An Expert’s Guide: Setting Up Your Bed In A Box Mattress
An Expert’s Guide: Setting Up Your Bed In A Box Mattress
Buying your first bed in a box mattress is actually pretty cool, and setting them up is even more fun. Keeping a few tips and pointers in mind can make the process easier, protect your investment, and insure that you’re doing it right.
After you’ve order your online mattress and you’re patiently waiting for your UPS or FedEx to show up at your door with your new bed, you can get a few things ready in the background so that when your mattress arrives, the process will go smoothly.
First be aware that your driver is not obligated to do anything more than get the box to your door in most cases. If you’ve paid for full service setup, which some online mattress companies offer, then you’ve pretty much got to stay out of the way while the crew does its job.
In most cases, though, your delivery is going to be what is called “curbside” or “to the door”. The box will not be brought across the threshold of your home, and with the Corvid-19 pandemic still in play for the time being, drivers are generally doing touches drop off, and may not even require a signature.
If you’re at work when the box is delivered, let us reassure you that as a mattress manufacturer for 15 years, we delivered tens of thousands of bed in a box packages and not one was ever stolen from a porch. The reason is that the boxes are heavy, weighing typically 80-150 pounds.
Not to worry though, most people can actually handle the job of getting a box inside their home, if you are on ground level, very easily, though a partner can make a big difference. If you ordered a queen or king size mattress, there are some techniques you can use to make the process much easier.
If you live in a walkup and have an elevator, the process is the same and involves dragging the box by slightly tipping it, placing a bowl under the edge, and pulling it along into the elevator and into your apartment. Getting it across the threshold of your front door is that same, simply waddling it by tipping it edge to edge, and placing a large towel to slide the box along, as you get it into your bedroom area.
If your bedroom is tight and you don’t have a lot of work area, we recommend unboxing in your living room or another room that has a wider perimeter to you’re not knocking over lamps and all of your prized collectible art pieces.
First, begin by lying the box down, flat and lengthwise, on the floor. Get a sharp knife. preferably a box cutter, retractable glad knife, or razor. Open the lid of the box on either end, and watch carefully what you are cutting. Pull away the cardboard lid to cut slowly, making sure you’re not catching any fabric or even plastic at this point.
Remember that damage to the fabric exterior of your mattress is not covered under the warranty if you slice, cut, tear, gouge, or damage the fabric in any way. It essentially voids the warranty on the outer encasement component of the mattress, so take your time.
Once you’ve opened the box, slowly pull out the rolled mattress by one end and drag it out. You might have your helper pull the box from the other end, in the event that there is some suction between the sleeved mattress and the box interior. Opening the opposite end of the box can help with this issue as well.
Pull the sealed cylindrical and compressed mattress out of the box and haul it into your bedroom and place it on top of your platform, your solid top foundation, or your adjustable base. Place the rolled mattress in the center of the base piece, and use the knife to being to cut away the plastic sleeve.
To do this, you should lift the plastic away from the mattress itself, taking extreme care to go slowly and make sure you are cutting away the plastic and not incising into the fabric.
Generally, and for good reason, most bed in a box mattresses are rolled face up, so that the outside of the packaged mattress after rolling, is actually the underside of the mattress. In the event that you do make a small nick on the underside of the mattress, it’s not anywhere near as bad as damaging the top quilted side of your bed.
Will your mattress explode open, blasting across your bedroom, destroying everything in its path? No. Actually, as the mattress begins to take on air, you will notice a fairly quick expansion process, but it’s not explosive. As the mattress takes on air, it will unfurl on its own, and you can simply pull away the rest of the mattress, and move it into position.
Once you have the mattress setup as you like it, walk away from it and let it take on air and fully expand overnight. If you can’t manage an overnight expansion, then give it at least four hours. This allows all of the foam layers, some of which may be laminated together, to take on air efficiently.
Some foam layers expand slower than others and jumping on a mattress immediately after opening the box could potentially cause small tears or rips in the foam. Also, you want the mattress to ventilate for a few hours too, because there are likely some factory fumes and other odors, which are harmless, that need to be flushed out by the circulation in your environment.
Air conditioning, or even opening a window on a nice sunny day will allow atmospheric ozone to contribute to that process. Do not spray Febriz or other odor removal compounds on your mattress. It may remove some of the fabric protection materials that are provided with your outer covering on your mattress.
After your mattress has fully expanded, you can install your mattress protector. If you don’t have one, stop immediately and either order one online, or head to Bed, Bath, and Beyond or a Wal-Mart and buy one. A mattress protector is the best investment you can make to insure that your mattress remains undamaged. Liquid damage is not covered under ANY mattress warranty, and if you have a trial period, it will be voided immediately by spilling any liquid on the mattress at all.
Install your sheets and bed covering as you like them and enjoy. For a list of Trusted Mattress dealers that we recommend, check out our carefully vetted handful of online mattress retailers.
