I've bought and used a couple of mattress toppers and protectors over the last few years and the first one I bought was the Argos Value Quilted Mattress Topper. To be fair to Argos, before I slate this product, I was actually looking for a mattress topper that was designed to make the mattress softer and more comfortable, rather than a mattress topper that was designed to protect the mattress - and as the name of this product was "Argos Value Range Quilted Mattress Topper" I actually jumped to the conclusion that it was what I was looking for. It was incredibly cheap and just £7.99 for a king sized bed and so I guess I should have known better - but always on the look out for a bargain, I thought this was what I'd found.

When you take the Argos Value Range Quilted Mattress Topper out of the packaging, it becomes very clear that it's very thin indeed. It's very slightly quilted, but to be honest, the amount of quilting is fairly negligible and it doesn't make any difference to the comfort of the mattress. It is a white design and fairly boring looking, but it's always covered by a sheet and so this is of no significance. It is made of polycotton and so it feels fairly soft, and the inside filling is polyester and so it tends to have a tendency to be a little warm - which is nice in the winter.

Fitting the mattress topper is simple - and it fits well. It as an elasticated skirt around the edge of the topper and so it is just a matter of stretching it out over the mattress and smoothing it down. It does smooth down flat and allows the sheet to lie down flat on top of it. Because it goes over the mattress, it does somewhat protect the mattress, but it is fairly thin and not waterproof and so if you're planning to put this on a kiddies bed if they are still wetting the bed then this probably wouldn't do. We had it on our bed for about 6 months and it did protect the mattress well - but it didn't improve the comfort.

It is washable on a low heat (the cover part), but to be honest, it doesn't wash that well. After a few washes if got a little bobbly and I think this is where the low quality materials really showed. It also couldn't be tumbled dried - which is a bit of a pain because in the winter we tend to tumble dry everything.

Overall, this product is okay as an adult mattress protector - but it's not what I traditionally believe a topper to be.