That mattress in your garage? The one you’re “definitely going to sell someday”? It’s probably already ruined. I’m sorry to tell you that, but it’s true. We all do the same dumb things.
Let me tell you about my first nice mattress. I bought it when I got my first real job. Queen-sized, pillow top, the works. Then I moved in with my girlfriend (now wife) and we had two. “We’ll store it!” I said, like an idiot. We put it in my parents’ barn. On its side. Against a wall that gets morning sun.
Big mistake. Six months later, it had a permanent lean, like the Tower of Pisa. The side facing the sun was faded and warm. The bottom smelled like hay and damp earth. It was trash. I was out eight hundred bucks.
So here’s where you, me, and everyone else goes wrong.
1. You stand it up
It feels right. It’s out of the way! But inside that mattress, the springs or foam are screaming. They’re designed to be squished from above, not pulled sideways by gravity for months on end. It’ll develop a memory. A bad one. A permanent curve.
Do this instead: Lay it flat. I know it takes up the whole floor. If your life depends on standing it, you have to flip it every single week—top to bottom, like a pancake. But that’s a hassle. Just lay it down.
2. You don’t CLEAN it
I’m not talking about changing the sheets. I’m talking about the years of sweat and skin deep in the fabric. If you store it dirty, you’re preserving a bio-hazard. My buddy’s kid spilled apple juice on his mattress. He dabbed it, thought it was fine, and put it in a plastic bag in his storage locker. When he opened it, the smell was so bad the guy at the storage place asked him if something died in there. The juice had fermented. It was sticky and sour.
Do this instead:
- Get it outside. Let the sun hit it for a whole afternoon.
- Vacuum it like you’re getting paid by the speck of dust.
- For stains, use a tiny bit of dish soap and cold water.
- The key move: Dump a ton of baking soda all over it. I mean cover it. Let it sit for a full 24 hours. This sucks the moisture and smell right out. Vacuum it all off.
- This is the most important part: IT HAS TO BE DRY. Not a little damp. Dry. Press your hand on it. If it feels cool, it’s still wet. Wait.
3. You wrap it in garbage
Literally. A black trash bag is the worst thing you can use. It doesn’t breathe. Any tiny bit of dampness gets trapped, sweats, and grows mold. A regular sheet is just a welcome mat for dust and bugs.
Do this instead: Buy the right bag. Go to the U-Haul down the street. Get a mattress storage bag. It’s made of this crinkly, white, breathable plastic. It zips up. It costs less than a movie ticket. It’s not optional. It’s the difference between a saved mattress and a lost cause.
4. You put it in a terrible place
Think about it:
- Basement: Damp. Smells like wet socks.
- Attic: Hot as hell in summer, cold as ice in winter.
- Garage: Dust, spiders, mice, and temperature swings.
Your mattress will soak up that environment like a sponge.
Do this instead: Put it in a normal, boring, indoor room. A closet. Under a bed. Somewhere the air doesn’t change much. If the only spot you have is bad, get it off the floor. Put it on wooden planks or pallets.
5. You treat it like a table
Once it’s flat, you think, “Perfect! I’ll stack my old textbooks on it.” Don’t. You’ll create permanent dents. The ghost of those textbooks will haunt your sleep.
Do this instead: Leave it empty. Store your other junk somewhere else.
Here’s my final, honest thought
You’re reading this and thinking, “My house doesn’t have a perfect, climate-controlled, empty room.” I know. Nobody’s does. We live in our houses. We don’t run museums for furniture.
That’s the whole reason I got into this business. At Bristol VA Self Storage, we see people bring in ruined mattresses all the time. They’re sad. They’re out a lot of money. Our job is to be the boring, perfect room you don’t have.
You clean it. You bag it. You bring it to us. We give you a clean, dry, locked unit where the temperature never goes crazy. Then you can actually forget about it. No worrying about rain, or mice, or that weird basement smell.
A mattress costs hundreds, sometimes thousands. A small storage unit for a few months costs way less than a new one. It’s not an expense—it’s insurance.
So stop leaning it in the garage. Do it right, or bring it to people who have a space built for it. Your back, and your bank account, will thank you later.
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