How to Move a Mattress by Yourself: Your Step-By-Step Guide

If the time has come for you to move out of your current home, and you have decided to move without the help of a removal team, you’re going to need to know how to pack a mattress for moving, and then how to move a mattress by yourself so that your valuable mattress remains undamaged during the entire move and continues to provide you with invaluable rest each day.

By following our step-by-step guide to moving a mattress you will not only protect the mattress from damage (they are one of the most common items to be damaged during a home move), but will prevent injuring yourself (your most important task on moving day).

Should I Move My Mattress?

Now, before you rush to get the required materials to pack up your mattress for the relocation journey, you must take a moment to assess whether your particular mattress is worth the time, money, and effort to be hauled to your new home.

After all, if you’ve owned that mattress of yours for some years now, you may be wondering whether or not it’s time to purchase a new one.

Experts believe that mattresses should be re-evaluated whether they have lost their quality every 6-7 years or so.

A new high-quality update for your bed will mean a night of much better sleep, less back pain, if at all, and surely less stress and a much fresher look in the mornings.

Here are a few questions to help you decide whether you should even bother moving your mattress to a new home or whether it all points to the sensible decision of leaving it behind (or disposing of it properly) and then buying a brand-new one when you reach your new residence.

• How many years has your mattress served you? 5? 10? Do you even know?
• What is the overall condition of the mattress? Can you see any significant damage or areas that seem problematic, like caved-in, worn, or even torn spots?
• Are you waking up with back aches? Do you feel like your sleep has worsened lately? Do you happen to feel more stressed out in the mornings than usual?

If the results show that you do need to replace your old mattress, then you should take a quick look at some solid advice on how to choose the best mattress (Simple Guide for Mattress Shopping).

On the other hand, if the result of your mattress evaluation is largely positive, then you’ll know that preparing your mattress for transportation and then moving it safely will be well worth your effort and energy. And your money, of course.

You may also like to read: The Epic Guide to Decluttering for a Home Move. Deciding which items you want to pack and move to your new home and which ones to get rid of, is essential when moving home. The fewer items you move, the cheaper your moving costs will be. In this guide, we show you how to declutter every room in your home.

Now read on to discover how to pack and move a mattress.

What is the Best Way to Move a Mattress?

But before we move on to packing a mattress for a move, it’s fair to mention that the best way to move a mattress is to hire professionals to do it for you.

The thing is that when you’re getting ready to move to another house, it’s never just a single mattress that’s waiting to be well-protected and safely relocated, is it?

What about your large bed – do you have the experience and know-how to disassemble it to its main elements, protect its integral parts, and then carry them over to the moving vehicle?

You may also like to read: How to Move a Bed by Yourself. In this guide, we take an in-depth look at how to pack and move a bed safely by yourself.

And then, when you arrive at your new house or flat, who’s going to take it to its designated room and put it back together?

Regrettably, the process of moving house is far from taking only your bed and your mattress – it’s about protecting and moving tons of other household items, furniture pieces, household appliances, clothes, books, electronics – you name it.

So, what’s the real story here?

If you’re planning on hiring the services of a reputable removal company to take care of your short-distance or long-distance home move, then, all of a sudden, you will have much fewer things to worry about.

And, as you can imagine, you won’t have to worry about how your queen-size or king-size mattress will be protected (movers come with special mattress covers that prove to be very durable) and then safely carried to, loaded, and transported in a large moving van.

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving Home Yourself vs Hiring Professional Removals. In this guide, we look at the advantages and disadvantages of the different options you have for moving your things to your new home.

How to Pack a Mattress for Moving

There are several good reasons why you may choose not to resort to paying professionals to have your household items transported, including your queen-size mattress or your king-size mattress.

Besides the obvious budgetary concerns, you may decide that you can actually pull off that DIY challenge by yourself, especially if you’re moving locally and you know you can rely on a bunch of good friends to help you out.

Want to know how to pack a mattress for moving in the best possible way? Follow the packing steps below:

Step 1. Bare your mattress by removing and packing away all the sheets, covers, and pillows from your bed.

Step 2. Take out the mattress with the help of a friend as some types are very heavy to be handled by only one person.

Step 3. Take one last look at the bed part and look closer for structural damage of any kind or worrisome signs of infestation. Also, check its surface to make sure it is completely dry before you pack it.

Step 4. For best protection, you’re going to need a special mattress cover to insert your mattress into. You can buy such a mattress storage bag from a local removal company or a reputable furniture shop. Needless to say, you will have to know the exact dimensions of your mattress to get the protective bag of the right size.

