Cloud9 3-inch, 3.3 Density Foam Topper Strikes A Unique Balance

Unpacking the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Foam Topper

The 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Foam Topper (queen-size) is shipped in a 2 ft x 4 ft Amazon shipping box weighing approximately 15 lbs. When you open the box, you’ll find the following inside:

• 3-inch thick memory foam topper, no cover provided

To be honest, I think it is a bit unbecoming of Cloud9 to not include a cover for their own mattress topper. The overwhelming majority of toppers we have reviewed here on Zen Sleeping have covers included in the purchase… so this is a first for us. Anyways, the topper is rolled up in airtight plastic. When you cut open the plastic, the mattress will begin expanding immediately, so this following tip is VERY important:

Where Was The 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Topper Made?

The company that sells the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper is Cloud9 Bedding Memory Foam. They are an American company and produce their materials in the USA.

Is It Made From Safe Materials?

Cloud9 Bedding Memory Foam produces their memory foam products in accordance with the strict standards of the CertiPUR-US program, which means their mattresses are :
– Made without ozone depletes
– Made without PBDE flame retardants
– Made without mercury, lead, and other heavy materials
– Made without phthalates regulated by Consumer Product Safety Commission
– Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions for indoor air quality

Thickness & Density

The 3.3 Cloud9 Memory Foam Topper has a thickness of 3 inches and a density of 3.3 lb pcf, although we believe it’s closer to 2 lb pcf (more on that later). Cloud9 actually carries memory foam toppers in a variety of other densities and thicknesses which is pretty cool, because thus far we know of no other memory foam company that does this.

The company carries three different memory foam topper lines, each designated by its density: 3.3, 4.3, and 5.3. Each of these lines has memory foam toppers in thicknesses of 2, 3, and 4 inches. For our intents and purposes, we only need to care about the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch topper.

Total points awarded for Unpacking: 17 / 20. Points deducted for not having a cover included in purchase.

Smell

If you are a first-time purchaser of memory foam products, you’re in for a smelly surprise. Most new memory foam products come with a “new memory foam smell” (ranging in strength from light to strong) that usually dissipates within a week. To add to that, different units of the same model will often come with different odor strengths, so your 3.3 Cloud9 may have a mild odor while someone else’s may have no odor whatsoever.

So how can we best predict your future experience with the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper? With data and statistics! So, we interviewed over 150 current owners of the same model, asking them about smell and how long it lasted (if at all). Here’s what we found out:

We are not very impressed! Roughly 69% of respondents said the mattress topper had a mild odor that dissipated within 5 days, while 10% noted a strong odor that went away within a week. Only 17% said the topper had either no odor or a light one, and 4% noticed an odor that was strong and never disappeared. Overall, these results are not good. We hate seeing even 1% claiming there was a strong odor which didn’t disappear, and we always prefer to have a majority saying there was no odor or a light one.

Verdict: You will most likely find that the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper has a mild odor that will dissipate within 5 days. However, if you are typically sensitive to smell, we would suggest looking elsewhere for a topper. For quality toppers that don’t smell, we recommend either the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper or the Sleep Innovations 4-inch Dual-Layer Mattress Topper.

Total points awarded for Smell: 12 / 20

Feel & Firmness

Feel and firmness of a mattress product is best measured person to person. In lieu of that, we provide our own professional testing and back it up with data and statistics from over 150 current owners of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper. In this way you can make a well-informed decision with as little guess work as humanly possible.

Feel & Firmness Test

For the first part of our feel and firmness test, we placed the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper on top of a firm innerspring mattress and slept on it for a week. Our sleeping subjects were a 200 lb male, and a 150 lb female. Here are our major observations:
This topper is super soft!! Our female tester loved the feel and firmness in all sleeping positions; she prefers softer mattress surfaces, and this topper definitely help up to its end of the bargain. Likewise, a mattress topper is supposed to be softer and plushier than the mattress you place it on top of, so you don’t exactly want to buy something that is super firm.

Our male tester, on the other hand, basically sunk right through the 3 inches of the 3.3 Cloud9 Topper. He also did not feel the typical “memory foam” springiness that you’re supposed to feel. The manufacturer of the Cloud9 recommends that “if [the individual] weighs over 200 we definitely recommend a 3″ visco-elastic memory foam mattress pad”, but our male subject weighed 200 lb and managed to sink right through the topper and basically got no added comfort whatsoever. This leads us to believe that the density of the topper is probably closer to 2 lb pcf, which is not inherently a bad thing, but just lazy marketing. For a 200 lb guy, we would suggest either the 4.3 or 5.3 lb density models of the Cloud9 with either a 3 or 4-inch thickness.

In the second part of our feel and firmness test, we interviewed current owners of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper about their opinions on comfort. Here’s what we found out:

85% of our respondents said the topper made their mattress a very soft or soft firmness. 10% said the topper was too soft and didn’t do anything, and 5% said the topper had a medium firmness. Lastly, 83% of owners said they find the topper to be a comfortable addition to their sleeping experience.

Verdict: the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch topper provides a comfort level ranging from super-soft to soft depending on your weight. If you weigh 200 lbs or above though, check out the other toppers that Cloud9 offers. This topper is best suited for individuals weighing roughly 180 lbs or less.

Total points awarded for Feel: 17 / 20

Durability

Durability is quite an important factor, but how can we measure it? Typically, there are 3 important factors we at Zen Sleeping prefer to consider: adequate density, high-quality garment construction, and resistance to surface/ edge abrasions. In this section, we dive into each and every one of them.

Density

When talking about memory foam toppers, the key word is balance; more specifically, we are referring to the balance that a topper’s density must strike between durability and comfort. A topper whose density is too high will be extremely durable but will create too much of a gooey, uncomfortable feeling when laying on it. A topper whose density is too low will have very little durability but will feel very soft and comfortable.
The density of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch topper is claimed to be 3.3 lb pcf, but we believe it’s closer to 2 lb pcf after the results of our feel and firmness test. A 2 lb dense mattress topper is totally fine with us, and still maintains a good level of durability.

Garment Construction

Garment construction refers to how resistant the mattress topper cover and actual mattress topper are to tearing at the sides, seams, and edges.
No complaints here from current owners of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch topper.

Surface / Edge Abrasion

Surface and edge abrasions are defined as the breaking down or general wearing away of the surface of the product, which usually occurs after many night of your body and other surfaces rubbing over the surface of the product. Again, none of the current owners we interviewed had anything negative to say about the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch topper’s resistance to surface and edge abrasions.

Verdict

The 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper is quite a durable mattress topper; we believe it will last a good 5-7 years.

Total points awarded for Durability: 19 / 20

Heat Regulation

Along with the possible smell factor, memory foam also has a reputation for capturing/ trapping heat, and therefore sleeping “hot” when compared to other sleeping products. While some people (especially those in very cold climates) don’t mind more toastier temperatures under the covers, it’s important for us at Zen Sleeping to test and review every memory foam product for heat regulation.

We asked 150 current owners of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper to give us their opinions about the temperature while sleeping at night. This is what we found out:

Very impressive results! Over 90% of users either slept neutral, cool, or medium heat but still comfortable. Only 10% of users felt the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch was too hot for their tastes.

Verdict: Rest easy; the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch will be a very comfortable, hot-free sleeping experience.

Total points awarded for Heat Regulation: 19 / 20

Zen Score of the 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper

A memory foam mattress must pass a Zen Score of 70 in order to be recommended by us at Zen Sleeping. The 3.3 Cloud9 3-inch Memory Foam Topper passes our benchmark with a total Zen Score of 84!

Be sure to leave a comment below if you have any questions or concerns.