Mattress Forum

Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Sep 11, 2007 11:13 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
All of these companies and brands are interrelated. The differences are more like two varieties of red or green apples rather than apples to oranges.

This is a composite of the following threads from the old forum. It might feel kind of jumbled, but we don't need two threads on Intelli-Gel.

Has anyone ever tried an Intelli-bed?

Intelli-Gel toppers


First, lets introduce the players:

Intelli-Bed and MyComfort are separate and distinct companies. Each sells a product they call Intelli-Gel, but they are not exactly the same. Both are manufactured under license from the same company (EdiZone) and they are more similar than they are different, but they are different products, manufactured by different companies. I will talk a lot more about these companies in subsequent posts.

GelTechnology is the company which manufactures the Intelli-Gel for Intelli-Bed. Their trade-names for the honeycomb material is CrossGel, and the gel-like rubber that it's made from, FlexGel. GelTec does not manufacture mattresses, but they do sell a CrossGel topper they call the GelBed Topper.

EdiZONE is "a developer of products and technology. Its business model is to conceive and patent unique and valuable technologies and product designs, develop them into prototype products, and then license them to a leader in the applicable marketplace." They invented Gelastic and Intelli-Gel and license these products to Intelli-Bed and MyComfort.

Not coincidentally, all four of these companies are based in Utah.

Intelli-Gel is protected by U.S. Patent 6,026,527 (and 5,749,111)  Gelatinous cushions with buckling columns.
Gelastic is covered by patent 5,994,450   Gelatinous elastomer and methods of making and using the same and articles made therefrom.
Granted, I am a geek, but I found the 527 patent to be quite interesting and insightful.


Disclosure: I have an Intelli-Gel topper on order from MyComfort. I'm trying to keep my posts here informational and not a sales pitch, but anyone with any vested interest in a product cannot be totally objective about it. Just keep that in the back of your mind as you read my posts. I'm an Intelli-Gel fan boy. At least until I get the topper and actually sleep on it.
This message was modified Oct 30, 2007 by a moderator
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Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #6 Sep 12, 2007 9:57 AM
donw
Joined: Sep 3, 2007
Points: 167
Still waiting. I'll definitely write a review. The salesman told us it would be 10 to 15 days after Labor Day because of the volume around that time.
Intelli-Gel topper from MyComfort
Reply #7 Sep 12, 2007 11:34 AM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
My order got misplaced but my topper is now on it's way. I got a call from a freight company this morning saying it would be here this weekend and asking what day next week I wanted them to deliver it. I have a vehicle I can carry something like that in so I asked if I could come and pick it up on Monday. They said sure, but um, it weighs 250 lbs. What?!

I called the MyComfort facility in Salt Lake City and asked just what IS this thing on the truck? I was told it's 150 lbs of topper, with the strapping and packaging and the pallet and whatnot accounting for the rest. I'm going to have to see this to believe it. 150 lbs? Holy cow. Gelastic must be dense stuff.
This message was modified Sep 18, 2007 by haysdb
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #8 Sep 21, 2007 10:19 AM
roxx13
Joined: Sep 17, 2007
Points: 3
I've been following this post from the beginning, from the old forum to this one. Did you get your topper after all??? Maybe you can post some comments on it. We are all looking forward to it! Thanks!
Intelli-Gel Single Comfort Overlay
Reply #9 Sep 21, 2007 12:19 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
I took delivery of the MyComfort Intelli-Gel 'Single' topper last Monday. Unfortunately they shipped me a regular "Eastern King" rather than the California King I ordered, so a second topper is being shipped.

I have been sleeping on it. The current arrangement is:
  • Intelli-Gel 'Single' overlay
  • 5.6" Talatech latex core, ILD 38
  • Flexible slat foundation
The total height of foundation, mattress and topper is 16.5" to the top surface of the stretch knit ticking. This simple and yet "high tech" arrangement sleeps very well. It feels very soft and supple, and yet supportive. One of the characteristics of Intelli-Gel, and the reason I decided to use it as the centerpiece of my mattress, is that it has a unique capability to feel supple and yet supportive at the same time. It has a very firm "surface" feel (I'd say it feels very nearly as firm as the ILD 38 latex),  but once compressed to the point where the gel columns start to collapse, it gets softer. It would be fascinating to know what the 25% and 65% IFD of this stuff is. I would almost be willing to bet that the 65% IFD is lower than the 25% IFD. If you spread the load evenly over the surface, such as if you are laying flat on your back, it feels firm. As soon as you point load one small area, it collapses under that area. It collapses in a progressive way rather than all at once since each column is connected to 8 other columns, but the point is it doesn't get firmer and firmer as it's compressed, but starts out firm but with the ability to be less firm in localized areas. There is no other bedding material with these properties.

