Tom's Guide Verdict
The Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper will make your current bed cooler and more supportive. You won't feel the 'hug' of a memory foam mattress here; instead this medium-firm topper cradles your body for gentle pressure relief. Meanwhile, the copper-infused foam and phase change top cover will help hot sleepers stay cool during warmer months. While the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper topper suits all sleep styles, during testing we found it performs best for back sleepers. Yes it's among the pricier mattress toppers, but you'll still save substantially compared to buying a new mattress with comparable specs.
Pros
- +
Will keep most hot sleepers cool
- +
Best suited to back sleepers
- +
Generous seven-year warranty
- +
Available in ivory or black
Cons
- -
Some may find it too firm
- -
Expect some off-gassing
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Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper review in Brief
The Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper is an easy way to make your current mattress feel cooler, firmer and more supportive. It's also a more budget-friendly way to boost your sleep comfort since it's much cheaper than purchasing one of the best mattresses on the market, especially one designed with cooling materials.
We've been sleeping on the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper for over a month and can now confidently recommend it as one of the best mattress toppers if you sleep warm. During testing, we found that its copper-infused foam and breathable top cover work in tandem to direct heat away from the body to create a cooler space.
It's also firmer than we anticipated for a memory foam topper. If you're a lightweight sleeper or someone who likes the 'hug' of a foam bed, you won't really find that with the Viscosoft cooling topper. We experienced more of a gentle cradling of key pressure points, translating to nights of restful sleep followed by pain-free mornings.
Based on our testing, we'd recommend the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper as one of the best memory foam mattress toppers for back sleepers, as it adequately distributed our body weight in this position. We also enjoyed it for side and front sleeping, although our hips and lower back tended to dip more than we'd have preferred.
Material: Dual-layer memory foam (including copper-infused foam)
Depth: 4 inches
Cover: Removable & machine-washable
Straps: Yes
Warranty: 5 to 7 years
Trial: 90 nights
Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, Cal king
As the Viscosoft topper adds four inches of height, be mindful of how tall your current mattress is relative to your own height. This topper raised our mattress to 18 inches, which made getting in and out of bed a challenge for our 5' 4" lead reviewer.
In addition to a 2-inch layer of copper-infused foam, there are 2" of support foam — which is softer but lacks any type of cooling properties. So make sure that you're sleeping on the proper side of this topper.
Setup isn't terribly cumbersome and Viscosoft provides all of the necessary information online, all which can be accessed via a QR code on the topper's box. You'll have 90 days to try out the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper, with free returns plus a full refund if you're not satisfied. A 5-year limited warranty applies, but scan the included QR code and you'll get an extra two years of coverage, plus a year's protection from accidental damage.
Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper: Materials
- 2" layer of copper-infused cooling foam
- 2" layer of support foam for full-body pressure relief
- Cooling cover to dissipate heat and moisture
The Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper has 2" of copper-infused cooling foam plus 2" of support foam. These layers work in tandem to wick away heat, contour the curves of your body and provide pressure relief.
The foam layers are encased in a cooling cover made with material designed to deflect moisture and absorb the temperature of your sleeping environment so that you remain comfortably dry. A mesh backing promotes airflow and helps prevent the topper from sliding around while you sleep on it.
While the cooling cover is removable and machine-washable, the memory foam layer is spot treat only as is the case with many toppers. Learning how to clean a mattress topper should help you to keep it in good condition for longer.
Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper: Price
- A premium cooling topper starting from under $230 on sale
- 90-night trial, plus free shipping and returns
- Up to a 7-year warranty and 1 year of accident protection
The Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper can be purchased directly from the brand, as well as through Viscosoft's Amazon storefront. One of the brand's ongoing mattress topper deals gives you 25% off. A twin Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper is currently priced $229.95, with a queen costing $349.95.
It's the most premium and expensive option in Viscosoft's range. By comparison, the mid-range Viscosoft Select High Density Mattress Topper is regularly discounted to $199.95 for a queen at Viscosoft. It lacks the copper-infused foam of the Active Cooling Topper, but it does offer a choice between two heights (3 or 4") and three types of infused foam: cooling gel, activated charcoal (an antimicrobial), or lavender (for relaxation). The wider choice and cheaper price mean it has a broader appeal.
