How Long Can You Leave a Memory Foam Mattress in the Box?

Memory foam bed in a box mattresses are compressed to make delivery easier.

However, if you’re unable to open yours right away – perhaps due to the absence of a suitable bed frame or because you’re waiting to move house – then you might be worried that leaving it in the box rolled up for too long might lead to damage.

So how long can you leave a memory foam mattress in the box?

The exact duration that you can leave your memory foam mattress in its box varies depending on the manufacturer – with the typical range being anywhere from less than 1 week to 3 months or more. Otherwise, unbox your memory foam mattress within 3 days to avoid damaging it.

Keep reading below to find out the maximum amount of time that you can leave your memory foam mattress in its box for certain brands and the kind of damage that could occur if you go beyond this time frame.

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Unbox Your Memory Foam Mattress Within 3 Days

The best advice that I can give you here is to unpack your mattress as soon as is possible.

If you can’t, then I’d say that you should be able to leave your memory foam mattress in the box for up to 3 days without any damage occurring.

However, some manufacturers allow for a longer time frame.

I did some detective work, and I managed to find out how long you can leave a memory foam mattress in its box for a number of the most popular brands that make memory foam mattresses.

And as you can see from the table below, some brands like Zinus say that you should unbox your mattress within a week – whilst Casper will give you up to 3 months.

The rest of the brands provide varying time frames.

I found this information on the manufacturer’s websites – so I assume that it’s accurate.

However, it’s important to note that the exact amount of time may be different for hybrid and innerspring mattresses – whilst further variation may arise between models.

If in doubt, I recommend contacting the manufacturer directly for further clarification for your exact mattress.

How is a Memory Foam Mattress Compressed Into the Box?

If you’ve never ordered a bed in a box mattress before, you might be wondering what you can expect when it turns up at your door.

Well, you’ll probably be quite surprised at just how small the box is.

Because the mattress has undergone a mechanical process where it is:

1: Squashed flat using a special machine.

2: Vacuum sealed into plastic packaging.

3: Folded in half.

4: Rolled up into a neat package ready for boxing.

You can see for yourself how a bed in a box mattress is compressed and rolled up in the video below from Mattress Clarity – where filming took place inside a Brentwood Home factory.

3 Risks of Waiting Too Long to Unbox Your Mattress

The main risks of leaving your memory foam mattress in the box too long include the mattress not expanding fully, voiding the warranty, and changes to the mattresses firmness, support, and overall comfort.

More details below.

1: The Mattress Might Not Expand Fully

The biggest risk of leaving your memory foam mattress in its box for too long is that it might not expand to its full size after opening.

This is because the compression forces being applied to the mattress for an excessive amount of time may inhibit the material’s ability to fully decompress.

If your memory foam mattress isn’t expanding to its maximum capacity then see the related questions section below for a possible solution.

2: The Mattress May Become Uncomfortable

If your memory foam mattress is left in its box for too long then there’s the possibility that the foam may not feel the same.

This may cause the mattress to feel uncomfortable due to changes in the integrity of the foam that affects the firmness and how the different layers of the mattress interact and therefore feel.

For example, the upper ‘comfort’ layers of a memory foam mattress are typically made from a lower density foam relative to the higher density support core.

Prolonged compression of this lower density foam inside the box may cause the comfort layers to become thinner and/or less responsive – therefore altering how the mattress feels when you lie on it.

And the lower density layers of a memory foam mattress are naturally the most susceptible to degradation over the long term – so excessive compression my reduce the lifespan even more.

3: The Warranty Could Be Voided

It’s possible that leaving your memory foam mattress inside the box for longer than the manufacturer recommends could end up voiding the warranty in some cases.

This could be an issue both in the long term and the short term.

For example, if you have a defective mattress that wouldn’t have expanded fully anyway – you might not be able to get a replacement because the manufacturer might say that your mattress didn’t fully expand because you left it in the box for too long.

Always read through the terms of the warranty for your mattress just to be sure.

Related Questions

Here are the answers to some of the questions related to memory foam mattresses that come in a compressed box.

What If Your Memory Foam Mattress is Not Inflating Fully?

The longer that you leave your memory foam mattress in its box the longer it will probably take to expand to its full size.

If you’ve unpacked your memory foam mattress in a box correctly and it’s not expanded to its full shape and size after 72 hours then here’s what you should do:

Roll around on it slowly for 10 – 30 minutes.

The movement combined with your body heat should help the memory foam to loosen up – which may help the mattress to decompress fully.

I don’t recommend standing on the mattress because this sort of focused weight may do some damage to the memory foam such as causing indentations.

If the rolling technique hasn’t worked then sleeping on it for a few nights might do the trick.

Since it can take a few days or weeks for the memory foam to adjust to your body weight and shape anyway.

But if your mattress is nowhere near being fully expanded and you have NOT left it inside the box for longer than is recommended by the manufacturer – then you may have a defective memory foam mattress.

In such a case, you should check the warranty to see if you qualify for a replacement.

Can You Rebox a Memory Foam Mattresses?

Unless you own a machine like the one in the video I posted above – you won’t be able to compress and rebox your memory foam mattress so that it looks exactly like it did when it arrived.

But there’s another way that can get you pretty close!

You can compress your memory foam mattress up to around 1/10th of its size using a mattress vacuum bag in some cases.

This is a cheap solution that you can implement using your vacuum in conjunction with a specifically designed mattress vacuum bag that you can buy online.

Watch the video below to see how to compress and roll up your memory foam mattress using a vacuum bag so that it takes up less space:

Unpack Your Mattress Immediately

To summarise, you should unpack your memory foam mattress as soon as it’s convenient to avoid damage and decompression issues – 3 days is the longest you should leave the mattress inside the box unless you have a clear indication from the manufacturer that a longer time frame wouldn’t damage the mattress or void the warranty.

Is a Mattress in a Box Worth It?

You may be wondering if buying a memory foam mattress in a box is worth it.

Well, if you’re not going to be forced to leave the mattress in the box for longer than recommended by the manufacturer then yes – I would say that ordering a mattress in a box is worth it.

Because it will be easier to transport the rolled mattress to your room and it will be protected from damage during transit.

Click the button below to see some of the best mattresses in a box that you can buy online now.

Image Attribution and Licencing

Main image: ‘Classy Master Bedroom’ by Bulgac (Getty Images Signature) – used with permission under the terms of Canva’s One Design Use License Agreement.

Dan

Dan is the founder and head content creator at Bedroom Style Reviews.

He has been working as a professional online product reviewer since 2015 and was inspired to start this website when he ended up sleeping on a memory foam mattress that was too soft and gave him backache.

Through in-depth research and analysis, Dan’s goal with this website is to help others avoid such pitfalls by creating the best online resource for helping you find your ideal mattress, bedding, and bedroom furniture.

Dan is a qualified NVQ Level 2 Fitness Instructor with 6 years’ experience helping clients improve their health through diet, exercise, and proper sleep hygiene.

He also holds several college and university-level qualifications in health sciences, psychology, mathematics, art, and digital media creation – which helps him to publish well researched and informative product reviews as well as articles on sleep, health, wellbeing, and home decor.

Dan also has direct personal experience with insomnia, anxiety, misophonia (hypersensitivity to sounds), and pain from both acute and long-standing sporting injuries – he enjoys writing insightful articles around these subjects to help fellow sufferers of such conditions.

Learn more about Dan here.