Extend the Life of Your Mattress: Part V – Be Gentle With Your Mattress

In the fifth and final installment of our series on best practices for maximizing the life of your mattress, we offer Tip #5, which includes the true reason some mattresses have those flimsy handles and why you should always lift with your knees and not your… rope?

Previous posts:
Extend the Life of Your Mattress: Part I – Keep Your Mattress Dry
Extend the Life of Your Mattress: Part II – Keep Your Mattress Covered
Extend the Life of Your Mattress: Part III – Use Your Mattress Like a Mattress
Extend the Life of Your Mattress: Part IV – Support Your Mattress

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Tip #5: Be Gentle With Your Mattress

Sometimes it’s hard to conceive that a mattress, with its size and strength, is relatively delicate. Though a mattress doesn’t need to be treated like fine china, not treating it like a ragdoll can go a long way in boosting its longevity as well. Considering the situations some individuals find themselves in, coupled with what at the time, they consider to be practical ingenuity, the things done to mattresses while trying to move or transport them can border on the ludicrous. It is wise to avoid what may seem like the easiest route when manipulating your mattress, because while the phrase “work smarter, not harder” applies to many situations, in this case, “a little hard work goes a long way,” is much more applicable.

Usually when a brand-new mattress is purchased, it is delivered by the company it was bought from. It is usually accompanied by a couple of movers who bring it into the home and place it in the room where it needs to be. Because this removes the need for your own hand-crafted solution to moving the mattress, the arrival of a bed is rarely when you need to be worried about damaging it. Foam or air mattresses that arrive in condensed packaging are also easy to safely move to their final destination. But when the time comes to flip it, move it to another room or move it to a new home altogether, that is when the majority of physical damage to a mattress occurs.

One of the first mistakes made with mattresses, particularly innerspring mattresses, concerns the use of the handles on the side. Despite popular thought, handles are actually not designed for carrying a mattress. Instead, their purpose is only for positioning the mattress on its foundation. So, before complaining to a manufacturer about handles popping off, if you were doing anything other than adjusting the mattress in its frame, they’ll say it’s your fault and your problem. This also includes the attempted circumvention of stairs in multiple-story homes and apartments by using the handles to hoist it onto a balcony or through a window with ropes. Unless you have a forklift handy to gently place it where it needs to go, you’re better off calling a couple friends and hauling the mattress up the stairs the old-fashioned way.

Other mattress styles offer a little more flexibility in terms of transportation. Foam mattresses, while weighing about the same as traditional varieties due to the solid material consistency, can be manipulated in ways others can’t to get them where they need to go. For instance, a foam mattress can be folded and rolled to transport it, provided caution is taken to not tear the product. The majority of foam mattresses are vacuum sealed for their initial delivery, attesting to their resilience. As long as you don’t use thin straps or ropes that can cut into the foam when tightening or carrying it, foam can be made to fit nearly anywhere. It’s also important to not grab at the mattress by fistfuls or at the corners, given the overall weight of the product. Air mattresses are the most easily transported bedding since they can be deflated, but special care needs to be taken when opening or packaging them, as a single puncture or tear can ruin the entire product. The same goes for waterbeds. Another suggestion is to never use the tag to help carry the mattress. If it tears off and is then lost, the product warranty is voided in many cases.

And with that, our series of suggestions for getting the most life out of your mattress is concluded. Hopefully you didn’t find any of them too difficult. And if you’re able to abide by these suggestions, your effort will be rewarded with a comfortable bed for years to come!

Tags: Comfort, Mattress Toppers, Mattresses, Memory Foam

Posted in Mattresses