Moving House? How to Store Your Mattress the Right Way
Mattresses are routinely ruined in storage, and almost always the same way: stood on their side in a garage for three months. It seems sensible, since it takes up less floor space, but it's one of the single most damaging things you can do to one.
Storing a mattress properly isn't complicated, but the rules are specific and most of them run against instinct. Here's what to do, and why each step matters.
Store It Flat, Not on Its Side
This is the rule that matters most. A mattress is engineered to distribute weight across its horizontal surface, and every layer inside, springs, foams, fillings, is built to work in that orientation. Stand it on its side for weeks and gravity pulls those layers downward against a structure that was never designed to resist it.
The result is filling that migrates, edges that lose their shape and support that never fully recovers. We ask customers to store our Cot Bed Mattress flat until it's needed for this reason, and our guarantee terms specifically cover mattresses being handled improperly, including storing them on their side. Moving a mattress on its edge between rooms or into a van is necessary and fine. Leaving it that way for weeks is what causes damage, so keep any time on its side to a minimum.
Clean It and Let It Dry Completely
Whatever goes into storage is what comes out, only worse. Vacuum the whole mattress, including the sides, using an upholstery attachment. Deal with any stains before it goes away rather than after, since months in storage sets them permanently.
Then, and this is the part people rush, let it dry completely. Any residual moisture, from cleaning or simply from a humid room, becomes mould in a sealed environment. Give it several hours in a warm, well-ventilated room before wrapping. If you've spot-cleaned, leave it longer than you think necessary. A mattress that goes into storage even slightly damp will smell when it comes out, and that smell doesn't leave.
Wrap It, But Let It Breathe
Wrapping protects against dust, dirt and pests, so it's worth doing. What you wrap it in matters, though. A tightly sealed plastic cover traps any moisture inside with the mattress, which is exactly the condition mold needs.
Use a breathable mattress storage bag if you can, or cover it with cotton sheets or a breathable cover for a shorter storage period. If plastic is all you have, don't seal it airtight, and leave some airflow.
Never attempt to re-compress or roll a Simba mattress once it has expanded. While they arrive vacuum-packed from our factory using specialist industrial machinery, re-compressing them at home will crush the Aerocoil® spring layers and void your guarantee.
Choose the Right Place
Where you store it matters as much as how. You want somewhere dry, temperature-stable and clean. Damp is the main enemy, so an unheated garage, a shed or a cellar are all poor choices, since temperature swings cause condensation and condensation causes mold.
A spare room, a loft that's insulated and dry, or a proper climate-controlled storage unit are all far better. If you must use a garage, get the mattress off the concrete floor onto pallets or battens, since concrete draws moisture upwards, and keep it away from external walls. Wherever it goes, don't stack anything heavy on top, because sustained weight compresses the comfort layers unevenly and leaves impressions you can't remove.
Getting It There
Transport is where most physical damage occurs. Don't fold or bend a mattress unless it's specifically designed for it, since folding a sprung or structured foam mattress can damage the internal layers permanently, even if it looks fine afterwards.
Use the handles if it has them, and note that handles are for positioning rather than carrying the full weight. Ours feature four heavy-duty side handles to help position it safely.
Get a second person, because a deep hybrid mattress is genuinely heavy, and dragging one on your own is how covers end up torn. Wrap it before it goes into the van, not after it's been slid across a driveway.
Bringing It Back
Unwrap it as soon as it arrives rather than leaving it bagged, and lay it flat in a well-ventilated room for several hours before using it. If it's picked up any storage smell, airing usually resolves it, and a light vacuum helps.
Give it time to settle, and be patient with it. A mattress that's been stored may feel slightly different for the first few nights while the layers recover their shape, which is normal. If it's been compressed or stored on its side for a long period and has developed a permanent dip or lost edge support, that's not something airing will fix, which is the practical argument for storing it properly in the first place. Using a practical mattress protector both before and after storage keeps the surface clean throughout, and ours are made to fit mattresses up to 40cm deep with bound edges that hold securely.
How Long Are You Actually Storing It For?
The right approach depends heavily on duration, and people tend to plan for a fortnight and end up storing something for eight months. For a week or two between houses, the requirements are modest: clean, dry, wrapped, flat, indoors and out of the way. Very little can go wrong in that time.
Beyond a month, everything tightens up. Breathability becomes the priority rather than a nice-to-have, because that's the timescale on which trapped moisture turns into mould. Location matters far more, since a damp garage that's harmless for a fortnight becomes genuinely destructive over a winter. And it's worth checking on it periodically rather than sealing it away and forgetting, since a quick look every month or two catches damp or pests while they're still fixable.
For anything approaching a year, be honest about whether storage is worth it at all. Between the cost of a storage unit and the risk of damage, keeping an ageing mattress in storage for a year often costs more than it's worth, particularly if it was already several years old when it went in. A mattress with two or three years of life left in it is worth storing carefully. One that was nearing replacement anyway is usually better recycled, and we offer collection and recycling of any brand or size for a small fee.
FAQs
Flat, always, for anything beyond brief handling. A mattress is built to distribute weight horizontally, and storing it on its side lets the internal layers sag and migrate under gravity. It can permanently affect support and edge shape, and may affect your guarantee.
It's a poor choice, since garages are prone to damp and temperature swings, and both cause condensation and mold. If there's no alternative, raise it off the concrete floor onto pallets, keep it away from external walls, and wrap it in something breathable rather than sealed plastic.
In something breathable, such as a proper mattress storage bag or cotton sheets. Avoid sealing it in airtight plastic, which traps moisture against the mattress and encourages mold. Make sure it's completely clean and fully dry before wrapping.
Not unless it's specifically designed for it. Folding a sprung or structured foam mattress can permanently damage the internal layers, and long-term compression does the same. Roll-packing suits mattresses built to ship that way, not ones already opened and expanded.
Unwrap it immediately, lay it flat in a well-ventilated room and let it air for several hours or longer, then vacuum the surface. Airing resolves most storage odours. Prevention is far easier: store it completely dry, in a breathable cover, somewhere that isn't damp.
