I’ve always thought there are two kinds of mattresses in the world. There are saggy, stained mattresses that are on their way to being replaced someday. These mattresses draw ire from their owners, who acknowledge they need a replacement, but for some reason are waiting it out. The other type of mattress is the dream mattress. No sag, no stains, just the right firmness—this mattress is the one you plan to keep for years to come. An owner of a dream mattress loves the bed they sleep on and wants to keep it pristine for as long as possible. They rotate the mattress as directed and may even protect it with a waterproof cover. If you’ve got one of those dream mattresses and you want it to remain in it’s dream-like state, it’s imperative that you store it properly. The key is to mimic it’s natural position by laying the mattress flat with no items resting on top. Wrap it securely in a plastic cover and secure the cover with rope or tape. While in storage, keep it at a reasonable temperature – humidity and mold are the greatest threats to the life of your mattress, so it’s important that you take the necessary precautions.
To find out more, we reached out to Mattrezzz Guys, a retailer that’s making a name for itself as an Austin favorite (check those Yelp reviews), and spoke to owners Frank and Anthony about how to properly store a mattress. This is the main reason this blog post exists. Not to point fingers, but other blog posts and websites often say to store the mattress on its side. Frank and Anthony strongly advise against it. “If you stand it up, the padding and coils can settle and the mattress will never be the same. Don’t forget, gravity’s not always our friend,” said Frank. If you intend on keeping this mattress in good shape, you’ll want to mimic its natural positioning—maybe even setting up your whole bed inside your storage space. Gravity can come into play if you leave something on top of your mattress (or you have your mattress resting on something). To avoid wear and tear, make sure nothing is weighing down your bed. The only thing that should be on the mattress and boxspring is a plastic cover.
This final layer of protection can prevent worst-case scenarios. Frank and Anthony recommend completely wrapping the mattress in plastic, be it a specially made mattress bag or stretch plastic wrap. Water damage or pests shouldn’t be a problem at most storage facilities, but the covering has a more important application as well. This prevents dust from settling into the fibers of your mattress, which can happen even in the cleanest indoor unit. You should apply the plastic wrap or mattress cover before moving to help protect it while it’s being transported. Make sure you cover the entire mattress and secure the cover with tape. While we’re on the topic of transportation, you should avoid tying your mattress down on top of your car. You’re either going to warp your mattress by tying it down too tight or ruin it having it fly off the top of your car and onto the road. You should transport your mattress protected from the elements in a covered moving truck. Note: It’s okay to transport the mattress on its side as long as you aren’t leaving it there long-term, according to Peter Cancelli of The Mattress Expert.
“If you’re storing for an extended length of time use climate-controlled storage,” Frank advised. He might have been speaking to local customers in this case, but this tip applies anywhere with a relative humidity that swings above 50 percent (hint: almost everywhere at some point in the year). Mold is a serious threat to the health of your mattress and potentially to your health, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Frank and Anthony’s final tip: If you stored your mattress for more than six months you should remove your plastic covering and let the mattress breathe for a few hours before you put your sheets on it. This should prevent any lingering odor from the plastic or the storage unit, which will help you continue to appreciate your dream mattress. Post updated by SpareFoot, 1/30/2017.Seal Tite® Mattress Bag by Sleep Tite® The Seal Tite® storage bag is an extra heavy-duty mattress bag that's perfect for protecting your mattress while in storage or transit.
The Seal Tite® bag comes with a double adhesive seal to keep out dust, moisture, bed bugs and other pests while you move or put it into storage. Use the Seal Tite® bag to safely dispose of a mattress infested with bed bugs or mold. Keep Mattress Protected In Storage/Transit Safely Dispose of an Infested Mattress Fits Any Mattress or Box Spring King/Cal King 94 x 96 Full/Queen 76 x 96 Twin/TwinXL 54 x 96 By: Jamie Dozier on Nov 15,2016 Wow, this bag is awesome! Our fluffy matress fit great. The plastic is very thick too, I was very pleased. I purposely tried to poke a hole and couldn't. There was no plastic smell either! Going to use this to store our Christmas tree now. Reply to this review By: Tanner on Nov 14,2016 Perfect fit and protection for peace of mind! This will be perfect to protect our mattress during the moving process. It seems to be very durable. It is basically the worlds largest zip-lock bag expect stronger, and with an adhesive seal instead.