Below are the 'official' and sale prices for the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress topper:
- Twin RRP: $304.95 (normally priced $229.95)
- Twin XL RRP: $304.95 (normally priced $229.95)
- Full RRP: $399.95 (normally priced $299.95)
- Queen RRP: $469.95 (normally priced $349.95)
- King RRP: $534.95 (normally priced $399.95)
- Cal king RRP: $534.95 (normally priced $399.95)
Viscosoft isn't the only brand making cooling toppers. For example, the Layla Memory Foam Topper, priced from $228 at Layla Sleep, shares some similarities in terms of performance and construction. The Layla topper features a 2-inch layer of copper-gel memory foam for a cool, body cradling feel. Recent Layla mattress sales help you save anywhere from 15-20%, though there isn't much of a price difference between the brands, with a queen size Layla often costing $296.
The Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper does offer more perks than a lot of comparable toppers, including a 90-day money-back guarantee, but Layla Sleep offers a 120-night trial. The returns process at Viscosoft is much easier though, as Layla requires you to donate the topper before a refund is issued. At Viscosoft, if you change your mind during the 90-day period you can either exchange the topper or return it outright for a full refund.
There's also a 5-year limited warranty plus one year's accident protection offering repairs for user-created damage. You can even add an extra two years to the limited 5-year warranty after filling out a brief survey, taking you to seven years total - that's very generous for a bed topper and one of the best around. Saatva, for example, only offers a one-year warranty.
Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper: Firmness and comfort
- We rate it a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale
- It has a gentle cradling feel and suits various sleep styles
- At 4 inches tall, it's best for elevating shallower mattresses
We rate the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper as a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale (with 10 being the firmest). It's slightly softer than our mattress, the DreamCloud (read our DreamCloud mattress review for more on that one), which we rate as an 8 out of 10 on the firmness scale.
Since the Viscosoft topper is made with memory foam, we were anticipating a plusher feel. To our surprise it didn't sink much at all, and the gentle cradling effect of the dual-layer foam topper easily lulled us to sleep most nights.
However, we did feel our hips and lumbar dip lower than we would have liked when resting on our side and stomach. Fortunately, this didn't result in any pain but our lead reviewer prefers more support in those areas due to a recent back injury.
We do want to talk briefly about the thickness of this topper and what that could mean for your existing bed. Viscosoft Active Cooling Topper made our 14" DreamCloud mattress a whopping 18" tall. Four inches is a significant increase in height, and unless you're tall or like sleeping on very tall mattresses, this significant boost in height is something to keep in mind. You'll also need to invest in deeper sheets if your mattress is tall too.
Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper: Performance
- Suits all sleep styles but we preferred it for back sleeping
- Creates less of a 'sinking' feel and more of a cradling effect
- Copper-infused foam layer helps hot sleepers stay cool
We spent nearly a month (in between holidays and other goings-on) sleeping on a twin-size Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper. We followed much of our mattress methodology and focused on key areas of performance: off-gassing, pressure relief, durability, and temperature regulation, as well as ease of setup. Here's what we discovered during our review process...
Set-up and off-gassing
Score: 3.5 / 5
Our Viscosoft mattress topper arrived rolled-up and vacuum-sealed. Upon unraveling the plastic we discovered that it comes in two parts: the foam topper itself and a zippered cooling cover, to which the elastic anchor bands are attached.
Scanning the included QR code will bring up a brief video that shows how to set up the topper. One person should be able to handle setup for a twin, but you may want to enlist the help of a partner if you purchase anything larger than that, namely when it comes to putting on the cover.
Given how high our existing mattress is, we appreciate the adjustable width of the anchor bands. However, it took us a few nights to get them just right as the topper would shift during sleep if we didn't have the bands properly secured.
Unsurprisingly, we sensed an off-gassing smell that usually accompanies foam-based products such as this. Opening a window helped disperse the scent, and by morning we no longer detected it. As our feature on what is mattress off-gassing explains, opting for latex or other organic mattress materials — which have little to no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — reduces the likelihood of that chemical smell.
Pressure relief
Score: 4 / 5
Our lead reviewer is a habitual side sleeper of average size who's prone to shifting onto her stomach at times. (She's also recovering from a recent lower back injury.) Whether on our sides or our front, we felt supported from our head and shoulders down to our legs when sleeping on the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper. We only felt an obvious dip along our hips and lower back, but nothing that detracted from our general comfort.
We also rested on our backs and found the topper to be best suited for this sleep position. Lying this way, our weight was distributed more evenly than on our sides or stomach, for all-around pressure relief without anything sinking too low.
