Did you know that some mattresses can last up to 10 years without needing replacement?
However, your mattress might only last that long if you take good care of it, and that means storing it the right way when you need to.
Many people think that mattresses are sturdy enough to suffer being thrown around and left in dusty, moist basements for long periods of time, but you’ll find that if you treat a mattress like this when you need to store it, it’ll be a mess by the time you retrieve it.
How to store a mattress isn’t actually difficult at all, but it does require a bit of extra effort which is why this guide is here to help you out. Keep reading more below and learn more about the best way to store a mattress.
Clean Your Mattress Before Storing It
Have you ever heard of how mattresses can gain several extra pounds of weight in skin cells, dead bugs, and sweat after a few years?
While this might be somewhat of an exaggeration, the truth is that plenty of skin cells, bugs, and sweat can indeed build up in your mattress over the years you’ve been using it. In addition to those contaminants, you might also be dealing with bacteria, dirt, dust, pollen, hair, saliva, and plenty more debris.
Even if you use a comforter and bedsheets to separate your body from your mattress, all that junk will still end up seeping into your mattress eventually.
After all, most of these contaminants are microscopic and can filter through the fibers of bed sheets without any problems. Of course, you won’t want to store your mattress when it is carrying all of these disgusting materials.
After all, if there are any bugs or bacteria on your mattress, those critters will only keep duplicating while in storage. You certainly don’t want to come back to a mattress that is even dirtier than when you left it, but what can you do to solve this problem? All you have to do is clean your mattress.
This doesn’t mean you should take a sponge and a bucket of water to in. In fact, you should keep water away from your mattress since it might only make the problem worse and make your mattress the perfect breeding ground for mold and more bacteria. Instead, use a vacuum.
Most of the dirt on your mattress will be on the surface. So, make sure you get a hold of your vacuum’s nozzle and vacuum over your mattress’s top layer. Getting in the crevasses is important since a lot of dirt and debris can build up.
Use a Storage Bag or Plastic Wrap for Your Mattress
Once you’re sure that your mattress is as clean as it’s going to get, you’ll need to protect it before you move it anywhere. Using a mattress storage bag or a mattress cover for storage is your best bet. Mattress covers are specially designed to envelope and protect mattresses.
However, if you don’t have a mattress cover and don’t want to spend the extra money on one, don’t worry. A good substitute is to use plastic wrap. Plastic is one of the best materials you can use for your mattress because it can make sure no contaminants will be able to touch your mattress once it’s in storage.
Plastic not only can protect against bugs and dust but moisture as well.
And moisture is your mattress’s worst enemy since wet cloth is the perfect place for insects, mold, and bacteria to live. However, in the case of mattress storage, you’ll want to be especially careful when wrapping your mattress in plastic.
You will want to make sure that the mattress has a tight seal. If it doesn’t, contaminants will be able to reach your mattress without too much of a problem. This is why mattress covers are good because they are able to completely wrap up your mattress, often sealing it off with a zipper.
When using plastic wrap, be sure that every inch of the mattress’s fabric is covered.
Besides that, make sure to go through the plastic wrap once you’re done wrapping to see if there are any openings in the plastic that could lead to your mattress. Keep in mind that bed bugs and other insects are very small and can easily crawl through the smallest of spaces.
If you can’t find any entrances to your mattress through the plastic wrap, your mattress should be secure.
Move Your Mattress Responsibly
Many people think that they can load their mattress on the back of their pickup truck and drive it to their storage unit without any problems.
If you don’t have a pickup truck, you might think it’s a good idea to tie your mattress to the roof of your car with some bungee cords before hurrying it down the highway. However, you should avoid both of these choices if you can.
If you’ve ever seen anyone on the highway with a mattress strapped to their car’s roof, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the mattress in question was bent in the wind.
This is the consequence you’ll have to deal with if you put your mattress on top of the roof of your car, especially when driving at high speeds. You might think that your mattress will bend back into shape once you take it off of the car, but this is not always the case.
Some mattresses will stay bent for the rest of their lives which means you’ll be in for some low-quality sleep as long as you hold onto your mattress.
More than deforming your mattress, unexpected weather might also ruin your mattress if you leave it out in the open while transporting it. Even if your mattress is wrapped in plastic, it still might take on some water if a sudden thunderstorm happens to blow through your path.
The solution to this is to hire a covered moving truck. While it may cost you a bit of extra money, you will find that it will be worth it. A covered moving truck will ensure that your mattress is protected from the elements and it also won’t end up bending in the wind.
Be sure not to pile furniture on top of your mattress in the truck, however.
Keep Your Mattress Flat Whenever You Can
When you’re transporting a mattress in a covered moving truck, you can store the mattress sideways because it will only be like that for a short period of time. Plus, storing it sideways will give you plenty of extra space to store furniture and other items in the moving truck.
However, if you plan on putting your mattress in a storage unit for a long time, you should avoid storing it sideways, even if it does save you some extra space.
The reason behind this is that mattresses are designed to lay flat and not sideways. When you keep a mattress sideways for an extended period of time, the parts and pieces inside the mattress might slowly slide out of alignment.
So, by the time you retrieve your mattress from storage and lie down on it, you might notice that it is no longer as comfortable as it once was.
Sometimes, these mattresses can go back to their normal level of comfort after you break them in for a while, but some mattresses will never be quite the same.
After all, if the coils and stuffing inside the mattress are no longer the positions they used to be in, they won’t be able to support your body in the right way and you won’t be able to sleep as well. So, when it’s time to store your mattress, try to position it in the same way it rests in your bedroom.
This way, the mattress’s inner workings won’t change and the quality of your sleep will remain unaffected. But be wary of putting your mattress on the floor of the storage unit. Try to place down some towels or a bed sheet before putting your mattress down.
This will ensure it’s protected on all fronts.
How to Store a Mattress the Right Way
How to store a mattress doesn’t have to be difficult as long as you know the right steps to take.
However, choosing the right storage facility is also important, otherwise, all your work might be for nothing. BlueBox is able to bring your storage unit to you so you can fill it without any hassle.
Once you’re done, BlueBox will come by with a truck, collect the storage unit, and bring it wherever you want it. Contact us here to learn more about how it works.