How to Fold a Mattress
One of the biggest troubles is to move, fold or transport a mattress. No matter whether you are moving into a new house or you are just trying to move your bed upstairs, you won’t be able to do it alone without bending or folding it.
But, if you bend, double or fold your mattress, will that damage it and what are other things you should be concerned about?
Read our article and find out and also learn what are the best ways to fold your mattress and what types of mattresses you should avoid folding. Last updated
What Will Happen if You Bend or Fold Your Mattress?
Unless you don’t have any other choice, you should avoid doing this as, depending on the type of a mattress that you have, this can cause serious damages that can’t be so easily repaired.
The more you fold certain types of mattresses, the worse the damage will be. This can cause your mattress to never lay right on your foundation or box spring again as doubling a mattress over or folding it in half also folds the coils, foam encasement or border rods of your mattress.
In such case the steel parts inside your mattress, if you have a hybrid mattress or traditional innerspring one, will be creased, dented or folded and it’s almost impossible to repair such damage.
But, there are exceptions and some mattresses built entirely of memory foam, latex foam or other types of flexible foams can be folded and easily moved around without much trouble.
These mattresses are usually vacuum packed, rolled up and put in a box without any damage and if you have a memory foam or latex mattress, this is something you can do again on your own. Everything you will need is a plastic mattress bag, vacuum cleaner, duct tape and ratchet straps.
Steps – Folding a Memory Foam or Latex Mattress
Remove the Bedding
The first thing you should do when folding a memory foam or latex mattress is to remove your bedding. Take off all the sheets, covers, mattress protector, etc. and leave the bed completely bare.
Put the Mattress in the Bag
If you are moving to another home it’s better to put your mattress into a plastic mattress bag, compress it and roll it up instead of just folding it and tying it with a rope. This way you will protect it from everything that might possibly happen during transport.
To compress the mattress, you will need to get the mattress bag of the right size so the mattress can slide in smoothly. If possible, get a heavy-duty plastic bag with a seal.
Once you put your mattress into a bag and seal it, you can use a few strips of duct tape to reinforce the seal.
If you can’t find a plastic bag with a seal, you can use any plastic bag of the right size and then just put a lot of duct tape to make sure the bag is securely shut.
Vacuum the Air Out
After you seal the mattress inside the plastic bag, you should use a vacuum cleaner to vacuum the air out. Attach the valve from the vacuum bag and once it is securely attached, connect your vacuum hose and start vacuuming the air out.
While doing this, you should keep your mattress flat on the floor and it will compress very quickly. This also decreases the risk of damaging the foam.
Roll It Up and Strap It
As soon as you compress the bed, you should roll it up and use ratchet straps to secure the mattress and stop it from unfolding. Ratchet straps are also called tie-down straps. They are cheap and you can get them in a market.
Ratchet straps will make moving the mattress easy and they will give you something sturdy to grab onto when you have to lift and carry your bed. These will also hold everything in place in case the tape and vacuum seal job doesn’t hold up.
Conclusion
If you are moving into a new home or you are just moving your bed upstairs and you need to fold it in order to carry it easier, you should know how to do this properly without damaging your mattress.
There are some types of mattresses like traditional innerspring and hybrid mattresses that you should avoid bending or folding as this can cause some serious damages while other types of mattresses made entirely of flexible foams can be easily folded and carried around.
If you have a memory foam or latex mattress and you need to fold it, follow these few simple steps that we have given above and you should be able to do it without any trouble.
