Re: Does your \"Sl@@p Numb@r B@d\" have this problem?
OK, here is more on our story with the mattress:
We would never have found the mold had we not had to disassemble it to move it to a different bedroom.
Inside the mattress, each side of the bed was moist to the touch. You could see that the air chambers were wet with condensation. There was black mold covering the surface of both air chambers AND it was embedded in the pores of the foam that lies on top of the chambers.
We called Select Comfort to complain. They first started the
cr@p about how all mattresses had mold. I stopped to think about what she said for a moment. Then I replied that that was ridiculous. I went on to explain to her the science of the problem. She admitted that they were having some problems with beds on the west coast, because it was humid there. I told her that there is no more humid place in the United States than the Midwest where I live. She went through the business of how we needed to open the mattress every month and let it air out. She also told us the part about using bleach to clean the mold. I told her that was not going to work, but I would try it anyway. In the mean time, she sent this insert that was supposed to solve the problem. (More about that later.)
We cleaned the chambers with bleach and let them dry all day with a fan blowing on them. Then, we reassembled all that junk, and went to sleep. The next morning we opened the mattress, and the air chambers were wet again. So, every day we had to do this process of opening the bed to let it dry. That gets old real quick!
The thing they sent us was a sheet of rigid plastic mesh; about an inch thick. We were instructed to put that on top of the air chambers so that air could circulate. It didn't work. The mattress was still wet and still growing mold. And that plastic mesh had a very sharp, rough surface that would eventually destroy the mattress from the inside.
I called them back. They sent us new chambers and new foam. The same thing happened.
Somewhere along the way, I told them what the solution had to be. I told them that the only hope they had to stop the problem was to put an electric heater under each air chamber. That would warm the air in the chambers to match the temperature of the body. The source of the problem was that the air chambers took on the temperature of the cold room. The human body of course is hot and moist; the perfect recipe for condensation. They had to find a way to keep the air chambers at or above the temperature of the person using the mattress. The person on the phone seemed interested in the idea, and said she would pass that on to their technicians. So, if you ever see a heater added to these beds it was my idea.
Finally, I told them that we were tired of messing with it, and that we wanted a refund. Now here is where Select Comfort really impressed me. They refunded about 75% of our money. We had the mattress for 8 years, and they still refunded 75%! That is really fair.
Of course, it was very expensive and difficult to pack and ship all those big, bulky pieces. You have to be clever when you pack the foam. There is a LOT of foam in what is supposed to be an AIR mattress. (They don't tell you that either.) Anyway, to pack the foam, use a big, plastic bag like you would use to dispose of yard waste. Open the bag inside of a big trash can or a big box. Then, stuff in one of the pieces of foam. Here's the fun part: Stick the hose of a vacuum cleaner into the back with the foam, and try to seal the bag around the hose. Turn on the vacuum cleaner. It sucks the air out of the bag and crushes the foam. Follow this by wrapping the bag with packing tape so that the foam is held in place even if the bag leaks. We packed everything into one box. Select Comfort was surprised. They were expecting at least 3 boxes.
Chuck
