How to Rotate a Mattress

Co-authored by Kadi Dulude

Last Updated: August 16, 2024 References

In the past, mattresses needed to be rotated and flipped regularly to prevent sagging in the areas you sleep on the most. Recent innovations in mattress design have mostly removed the need for flipping newer mattresses, but rotating can still help prolong its life.^{[1]
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Research source} Doing this on your own can be cumbersome and difficult, but with a few tricks and techniques, you won't have to worry about buying a new mattress for a good long while.

Part 1

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Caring for Your Mattress Consistently and Safely

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1
Check your mattress instructions. Your mattress, especially if it is new, might not need you to flip it at all. In this case, clear directions on the mattress tag will state something along the lines of "Do not flip" or "No flipping required."^{[2]
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Research source} Mattresses without this direction should be flipped and rotated for best results.
- Some mattresses have a "pillow-top" on one side. Usually, these mattresses aren't intended to be flipped, but can be rotated.^{[3]
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  Research source} In some cases, the pillow-top of your mattress may not be uniform. Check the directions of pillow-top mattresses carefully; some might not require rotation.
- If you have torn the tag from your mattress, or if the tag was somehow pulled free from it at some point, you should look up your mattress care instructions online. Type the name, manufacturer, and size of your mattress into an online search engine to find your care instructions.
2
Make rotation and flipping reminders, if necessary. Depending on the kind of mattress you have and its manufacturer, you may only need to rotate your bed twice a year.^{[4]
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Research source} Other mattresses may require you to follow a more regular schedule, like rotating every three months.^{[5]
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Research source} But it can be difficult to remember which way your mattress needs to be rotated/flipped. Reminders will help! Take your pen and an index card and:
- Write the name of the month you plan to rotate your mattress at the top of your card.
- For a mattress that requires flipping and rotating, turn your card upside down so the month you wrote at the top is now at the bottom of the card. Then write the month three months after the first month you wrote.
- Take your second index card and write the name of the month three months after the second month you wrote along the top.
- For a mattress that requires flipping and rotating, turn your card upside down so the third month you wrote is now at the bottom of the card. Write the next month three months after the third month.
- For example, on your first card you could have "March" at the top and "June" at the bottom and upside down. Your second card, in this case, would have "September" at the top and "December" at the bottom and upside down.
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Attach your reminders to your bed. This will help you to remember which side needs to be rotated or flipped when the time comes. Take your safety pins and attach one card to the head of your bed and the other to the foot. A pin apiece should be enough to keep your reminders in place, but two pins will give your card greater stability and prevent it from catching on your sheets.^{[6]
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- You might also want to mark these dates on your calendar, put an alert in your phone, or use an online calendar service to keep track of your mattress maintenance.
4
Clear the area of breakable items. Rotating and potentially flipping your mattress can be an awkward endeavor. You might lose your hold of it while re-positioning, causing it to flop this way and that. While it's unlikely your mattress will do serious damage to you or sturdy objects, like a nightstand or dresser, more fragile items may be damaged.
- Move lamps, heaters, knick-knacks on your nightstand, cups, glasses, clocks, wall hangings, and other breakable items out of the way before flipping or rotating.
- You should also move stationary objects that might get in the way while flipping the mattress, or might be a hazard while flipping. For example, you might want to scoot your nightstand out of the way a little bit so you don't bump your toe on it while reorienting your mattress.^{[7]
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This is especially important if you don't have a headboard or some kind of buffer between your bed and the wall. While rotating and flipping your mattress, you could jostle the frame of your bed into the wall, causing damage to it. To prevent damaging your wall, you might want to slide your bed a short distance away from the walls.

