What's the current "new mattress smell" of Tempurpedic mattresses?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I know that Tempurpedic mattresses have a bad odor when you first get them, typically a rather harsh chemical smell. My first Tempurpedic was a queen sized Celebrity, which did the sway an bump thing in a big way years ago. I finally got around to submitting a warranty claim and “upgraded” to the new 2.0 Breeze line, specifically the TEMPUR-Contour Elite Breeze, with the 5" foundation. I watched the delivery people take the new mattress out of the box and the take it out of its plastic wrap. The tag shows a manufacturing date of 06/09/16, which is consistent with my order (it was back ordered for almost 2 months). Here’s the kicker - there isn’t a chemical smell. Rather more like a smokey, moldy one (not like cigarettes, more like campfire). I’ve now had it for about a month. Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks.

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Hi jc031662,

I don’t have any personal experience with the smell of a new Tempurpedic so I can’t make any comments about what they smell like to me but hopefully some of the other members here that own one will see your comments and share their experience.

The smell itself is most likely from some type of aldehyde which can range from very unpleasant, musty, or acrid with lower molecular weight aldehydes to the much more pleasant smells of higher molecular weight aldehydes that are in many essential oils or that are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, and many other household products.

There are also some suggestions in post #3 here that may be helpful to help reduce any offensive smells and odors more quickly.

I should also mention that unlike many other manufacturers … Tempurpedic mattresses don’t have any certifications for VOC’s (see post #2 here).

Phoenix

3

Yes, this is a chemical process and your smelling the plastics from the mattress - likely the aldehydes. A recent memory foam mattress I bought in the UK had the same smell.

I know you can get the new car smell in a little spray, not sure if the same is available for mattresses!

4

Thanks very much! Sure is a strange smell though - I remember my previous bed having a more plastic/chemical smell. Ah - progress. :slight_smile: