One of the best things about the revolutionary bed-in-a-box industry is that most customers no longer have to struggle to get a full-sized mattress through the doorway, past narrow hallways and up the stairs.
Online mattresses today come in a compact box that’s smaller than the box your fridge came in. Getting it inside is a breeze.
Setting up the mattress is just as easy. See my blog post on how to set up a bed-in-a-box in a box mattress in less than 15 minutes.
But have you ever wondered how they manage to get such a big mattress to fit into such a small box? Does it damage the mattress? Can all types mattresses be compressed into a box or is it only some?
I’ll answer all those questions in this post.
How The Mattress Gets Into the Box
This is a video of a Dromma Bed memory foam mattress getting packed into a box using a large automated machine.
Most bed-in-a-box mattresses are packed using the same process.
The first step is compressing the mattress into less than half its thickness using a powerful hydraulic press. This makes folding and rolling it up much easier.
The machine then folds the mattress in half and rolls it up into a cylinder. All that’s left now is to pack the rolled up mattress into a box.
But doesn’t this damage the mattress?
Not at all. Mattress foams, especially memory foam, are incredibly resilient. They can be pressed down and regain their shape many times over.
If they did not have this ability, your mattress would only last a few months before it sags hopelessly out of shape.
Every morning when you wake up, the foam goes back to its original flat shape. Of course it can only recover so many times.
That’s why mattresses have lifespans of around 10 years (longer for innerspring mattresses).
When you unbox the new mattress and unroll it over your bed, it immediately begins to expand to its normal height. This takes a while.
You can sleep on the mattress after an hour or so but it takes around a couple of days for the mattress to regain its full size.
The only concern of shipping the mattresses this way is off-gassing. These mattresses are usually packed into a tight box immediately after they are manufactured. That ‘fresh foam’ smell doesn’t get a chance to dissipate.
That’s why most bed-in-a-box mattresses tend to have slightly more off-gassing than other mattresses though it fades away in a few days.
But rest assured that compressing it does not cause any permanent deterioration or reduce its lifespan…unless it’s a spring mattress.
Can Innerspring Mattresses be Compressed?
Usually, no. Innerspring mattresses are often delivered as they are with just protective packaging around them.
This is because trying to compress the mattress would warp and bend the innersprings, causing permanent damage. Unlike memory or latex foam, pocketed coils can’t bounce back after being bent.
So if you are planning to buy an innerspring mattress, make sure it can get through the doorway and up the stairs.
If you are afraid that it will not fit, check whether the company offers the option of split mattresses. This is usually only possible with Queen and King sizes. You may have to pay extra for a split mattress.
I’d also recommend paying for white glove delivery. The mattress will be delivered and set up for you. Trying to carry a heavy spring mattress to the bedroom is a lot of work even for two people.
What are The Advantages of Compressing a Mattress into a Box?
You might be wondering what’s the point to all this. Can’t they just delivery the mattress the good old way?
It’s all about logistics and saving money.
Compressed mattresses take less space and are easier and faster to ship to customers.
Companies also spend less on shipping boxed mattresses and the savings are passed down to customers in form of free delivery and cheaper mattress prices.
It also makes things so much easier for customers. You don’t have to lug a heavy full-sized mattress up the stairs. Just carry the box inside and unbox the mattress right on the bed.
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Hi! We’re new to online mattress buying and especially to this ‘bed-in-a-box’ thing. It’s understood that all foam beds can be packed this way, but we cannot believe or accept that this method would not damage the coils of a hybrid! How is it possible to fully compact and ROLL a mattress with steel springs and not damage or at least compromise the structural integrity of those coils?? Something like this would seriously degrade and reduce the lifespan of the bed, which are usually short as it is.
Please help us to understand, as it seems no one sells beds ‘flat’ any longer. 🙂
Great question!
Yes, we thought the same thing at first. But it’s not a problem. Compressing coil spring mattresses into a box doesn’t harm the mattress at all.
This is partly because the foam layers insulate the coils from total compression and partly because the kind of steel they use does not permanently deform under packing pressure.
In my case the coils were damaged by whatever process was on used to roll the mattress up. Also the manufacturer did not put the rolled up mattress in a box They just wrapped it with heavy duty plastic wrap allowing weaker areas of the wrapping to give way. When the wrapping was removed many springs were bent and the mattress did not return to it’s normal shape