After our experience testing many of the best memory foam mattresses, the Viscosoft topper is also firmer than we had anticipated. We felt a subtle cradling along our joints that kept us comfortably stable throughout the night. So if your current mattress is too soft for your liking, the Viscosoft Active Cooling Topper could make it more comfortable and supportive.
Durability
Score: 4 / 5
The topper we received for testing is quite sturdy. We detected some slight dimpling on the foam when we rolled it out, but it flattened after several minutes. The cooling cover has no obvious pulls or holes in the fabric, and the adjustable anchor straps are sturdy and fasten well. (Though admittedly, they're stretched to max capacity on our already-tall mattress.)
After a month of regular use, our Viscosoft topper is still holding strong with no obvious signs of wear or indentations. The top cover is prone to attracting wayward fuzzies (say, from a pair of pajamas) but it's nothing a good mattress protector wouldn't be able to remedy.
We imagine the foam will give slightly more over time, but overall, we believe the Viscosoft will be a serviceable mattress topper throughout the duration of its warranty period.
For context, memory foam mattresses has an average lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Of course, proper care and maintenance will dictate how long you're able to sleep on it comfortably. (We cover these principles in-depth in our feature answering how long does a mattress last.)
Temperature regulation
Score: 4 / 5
The top layer of the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper contains copper-infused foam to help disperse body heat. Meanwhile, the removable cover is made of phase-change material, with an (anti-slip) mesh cover promoting better airflow.
As we embarked on another dreadfully hot Mid-Atlantic summer, Viscosoft's topper was up to the task, with a performance on par with some of the best cooling mattresses we've tried. Although the top phase-changing cover wasn't cool-to-the-touch for us, the topper still kept our hot sleepers comfortable on even the warmest nights.
Viscosoft Cooling Topper: User reviews
Firmness and comfort are subjective. An individual's height, weight, dominant sleep position, ideal temperature, and general health can impact their experience with a mattress topper. As such, we've supplemented our testing by analyzing user reviews for the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper to get an idea of how existing customers have fared with it, and to pinpoint any potential trends or issues.
At the time of publishing our review, the Viscosoft cooling topper has an overall user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 123 user reviews on the brand's website. There are also 218 customer reviews on Amazon, where it's rated 4.1 out of 5 stars.
Fans of the Viscosoft Active Cooling Topper find it supportive, with some users noting that they've been waking up without lower back or hip pain as a result of sleeping on it. Several sleepers also like its cooling properties and the softness of the top cover.
Those critical of the topper say it's not actively cooling, claiming it's done little to alleviate their night sweats. A few reviews also lament the lack of physical instructions for setup, perhaps not realizing that information is accessible via an included QR code. However, not everyone will know how or want to scan a QR code.
Should you buy the Viscosoft Cooling Topper?
If you're seeking a cooler or firmer bed but don't have the budget to purchase a full-fledged mattress, the Viscosoft Active Cooling Topper is a suitable (and less expensive) alternative.
However, it is one of the pricier cooling mattress toppers on the market — similar in cost to the luxury Saatva Topper; read our Saatva Graphite Mattress Topper review to learn more. But unlike Saatva, Viscosoft is much more generous with its warranty period, offering a maximum of seven years versus just one year for the Saatva. Learn how mattress warranties work so you know what type of coverage to expect.
Some may question whether this is a true cooling topper, but our hot sleepers found Viscosoft's breathable mesh cover and copper-infused foam to be a winning combination. These elements also aid in more hygienic sleep; the cover is removable and machine-washable, and copper has antimicrobial properties. That said, we still recommend purchasing a good quality mattress protector to keep it safe from spills and allergens.
Most back sleepers will find all-body support and ample pressure relief when lying on the Viscosoft Active Cooling Mattress Topper. We think side and front sleepers will also feel comfortable, although they may prefer the Birch Organic Mattress Topper (priced a lot higher at $300 for a twin at Birch Living) for better support along their hips and lumbar — with the added benefit of breathable, all-natural materials that'll still help them sleep cool.
Overall, you get what you pay for with the premium Viscosoft Active Cooling Topper: a well-made piece of bedding that'll sleep comfortably cool for most. We feel it's worth purchasing if you like your foam mattresses to be on the firmer side, particularly if you're a back sleeper. The 7-year warranty and choice of cover colors (ivory or black) are a nice bonus too.
