Hi rallit,
The good news is that the foam that Serta uses is Certi-Pur certified so even though there is a smell it has been tested for the use of harmful materials and VOC’s. The not so good news is that some people are still sensitive to the smell of polyfoam and particularly memory foam even if it has been Certi-Pur certified.
Other potential sources of smell or VOC’s in a mattress (besides the memory foam or polyfoam which is certainly one of the sources) includes the fire barrier used or any glues that are used (especially if the glues are solvent based instead of water based).
For most people the smell goes away to levels that are minimal in a few days or sometimes a few weeks but some people continue to smell it for much longer. This can be because of differences in how the foam is made from batch to batch or in whether it was allowed to ventilate before being used or in how it was stored. It can also be because of a wide range of differences in sensitivity between people. I agree that different people’s experience can be all over the map even with the same mattress and there is no consistent time frame that seems to apply to all people or circumstances (although in most cases a few weeks would cover the majority of people’s experiences). It can sometimes help to walk on the surface of the mattress to break open any thin windows inside and speed the process up. It may also help to leave your bed unmade to ventilate better or to put it on its edge for a while in a well ventilated room.
I completely agree with you that these are overpriced and worse yet they don’t disclose the quality of the foam materials they use in their mattresses. Soy foam (or other “plant based foams”) are just polyfoam that have replaced a small percentage of one of the chemicals used to make the foam with a chemical derived from plant oils. You can read a bit more about them here. In some cases they have a worse odor than foam made from petrochemicals.
Memory foam and latex really can’t be compared because it really is an apples to oranges comparison. You can read more about this here. Because memory foam reacts differently and can change its softness and feel in different circumstances and environments and with different people, and because the “feel” of different materials and how they compare is very subjective … only your own personal experience is a reliable “latex / memory foam” comparison. The only thing that would be fair to say is that “soft” latex in the range of 14 ILD to about 24 ILD would be most comparable to different types of memory foam for most people in terms of most people’s perception of “softness” but this is very subjective. Higher density memory foam that stays firmer in the environment it is used may even feel more comparable to higher ILD latex for some people even though any latex will feel “different” from any type of memory foam.
One of our members here allows exchanges for their toppers with only return shipping costs which may be helpful. Some of the big box stores do as well (but they often don’t have any latex toppers). Toppers that are sold and fulfilled by Amazon are usually returnable as well under the terms of the Amazon return policy (as long as it can be returned by courier).
What you are doing is generally referred to as “mattress surgery” and there are many who have done this for other reasons (fixing comfort or support issues because of foam that has softened or broken down) but I’ve not heard of anyone doing it for the smell.
It would also be risky for several reasons IMO because it’s a rather radical solution for an issue that may be more about your specific mattress than every Genius mattress. If it turns out that the smell isn’t coming from the gel memory foam then you would also be out of options. In addition to this (and I don’t know this either way) the memory foam may be laminated to the layers below it and may be difficult to remove without damaging the other foam.
It also could present a problem with any longer term issues you may have over time with the firm but low quality 2" polyfoam layer below the memory foam in the Genius softening over time with the possible loss of comfort and support that would go with this. If this happened for you and you needed to replace the mattress because of it then there would be no warranty coverage (although this may not be such a great loss because in most cases there isn’t a deep enough impression when foam softens to be covered under a warranty anyway).
My tendency would be to talk with the retailer and ask them to treat this as a defect and exchange the mattress as a warranty claim and then have them renew your original comfort guarantee so you can test if the issue happens with a second mattress as well or if it’s your own sensitivity (in which case it would be something you would experience anyway).
I would personally try less “destructive” options first before taking a more radical approach.
Phoenix