We gave it about a day and a half to fully expand. It was almost full within a couple hours but very squishy. Our first nights sleep we thought the bed was a little too soft but by day 2 it was perfect. We would rate this as a medium bed maybe a mediumslightly firm bed. We thought we wanted a really soft bed but this has helped with our back and should pain so we are sticking with it. And very happy with the height. We got a platform bed but dont like being low to the ground so we went with the 14 inch and its perfect. No odor, perfect height, great sleep!