Mattresses, Box Springs and Furniture: What Fits and What Wastes Space

Furniture and mattresses are pure volume. Nothing here is heavy enough to worry about — the entire challenge is that these items are mostly air and they refuse to pack.

Mattresses

A 10-yard trailer will take roughly six to eight mattresses laid flat and stacked, or fewer if they go in at angles.

Practical notes:

• **Lay them flat**, stacked, along the floor. A mattress on its side or wedged diagonally costs you enormous space.
• **Memory foam compresses**, so it can go under other items. Innerspring does not.
• **Wet mattresses are heavy** and they do not dry. If it has been in a flood or left outside, treat it as heavy material.
• **Some areas have mattress recycling programs.** Worth a quick check if you have several — the springs and foam are recoverable.

Box springs — the worst offender

A box spring is a wooden frame around a void, wrapped in fabric. It is essentially a large empty box, and it takes as much space as a mattress while containing almost nothing.

Break them down. Cut the fabric off, pull the frame apart, and the whole thing collapses to a stack of lumber and a bundle of cloth. That is roughly a quarter of the space it occupied intact.

On a cleanout with four box springs, that difference alone is worth an hour of work.

Sofas and sectionals

Bulky and hollow. A sofa thrown in intact occupies a large share of a small trailer.

• Remove the cushions and load them separately into voids
• Cut the fabric underneath and remove the frame if you are willing — most sofas are a light wooden frame with a lot of air
• Sectionals separate into pieces, which stack far better than the assembled unit
• Recliners are heavier and have a mechanism, but they still break down

Case goods — dressers, wardrobes, cabinets

Dressers and wardrobes are boxes containing air. Removing the drawers and loading them separately, or breaking the carcass down, recovers most of that volume.

Particle-board furniture disassembles easily and comes apart in flat panels, which stack beautifully. Solid wood is heavier and harder to break down, and it may be worth donating or selling instead.

Appliances

Most appliances are fine — washers, dryers, stoves, dishwashers, microwaves. They are also scrap metal, which may be worth separating.

The exception is anything containing refrigerant: refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and water coolers. These require refrigerant recovery before disposal and cannot go in the trailer. Our guide on tires, batteries, appliances and freon disposal covers where they go.

What to load first

1. 1Heavy, flat items on the floor — appliances, solid furniture, broken-down frames
2. 2Mattresses flat, stacked
3. 3Broken-down carcass panels and lumber along the sides
4. 4Cushions, soft goods and bagged items filling every void
5. 5Nothing above the rail

Consider donating first

Furniture in usable condition is worth an hour of effort to donate, and it reduces what you are paying to haul. Several Tampa Bay charities collect, though most will decline anything stained, damaged or with a broken frame.

For everything else, call (727) 779-8919.