Step 5. If you don’t have the time to look for a special mattress cover or you just can’t seem to find a suitable one, then you can use enough sheets of thick plastic to wrap up your mattress and protect it against dust, dirt, and moisture. If you don’t have access to thick polyethylene, then you can choose option 3 which is perfectly acceptable as well: thick blankets, either of the special types used for relocation (moving blankets) or the ones customarily found in most homes.

Step 6. Whichever packing method you choose (be mindful that a specialised mattress bag provides the best overall protection), you should use a roll of quality tape and keep the moving mattress protector in place. Do not hurry – complete this task slowly and make sure no part of your bed mattress remains exposed. In any case, do not skimp on packing or sealing tape to guarantee that the wrapping material stays tightly around the mattress structure at all times.

You may also like to read: How to Pack a Bedroom When Moving Home. This is a comprehensive guide on how to pack and move every item commonly found in a bedroom.

How to Move a Mattress by Yourself Step-by-Step

When it comes to physically moving your mattress you will need:

• Helpers. Depending on the size and weight of your mattress, you’re going to need from 1 to 2 friends, besides yourself, to be able to lift, carry, navigate, and load your bed accessory into the moving vehicle.

You may also like to read: How to Get Friends to Help You Move Home. Getting friends to help you move is easier said than done. Though they may be eager to volunteer, rarely will the full crew turn up on moving day. In this guide, we suggest ways to ask your friends for help, and how to use that help effectively on moving day.

• A moving vehicle. Saying, “No, thanks!” to the services of a furniture removal company means that you will have to arrange a moving vehicle for your bed mattress. The choice comes down to whether you will only be moving a single mattress (less likely) or whether you will be moving a score of other household items, including the mattress in question. Renting a moving van is by far your best choice (and most expensive too), borrowing a van from a friend is a good option as well, while moving a mattress on a roof rack (for example, your own car) is, by far, the least recommended way to go about completing that task.

You may also like to read: Self-Drive Removal Vans – All You Need to Know. In this guide, we look at the size of van you may need, what licenses are required to drive one, how to load a van, and how to safely drive an unfamiliar and large vehicle.

• Moving equipment. Luckily, you won’t need any special equipment, such as a moving dolly, to move a big mattress by yourself. The only pieces of hardware you will need are a protective mattress bag (see above), a roll of packing tape, and straps or rope to immobilize the bed component once it’s loaded into the vehicle.

In most cases, the cheapest way to move a mattress is to organize a self-move with a few good friends and a suitable moving vehicle. Here are the rest of the steps to bring that moving job to a successful end:

Step 7. Before you take the mattress out of the house, walk the intended path and check to make sure the way to the moving vehicle is clear – no obstacles of any type or dangerous spots that might cause slips and trips.

Step 8. Even if you’re moving a king-size mattress, you should have no problems fitting it through the doorways. Still, if things get tight, tilting the mattress at different angles or removing temporarily a door from its hinges can help you solve a potential issue.

Step 9. Tight corners, narrow hallways, and staircases are the next checkpoints where you might run into trouble. As mentioned above, you should have a good exit strategy before you lift your heavy and bulky mattress and head towards the moving van. Go extremely slowly, establish clear communication signals among your friends in case of emergencies, and remember that your safety and the safety of your helpers are more important than any material things found in a home.

You may also like to read: How to Create a Simple Floor Plan. If you are moving into an old cottage for example with very narrow stairs and low ceilings it may be a good idea to create a floor plan so that you know you can get your mattress through those tight spaces.

Step 10. When loading the mattress onto the van be extremely cautious when taking it up the loading ramp – the latter must be dry and free of debris. Keep in mind that the safest place for your mattress inside the van is against a wall. The mattress should be positioned upright or sideways unless the manufacturer’s transportation instructions say otherwise. Some types of mattresses (gel mattresses or memory foam mattresses, for example) are filled with moveable foam pieces so they must be transported lying flat.

Step 11. The final step to moving a mattress on your own is to secure it well, regardless of how you have chosen to position it. Use straps or pieces of rope to immobilise it during transit but don’t overdo it for fear of causing damage to the structural frame.

All in all, trying to move a mattress by yourself is not overly complicated and you should be able to do just fine with a bit of planning and a bit more preparation.

However, if you fall short of securing any friends to give you a hand or the entire mattress-moving affair seems too complicated for you, then it’s good to know that professional assistance is just around the corner.

You may also like to read: How to Pick a Good Removal Company. The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide. Choosing a good removal company can be a daunting task so we have created an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to picking the right removal company for your home move.