The size is right, (even our thick pillow top mattress) and I don't doubt that it is waterproof, dirt proof and bug proof! After moving across the US it withstood the test and kept our mattress safe during the long drive! By: Elise on Nov 13,2016 This mattress bag is ideal for those who move a lot or just need to store their mattress for a time. It is high quality material, so you know your mattress will be protected. By: Nik on Nov 11,2016 Very durable, very large, very well sealed. This is the third sealable mattress storage bag that I have used. They have all been for my extremely heavy, latex, king-sized bed. I bought the first two from U-Haul, and it the process of moving the bed, the bag ended up destroyed, and the bed got dirty from being dragged through the hall and across the sidewalk. The heavy duty plastic on this mattress bag is much more durable than the ones I have purchased in the past and the double adhesive seal keeps the mattress bag sealed even through the rough handling involved in moving my massive mattress.
This bag is BIG. It will fit even the largest king-sized mattresses, with a huge pillow top. Because of that, it is "universal", in that you can fit any smaller sized mattress in this bag. I would recommend purchasing a smaller mattress bag for smaller beds, because all of the extra plastic makes it hard to move the mattress. One minor issue is that the bag does not have handles build in, which would have been nice for moving. On the other hand, the mattress bags that I have used in the past that did have handles ripped at the location of the handles, so maybe not having handles is a benefit after all. I received this for free as part of a product review. By: Dallas Arnell on Nov 11,2016 I should have looked for something like this earlier!!! I have rental units where I provide a twin bed to the renter. Sometimes the renter comes in with their own mattress. In those cases my mattress goes into storage. I would put tarps over them, wrap them in industrial saran wrap, anything to keep them clean.
Anyway, this bag is way easier to use and RE-USE. The 3 mil polyethylene material truly does resists rips and tears, and allows you to not worry to much about moisture of the dust of an actively used garage. By: Casey on Nov 08,2016 We have been impressed with Malouf products so we started to browse more of their products and came across this mattress bag and gave it a try for storage. It was easy to use and feels durable. It's worth it not stressing about dust and/or bug accumulated on it is storage! By: BamaN on Nov 08,2016 Perfect for storing and moving mattresses! We moved a few months ago, and our mattress held up great! We even had this covering our box springs in storage for two months, and it kept our box springs clean and in good shape all the way through the move! (We had two -- one for the box springs and one for the mattress). I highly recommend this product for anyone moving, especially long distances, or storing their mattress. By: Alisa on Nov 08,2016
So bummed we didn't get this when we moved! Our mattress got a little scuff on the side from our move and it's always there to haunt me... We have a mattress we put in the shed and used this for it and all I can say is I wish I knew about this sooner. Great product and would recommend it. By: sara on Nov 08,2016 I am so glad we used this mattress bag! We have the biggest and heaviest King sized mattress (it's latex and takes 6 people to move it). It fits perfectly in this mattress bag and is sealed up "tite" - just as the name says. The seal part is built well, especially compared to other brands we've used before. It is thick and keeps your mattress protected even when moving across country. I also love that my mattress fits well inside the protector. By: JoyM on Nov 07,2016 This mattress storage bag is perfect for protecting an unused mattress! It is a nice heavy bag that has a sticky strip across to seal it tight, keeping dust and bugs out. Plenty of room to slide the mattress inside.
Great product to keep that stored mattress clean and nice! Heavy, Durable storage bag By: Murdolph on Nov 04,2016 I have a twin sized mattress in storage waiting for my kid to get old enough to use it and this storage bag is perfect for my situation.I have a twin sized mattress in storage waiting for my kid to get old enough to use it and this storage bag is perfect for my situation. I live just a few miles east of the middle of nowhere and we are always finding spiders around our house, with this bag I don't have to worry about them making their tiny hammocks in the mattress. Maybe someday my kid will thank me for it. I got the twin size and it was plenty big enough, it might have even fit a smaller box spring in there with it if I had tried. By: AmyB on Nov 04,2016 I'm very pleased with this plastic mattress cover. We are storing extra mattress in our unfinished basement and this is great for keeping them safe. The bag is thick and heavy and great for keeping out pesky bugs.