Let's take a look inside:

  • The ticking is very soft to the touch. It's a nice cover.
  • The "high-density foam sitting edges" surround the Intell-Gel on all sides - 12" at head and foot, and 8" on each side. 16" of the width and 24" of the length are polyurethane foam rather than Intelli-Gel. In practice, you don't feel where the Intelli-Gel ends and the foam starts. The sitting edges are glued to the same 1" support foam as the Intelli-Gel. The company refers to it as "high density" foam, which implies 1.8 to 2.2 lb density. I'm guessing because I asked and they won't tell me.
  • The bottom surface of the overlay is described as "ultra-skid-proof" and it is. Lay this on top of a mattress and it's not going anywhere. It serves the dual purpose of preventing the Intelli-Gel from shifting inside the cover.  What concerns me is that it's vinyl. Waterproof and air-tight plastic. I asked the manager of one of the MyComfort stores if anyone has ever complained of the overly being "sweaty" and he he was emphatic - "No, never."
This message was modified Sep 29, 2007 by haysdb
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #10 Sep 29, 2007 6:09 PM
donw
Joined: Sep 3, 2007
Points: 167
Well, Wednesday came and went, so I called the MyComfort store, and they said that their shipping truck damaged almost an entire load. They reordered our bed, and it should be here this coming Wednesday.
Re: PocketGel mattress
Reply #11 Sep 29, 2007 6:25 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
Don, I really think you are going to like your new mattress. I have been trying to find out what the IFD of the polyurethane core on that mattress is, without success. It's more curiosity than anything, my curiosity being how it relates to what I'm using as my support layers. I would especially like to know if they go all the way up to the Intelli-Gel with the same support foam, or whether there is a softer layer of foam at the top and if so, what is it and how thick.

I feel like the Intelli-Gel laying right on top of the ILD 38 latex may be just a bit too firm. I ordered a 2" latex "topper" in ILD 32 today to put right under the Intelli-Gel.  MyComfort sells an Intelli-Gel topper with 2.8" of latex. I have asked what the ILD of the latex is in that topper but I haven't gotten an answer. I don't blame them. They get an extra thousand dollars for that 2.8" of latex when you buy it from them.

I am anxious to hear your take, and for there to be a second opinion about it. I never know that I might just be totally weird and like something that nobody else will.
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #12 Sep 29, 2007 7:19 PM
donw
Joined: Sep 3, 2007
Points: 167
haysdb, their latex is 19 ILD. If you remember in my post about our store experience, the salesman called the factory for us to find out the ILD. Sure is soft - too soft, in fact. I can hardly wait. I want my bed!
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #13 Sep 29, 2007 7:38 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
The latex in their Intelli-Gel with Latex topper is a 19? Wow, that really seems bizarre. Not so much if it were thinner, but 2.8" of 19?
 
This message was modified Sep 29, 2007 by haysdb
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #14 Oct 1, 2007 9:14 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
I stopped by the other Intelli-Bed store in St Louis after work and managed to sweet-talk a seat cushion out of the salesman. There was a little miniature sample of Intelli-Gel laying on one of the mattresses and I asked if that was the stuff the seat cushions were made out of. He said no but would I like a seat cushion? "Sure." So he went to the back and brought out a seat cushion like what MyComfort sells for $79.99 and handed it to me. It says NOT FOR RESALE on the cover, so I guess it's a promotional item. Darn nice for a freebie.

Here I have been BEGGING for a sample of Intelli-Gel for a month, and I finally have one. The seat cushion gel is 1.25" thick vs. 1.75" for the gel in the Intelli-Bed mattresses, but appears to otherwise be the same. I suspect the cushion walls are a bit thicker since with a seat cushion there is a lot of weight on a small area.

Gelastic, the gel-like rubber that Intelli-Gel is made of, is sturdy stuff. When I pulled the cushion out of the zippered fabric case, there was a little "noodle" of the Gelastic material that fell free, a little less than 1" long and just bigger in diameter than a standard round  toothpick. I can stretch this little noodle out to a length of 8" (more than 8 times it's length), at which point it's barely thicker than dental floss. Rather than breaking it slips out of my fingers - I cannot hold onto it tight enough to pull it apart. Very elastic and very strong.

If MyComfort makes good on their promise to send a seat cushion along with my Cal King topper, I will have one of each version of Intelli-Gel and so will be able to compare the two materials head-to-head.
This message was modified Oct 2, 2007 by haysdb
Re: Intelli-Gel, CrossGel, FlexGel, Galastic, Intelli-Bed, MyComfort, GelTec
Reply #15 Oct 2, 2007 4:26 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
The 2.8" of latex in the MyComfort Intelli-Gel with latex overlay is in fact ILD 19 as reported. That's intestesting. 2.25" Intelli-Gel over 1" polyurethane over 2.8" of ILD 19. That's over 6" of "comfort layer".

On a purely personal note, if I find the 2" of ILD 32 to be too firm, I will have to drop all the way to a 24 or even softer because I don't know of anyone who offers a latex topper in an ILD between 32 and 24. I guess maybe I shouldn't be so worried about that being too soft.

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