What is a Bed-in-a-Box Mattress?

It wasn’t too long ago that shopping for a new bed was kind of an ordeal. It meant taking a trip to a boring mattress store, hoping to find a comfortable mattress based on testing each one for just a few minutes, and then trying to figure out how to get it home. Either you strapped it to the roof of your car, hoping for the best, and then had to figure out how to get a cumbersome mattress up the stairs of your home, or you wasted an entire day waiting for the mattress store to deliver it. That all changed with the arrival of bed-in-a-box mattresses.

What is a bed-in-a-box mattress? It’s exactly what it sounds like—a mattress that comes packed in a box for easy shipment. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with these products, you might be imagining a giant cardboard wrapper even bigger than the queen-sized mattress it contains. But thanks to advancements in mattress materials, these boxes are much smaller than you’d think—usually able to be carried by one person and transported in the trunk of an average car.

So how does one fit a mattress in a box? It’s not dark arts—it’s science. A typical memory foam mattress is mostly air, which is what makes it so soft while staying relatively lightweight. The mattress maker squeezes out all of the air and vacuum seals the mattress, greatly reducing its overall volume. 

The compressed mattress is rolled up and taped shut, then put into a box. And that boxed mattress can easily be taken home from the store, or even shipped right to your doorstep. That means it can be delivered along with your normal UPS packages, so you don’t have to schedule your day around an in-person mattress delivery. 

Once you get the mattress inside of your home and removed from the box, you simply place it on top of the platform or box spring where it will be used, and carefully cut the sealed wrapping. Once the wrapping is removed, the mattress will begin to inflate itself. Within a few hours, your new mattress will be ready to give you a great night’s sleep. 

This entire process can be completed by one person. Check out the video below, which shows how easy it is to unbox a Sleep6 mattress in a box.

Concerns about bed-in-a-box mattresses

Like any idea that disrupts an established industry, buying a mattress in a box has been met with some amount of skepticism from consumers. Shoppers worry that they won’t enjoy their new mattress because of the low price and foam construction, thinking those can’t be the traits of a high-quality product. 

And they are especially apprehensive about not being able to try out these mattresses in a normal showroom setting (online mattresses in a box are rarely found in stores, with the exception of Sleep6 mattresses in the Abt furniture store).

But don’t let either of these concerns discourage you. Bed-in-a-box mattresses are crafted to compete with the big-name brands you’d see in the Abt mattress store, offering long-lasting comfort that’s backed by stellar customer service and a robust warranty.

Memory foam mattress construction has come a long way in recent years, allowing manufacturers to build surfaces that accommodate all sleeping positions and styles. By layering different densities and types of foam, online mattress brands can offer a full spectrum of mattress types: the firmness sought after by back sleepers, the support and pressure relief that’s best for side sleepers, or a medium firm style for those in between. 

If you like your mattress firm but springy, like a traditional bed, a hybrid mattress can replicate that feel. This type of mattress covers an internal layer of coil springs with a memory foam top layer to provide a unique sleeping surface—but can still be compressed and fit in a compact shipping box.

Online mattress shopping and the bed-in-a-box revolution have also changed the way consumers think about testing a mattress—a process that now takes place in the comfort of your home. When you purchase a Sleep6 mattress from Abt, you can rest easy knowing that it comes with a risk-free, 100-night trial period. If you decide it’s not the right mattress within that time period, you’ll get a full refund. 

In addition to generous sleep trials, your boxed mattress will often offer a great warranty period. Sleep6 mattresses are built to last, and backed by a 10-year warranty. These extended warranties and in-home trial periods have become the standard among nearly all online mattress brands.

And perhaps the greatest of the many benefits of online mattresses? They tend to be more affordable than traditional mattresses, thanks to a simpler construction and lower cost of shipping. 

The best mattress in a box will be one that fits your bed frame, your sleeping style, and your budget. Thanks to the wide variety of products out there, it shouldn’t be a problem finding the best mattress for you. But if you do need some assistance, please contact our specialists in the Abt mattress department by phone or chat.