How to pack a mattress for moving

Because it is the one item in the move that goes straight back into use against skin. A mattress bag is a sealed plastic sleeve that keeps out road dirt, water and anything living in a truck that has carried other households. Tape the open end closed rather than knotting it, and check the bag for tears before loading, since a torn bag protects nothing.

No, unless the manufacturer says so. Folding a pocket-sprung or hybrid mattress crushes springs and separates glued foam layers, and the result is a soft band across the middle that appears weeks later. Some foam mattresses are sold rolled and can be re-rolled, but only with the right equipment. If it did not arrive folded, it does not travel folded.

On its edge with a person at each end, gripping the side panel rather than the handles. The handles sewn into most mattresses are positioning handles for shifting it on a bed frame, not carrying handles for taking the full weight down a staircase; they tear, and they tear with somebody holding them. Take doors off their hinges rather than forcing a mattress through a tight frame.

Flat against a side wall of the load, strapped upright so it cannot fall inward, and never used as padding between other items. A mattress leaned across the load takes the pressure of everything that shifts against it, and the compression marks are permanent on a foam layer. Nothing heavy is stacked on a mattress lying flat, for the same reason.

A box spring or divan base gets its own bag and travels the same way, flat and unbent. The bed frame comes apart, and every bolt goes into a bag taped to the headboard, since bed bolts are usually a size nobody has spare. Photograph the joint before dismantling. Slatted bases are bundled and tied rather than carried loose, because loose slats are how the set becomes incomplete.

Storing a bagged mattress flat on a concrete floor, where cold and moisture pass up through the plastic and the underside develops mildew inside a sealed bag. Store it upright on a board with air around it, and unwrap it as soon as it arrives. The other failure is buying a bag one size too small and forcing it, which splits the seam and leaves the mattress effectively unwrapped.