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Prolonging the Life of Your Mattress

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If you need to flip your mattress while rotating it, bedding and sheets will get pinned beneath your bed. Even if you only need to rotate, sheets can get tangled, catch on your bed frame, or make it difficult for you to get a grip on your mattress. Strip your bed before doing either to make your job as easy as possible.
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Position your mattress. Pull your mattress away from the headboard, wall, or the head of your bed frame, if possible. Some four poster beds, beds with footboards, and large mattress beds, like king sized ones, may require you to first lift the bottom of the mattress to pull it away from the headboard and rest on the footboard. This position will allow you to most easily helicopter your mattress around on your box spring or frame. Then grasp your mattress by one corner, lift up slightly, and drag it so the bottom faces either the left or the right side.
- Check the sides of your mattress for handles. Some mattresses include side handles to make maneuvering and transportation easier.
- You can rotate your mattress to whatever side is most convenient. Your end goal is to re-position the foot of your bed so it becomes the head.
- Recenter your mattress after you have pointed the bottom to either the left or the right. The starting head and foot of your bed should be hanging off the left and right sides now, with the mattress roughly in the middle of your box springs or frame.
- King and Queen sized mattresses may be hard to maneuver with just one corner. If you have a bed this size or larger, you will likely have the easiest time rotating your mattress by propping it on the head- or footboard and sliding it a little at a time until the foot and head of the mattress are pointing off to the sides.
- You should not prop and pivot your mattress on your head- or footboard if either have sharp angles that might catch on your mattress or if these are not stable. In this case, offset your mattress by pushing one corner of the foot of the mattress inward with respect to the frame and one corner of the head of the mattress outward. The resulting orientation should be offset and tilted on an angle.^{[8]
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Complete your rotation. Grasp your mattress again by the corner and begin sliding it so the bottom takes its new place at the head of the bed. Once your bed is mostly in position, you can make small adjustments until it is completely centered, unless you need to flip your mattress. Once your mattress is rotated, flip-needing mattresses will have to be turned over.
- The size of king mattresses makes these prone to developing a hump in the middle. Thanks to the fact that these mattresses are mostly square, you can prevent this hump from forming by only rotating these mattresses 90-degrees and not finishing the rotation.
- Except for king size mattress, your bed should now be oriented normally, with its long side running from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed. The head and foot of your mattress should now be in exchanged positions.^{[9]
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Flip your mattress, if necessary. Pull your mattress to either side of your bed so that about half of it hangs off your box springs or frame. Take the overhanging side and lift it until your mattress is standing straight up. Then lower the tall end to the opposite side of the bed. End-over-end flipping can be done similarly; pull and prop your mattress on the head- footboard and then raise the overhanging side and lower it until the bottom of the mattress takes the place of the top.
- Generally, you should flip your mattress alternating between side-to-side flipping and end-over-end flipping unless your mattress tag/instructions indicate otherwise.
- After flipping your mattress, it should overhang the opposite side of the bed. However, at this point it is rotated and flipped. All you need to do is push your mattress into place on your box spring or frame and you're done.

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Question

How do you get air out of a new mattress?

Kadi Dulude
House Cleaning Professional
Kadi Dulude is a House Cleaning Professional and the Owner of Wizard of Homes, a New York City-based cleaning company. Kadi has over 10 years of experience and manages a team of over 90 registered cleaning professionals. Her cleaning advice has been featured in Architectural Digest and New York Magazine.

Kadi Dulude

House Cleaning Professional

Expert Answer

Don't put sheets and bedding on it right away. Let it air out for a while by leaning it against a wall or something. New mattresses tend to have odd odors and if you put bedding on it right away anyway, so letting it air out is a win-win.

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How do I flip a mattress on the bottom bunk?

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You'd probably have to take the mattress out and onto the floor, flip it, and then put it back on the bed.

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Is it better to rotate a mattress than flip it?

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It's better to rotate newer mattresses than older ones. Older ones must be flipped.

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Tips

Moving large or heavy mattresses can be difficult on your own. You may want to recruit a friend to help rotate your mattress to make your job easier.

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Warnings

Rotating a mattress can cause strain that might lead to lower back injury. Do not do jerky movements, lift with your legs, and rotate with caution. If done properly, you should complete the task without injury.

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Bending a mattress too much or failing to follow rotation/flipping instructions can lead to damage to your bed.

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If you are a heavier individual that sleeps in roughly the same spot every night, you'll want to rotate and flip your mattress more regularly.^{[10]
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