Simmons Beautyrest Express Bed- For a temporary path to a good night's sleep
Written: Jan 18 '03
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Pros: Comfortable and amazingly easy to inflate and deflate.
Cons: Doesn't come with a duffel bag. The pump is loud.
The Bottom Line: This is a great air mattress for company. It is comfortable and inflates in seconds.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Simmons Beautyrest Express Bed |
I recently spent some time at my daughter’s apartment and slept on her Simmons Beautyrest Express Bed
About the Express Bed and what it comes with:
The Express Bed is an air mattress. It inflates to a twin-sized mattress. It also is available as a double/full and queen. The twin-sized is 39” across by 75” long and 6” high. I just measured the twin bed I have in my computer room and it measures 39” across as well so it is a true twin size. I will be comparing the Express Bed to the Aero Bed to save you the trouble of doing the comparing yourself. The Aero Bed is one inch shorter but one inch higher.
The Express Bed claims to be made of a thick, heavy-duty vinyl and it does feel heavy duty. We are warned, though, to keep sharp instruments or objects away from it. Certainly, like a vinyl boat that gets inflated, this can be punctured.
Unlike the Aero Bed the top of the mattress is reinforced with a velveteen material. The bed is blue, by the way. The claim is that this velveteen cover holds sheets in place and I found that to be true. I did not feel as if the sheet was slipping and sliding from under me at all. Regular twin sized sheets fit on this mattress and from that same website: The Express Bed mattress dimensions match industry bedding standards.”
The mattress will hold up to 650 pounds.
The mattress on the top isn’t flat. It has what I can only describe as a rolling hill affect. The rolling hill goes up and down for the length of the mattress. I do believe this affects comfort.
It also claims to have a higher profile I-beam construction which provides lumbar support and improved comfort. I will talk about the comfort later.
It comes with:
~An inflatable pump
~2 inflate/deflate adapters
~A vinyl repair kit
~A warranty- This is a limited warranty for 1 year.
~Instructions- The instructions are easy to follow but really the bed is very simple to inflate and deflate.
~Unlike the double and queen it does not come with a duffel bag in which to store it.
How it works:
We are told that it inflates in 35 seconds. I timed it and it came in at about that. That is a fairly accurate estimate. We are told that it deflates in 40 seconds. The Aero Bed we are told takes 90 seconds. I timed this as well and it took about a minute for it to be deflated. I was really impressed with how it works. I imagined that we would be blowing this thing up when my daughter told me she had bought an air mattress or using a hand pump.
In fact the mattress uses what is called an Express Pump. It really is amazing. The pump itself is small and lightweight. It is similar to a travel hair dryer and looks something like one.
1. The pump has a switch, which turns the pump on. This is electric and uses a standard polarized 120-volt AC electrical outlet.
2. There are two ports which are labeled on the pump, inflate and deflate.
3. The vented adapter gets easily attached to the inflation port on the pump. The port looks like a grid that you would see on a hair dryer and it blows air very powerfully (60 Hz) into the mattress.
4. There is a cap on the Express Bed that you unscrew and the pump gets inserted into this valve. It is really a piece of cake.
The pump is noisy so if you are using this for company and the company has a baby who will be sleeping close by inflate this before the baby goes to bed. It really is loud and sounds like a saw.
5. So you’ve turned the switch on the pump to on and the mattress is inflated almost like magic. It should be inflated to full capacity. I measured it and it was 6 inches high.
6. You can then lie on it and get the firmness level you want really easily. If you want it less firm, then you just push in on a rubber insert, which is inside the valve where the mattress was just inflated and slowly release some air. Just like a beach ball, if you let out too much air, then just put in some more – only you can do it easily with the pump.
7. To deflate it you unscrew the same cap on the mattress and attach the vented adapter, which is on the other side of the pump, to the deflation port on the pump. Again- realize these two ports are labeled on the pump. One says inflate and the other says deflate so you can’t mix up which one to use.
8. This is inserted into the same place that you inflated the mattress but when you turn on the pump it will take out all the air.
9. Since this one doesn’t have a bag, it should be stored in the box.
Cleaning the mattress and cautions:
This can be cleaned with mild soap and water. Don’t use anything harsh on it because it can damage the materials. You can use the repair kit for any holes, tears or punctures. My daughter has had this mattress since August since she knew she would be having a lot of company. (She lives in New York City.) It has gotten a lot of use but looked brand new to me.
It should be stored at room temperature after you clean it and it is dry. It can’t be stored outside or in a garage because it is too cold. We are told not to use a regular hairdryer to inflate it. We are also told not to leave the pump unattended and not to use it for more than 30 minutes continuously. (You’d have to be blowing up a whole campground of mattresses but just make sure the pump is turned off and unplug it.)
We are told that this is a temporary sleep surface and not meant to be used in place of a regular mattress which is too bad because I was thinking I could put it on top of the mattress in our travel trailer.
How I liked it:
I loved this mattress. I was more comfortable sleeping on it than in my travel trailer, which has a fairly regular mattress. It is lightweight and once inflated we could put it anywhere in her room we wanted but it is sturdy enough that I do believe it can hold over 600 pounds.
I found the velveteen to be nice under the sheet and the ridges (or rolling hills) which is perhaps part of the lumbar support system mentioned above made me feel as if I were fitting right into the mattress rather than sleeping on a flat surface that may have offered little support. During the 3 weeks on the road in my travel trailer, my back did hurt me every morning from the bed. I had no back pain at all after sleeping on the Express Bed.
I was truly amazed at how easy and fast it was to inflate and deflate the Express Bed. I really couldn’t imagine it being so easy even though my daughter assured me it was. Almost anyone (not children, please) could inflate this. The pump is light and it is simple. If someone has a problem with loud noises they may not like the sound of the pump but it only lasts for a short time. This bed is also about $30 less than Aero Bed! Remember this is for short-term sleeping only.
I am definitely recommending this with 5 stars. Please feel free to leave a comment or question.
The comparison information comes from: http://www.bedbathstore.com/prodcomtab.html.
Recommended:
Yes
Mattress Size: Twin
Amount Paid (US$): 59.99
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