„Choose a Silentnight topper by depth and filling, not by the name on the bag. Fibre makes a firm bed softer and cooler, memory foam relieves pressure, and neither will rescue a mattress that has started to dip.“
Which Airmax depth to choose
Silentnight sells its Airmax topper in three depths, and depth decides how much your bed changes. The Airmax 300 is 3cm, the Airmax (which Silentnight’s own product copy also calls the Airmax 800) is 8cm and the Airmax 1000 is 10cm, all built from a dual layer of hollowfibre with air-mesh side walls. A 3cm layer refreshes the surface of a mattress you already like, while 8cm to 10cm makes a firm mattress clearly softer. Independent reviewers agree on the limit of the design. Expert Reviews wrote of the 5cm Airmax sold at Argos that “this topper doesn’t add any support at all”, and Ideal Home found that it “can’t offer the cushioning or support of a memory foam topper”. Price does not rise with depth either. In a king, the 8cm Airmax costs £41 against £50 for the 3cm Airmax 300 at Silentnight’s regular prices.
Specifications and firmness ratings from silentnight.co.uk, and from Habitat for the Hotel Collection. Wash temperatures as stated by the seller or, where Silentnight gives none, by Argos or the Mumsnet review. Regular king prices, checked 28 September 2026.
Hollowfibre or memory foam
Fibre and foam solve different problems. Making a firm mattress softer is the job the hollowfibre Airmax and Deep Sleep toppers do, at the lowest prices in the range. The Impress 5cm and the Wellbeing Cool Touch use memory foam, which moulds to the shoulders and hips and spreads pressure in a way loose fibre cannot, so a side sleeper who wakes with a sore hip gets more from 5cm to 8cm of foam than from 10cm of fibre. Foam costs more, £95 for an Impress king against £39.62 for an Airmax 1000, and it holds more heat. Neither type fixes a worn mattress, and if yours already sags, a new mattress is the better spend. The National Bed Federation recommends replacing a mattress every seven to eight years, and its 2019 consumer research, reported by Furniture News, found owners were replacing theirs every 6.9 years on average.
Hot sleepers and cold sleepers
Temperature is where the Silentnight range splits most clearly. A review of sleep and the thermal environment by Okamoto-Mizuno and Mizuno in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology (2012) found that heat exposure increases wakefulness and reduces slow wave and REM sleep, and that normal sleep goes with a bed climate of about 32°C to 34°C. The Airmax toppers vent warm air through their mesh sides, and the Mumsnet reviewer reported fewer nights waking up overheated on the Airmax 1000. The Wellbeing Cool Touch adds a moisture-wicking Coolmax surface to 8cm of foam, which narrows the gap with fibre rather than closing it. The Heat Genie works the other way round, reflecting body heat back through a foil layer to add up to 7.5 tog, so it belongs on the bed in winter only.
Washing, allergies and returns
Silentnight describes most of these toppers as hypoallergenic, but a hypoallergenic filling is not a dust-mite treatment. Allergy UK’s house dust mite factsheet states that “Washing at 60 degrees centigrade or above will kill mites”, and warns that lower temperatures only wash the allergen away for a while. Where a wash temperature is stated for the toppers ranked here, it is 40°C, and Habitat lists the Hotel Collection 10cm as machine washable and tumble-dryer safe without giving a temperature, so allergy sufferers should add a protector that washes at 60°C. Our best mattress protectors comparison lists the options. Check the returns position before you open the bag, too. Silentnight’s returns policy refunds within 14 days of receipt and takes bedding back only unopened, and its 60-night comfort exchange covers mattresses, not toppers, so once the bag is open, a topper you simply dislike cannot go back.
Which Silentnight topper for which sleeper
To compare Silentnight with toppers from other brands, see our best mattress toppers, or go by need with our 10cm topper, cooling topper and feather topper rankings. If the mattress underneath is the real problem, the best Silentnight mattresses comparison ranks the brand’s mattresses, and the Silentnight brand page covers its guarantees and delivery.
