so I can’t report on whether it sleeps cool.
Never having used silk bedding, I had really hoped that the silk would really compensate for the problems inherent in a plastic membrane. I know that membranes don’t bother some people, and it’s possible that this would be fine bedding for them. But if sleeping on plastic isn’t your thing, there is sadly no magic here that changes the experience. No wonder they work so hard to avoid using the words “plastic” or “polyester”!
We tried the SmartSilk before St. Dormeir or Natura products because of Costco’s easy returns. We’ll definitely be taking advantage of the return policy later this week.
I hope this is helpful to someone!