Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had no idea that one could buy a futon mattress and have it shipped directly to one's home, much less qualify for free shipping. I was somewhat skeptical, but there's no longer anywhere to buy a decent quality futon in this whole region, and Ol' Lumpy, which served as our living room sofa, was getting intolerable to my butt. When the package *finally* arrived -- delayed by our lazy shiftless UPS driver and his evasive, enabling supervisors -- and I fished it out of the snowdrift in front of my neighbors' house -- I was even more skeptical. How could an 8" innerspring mattress roll up into a cylinder that was less than 12" in diameter? The mattress was packaged inside an outer fabric bag -- which I had to cut off -- a heavy plastic tube, and a vacuum-sealed inner plastic bag that had clearly been evacuated by something like the world's largest FoodSaver and then rolled and taped. Brilliant. As I was cutting the tape on the last layer of packaging, I breached the vacuum sealed-layer and the mattress began dramatically inhaling. The general effect once I'd cut it free of the tape was of one of those old sitcoms in which Dad orders a military surplus life raft and pulls the ripcord in the kitchen. Possibly we are easily entertained, but this was extremely cool. Wish I'd videoed it. The futon had achieved enough fluff within about four hours of standing on edge in the kitchen to put it on the frame and sit on it. Per the instructions, it did continue to expand a bit for the next day or so. This futon is springy and comfortable used as a sofa. It stays folded and does not slide off the frame. When the 40# dog perches on the back like Snoopy on his doghouse, it does not smoosh down. It does not and did not smell bad. Some reviews mentioned an objectionable "new" odor, and I was concerned about this because I can be a bit of a delicate princess about chemical smells. I couldn't really make out any smell even when I first breached the plastic cocoon. It does not appear to be designed for flipping; the "top" and edges are a sort of microfiber fake suede, but the bottom is some sort of el-cheapo fabric. Since we have animals, I always use a full cover on a futon, and a fitted sheet on top of that. I may try flipping it anyway and see if the "bottom" is inadequately padded or otherwise unsatisfactory. I've only had this futon for about a week; if it doesn't hold up, I'll revise this review. Got 11 years out of Ol' Lumpy, which was a Sealy brand, foam and cotton, no springs. It was good for about ten of those.