1. The decision
… Whether to move your queen size bed or leave it behind should be made after a careful consideration of what you’ll gain and what you’ll lose by doing so.
Create a simple Win/Lose chart on a piece of paper and see where you stand IF you choose to move your bed at all.
WIN
You’ll keep the familiar feeling of coziness by continuing to sleep in the same comfy bed – habits are tough to break;
You won’t have to lose time searching for a new bed after arriving in the new home;
You won’t have to spend extra money on purchasing a high-quality bed after the move, especially if the new place comes inadequately furnished.
LOSE
You’ll need to pay for the transportation of your queen bed – sometimes it may mean spending more money than what a new bed would cost you;
You’ll spend a lot of time disassembling, packing and moving the individual bed parts – precious time you can use for something else;
You’ll miss the chance to get yourself a new bed after the move, especially if your current one is near the end of its useful life cycle.
How to get rid of things when moving
2. The plan of action…
… should be fully formed and perfectly clear in your head before you begin work on the ambitious job of moving a queen size bed alone, without the assistance of professional furniture movers.
Take a moment to decide what exactly you will do and how exactly you will do it. It should be similar to creating a mini moving checklist that will apply only to a single task – tackling your large and heavy bed like a true professional.
For best results, follow this course of action when moving a queen size bed by yourself:
Don’t start the queen bed moving operation before you have a clear plan of action in your head.
ASSESS the need to move your bed. Take into account the TIME you’ll need to prepare it for transport, to pack and to move it. Also, consider the MONEY you’ll pay to cover the transportation costs.
SECURE helpers to get the job done quickly and safely. Make sure you have at least 2 friends to help you out when moving a queen bed without professional help.
PREPARE the required packing materials beforehand to ease the process of packing your queen size bed for a move.
DISASSEMBLE the queen size bed to its main components for easier and safer packing and transportation.
PACK the disassembled bed elements to protect them during transit.
LOAD the protected bed components into a moving vehicle. Make sure you have the right size of truck to move a queen size bed. Your bed may fit into a pick-up truck but to be sure, you’ll need to measure the bed’s dimensions and compare them with the loading capacity of the vehicle you plan to use.
3. The packing materials…
… should be ready before you start disassembling your queen size bed. As you remove the main components of your bed – the bedding, mattress, headboard, and main frame, you’ll need to protect each one from the known and unknown dangers on the road.
As far as packing supplies go, you will need:
A mattress bag made of durable plastic to protect your queen size mattress during the move. Mattresses can be rather expensive so it’s important to keep yours 100% protected until it reaches its destination. A specialized mattress cover can be purchased for around $15.
Furniture blankets that are thick and large enough to provide the necessary protection for the bed elements. If you don’t have such specialized moving blankets, then ordinary household blankets should work fine as long as you don’t mind finding them dirty or maybe even damaged after the move.
Moving straps or rope to help you lift and carry the mattress and the headboard if any of them proves to be too heavy to be carried safely by hand.
Packing tape for keeping the mattress bag and furniture blankets from unwrapping during transport.
The best packing tips for moving
4. The bedding…
… should be removed and packed separately before you start disassembling your queen size bed. The good news is that bedding is relatively straightforward and easy to pack as it’s lightweight and definitely not breakable or fragile in any way.
To pack the bedding of your queen size bed, remove and pack the bedding separately before disassembling your queen size bed.
REMOVE any bed covers, comforters, quilts, duvets, blankets, sheets and pillows from your bed.
PLACE your soft bedroom items in large cardboard boxes due to the fact that bedding takes a lot of space when packed. Keep pressing down on your fluffy bed items to remove any air that may have been trapped inside the boxes. After all, the trick to packing bedding for moving is to maximize the space inside the packing boxes.
CONSIDER using vacuum seal bags to pack up the most voluminous of your bedding. After all, it’s good to use every opportunity to pack your things in a way that they take the least possible space inside the moving vehicle.
LABEL the boxes appropriately so that you can identify the bedding-filled containers quickly when you arrive in the new residence. Remember that setting up the bed will need to be one of the very first things you do after moving into a new home.
5. The mattress…
… will be the first big challenge when moving a queen size bed to another home. Queen size mattresses are huge and heavy, which also means very difficult to handle, carry and load into a moving truck.
Another possible problem when moving a mattress by yourself may be to get stuck with it while getting it through a narrow opening such as a doorway, a hallway or the building stairs.
How to move a queen mattress by yourself?
TAKE all the bedding from the bed and pack it safely as described above.
REMOVE the mattress from the bed frame and position it on the floor. This can be very tricky as some mattresses weigh more than one person can possibly handle alone.
So, don’t be alone. Use all the manpower you’ve got (at least 2 other helpers are strongly recommended) to lift the mattress safely. Also, consider using pieces of rope or moving straps to do so if the mattress does not have its own handles on the side.
SLIP the mattress into a plastic mattress bag to keep it protected from dirt and moisture on the road.
SECURE, whenever needed, the mattress bag or cover using pieces of packing tape. The idea here is to make sure that no part of the mattress will get accidentally exposed while it’s being transported between the two homes.
LOAD the protected queen size mattress into the moving vehicle – a rented moving van in the best case scenario or at least a pickup truck borrowed from a friend. Moving a queen size mattress in the back of an SUV is also possible as long as 1) the back seats are folded forward and 2) the mattress itself can be folded in half without sustaining any damage – check with the mattress manufacturer if you’re allowed to do that.
6. The disassembly…
… of your queen size bed is something you’ll just have to do once you’ve made up your mind to move that huge and heavy furniture piece all the way to the new home. It’s almost impossible to just take the huge bed as it is and load it up into the awaiting moving vehicle.
To disassemble the frame of your queen size bed, begin to disassemble your bed only if you feel confident that you can manage it on your own.
TAKE OUT any drawers from the bed frame and pack their contents separately. To do this faster, you can leave whatever items are inside and stretch-wrap the drawers as they are.
FOLLOW the assembly manual of your bed, if any, to disassemble it to its main components.
REMOVE the headboard that’s usually screwed to the main bed frame. In most cases, you’ll only need to unscrew several bolts or screws to do it safely.
REMOVE all bed elements that can be detached safely in order to better protect those parts individually. It’s especially true for ornaments or other fragile components that can easily be broken during the actual move.
WRAP all disassembled components of your queen size bed into blankets or old pieces of clothing to keep them safe during transport.
PLACE all small fastening elements such as bolts, screws, nuts, washers, etc. into sealable plastic bags for safekeeping.
7. The moving vehicle…
… is what will move your queen size bed from Point A to Point B. Now, the easiest way to move a queen bed is to hire professional furniture movers because they will disassemble the big furniture piece for you, protect it for the haul and move it inside their moving truck to wherever you want it to go.
If, for some reason or another, you’ve decided not to hire the pros to give you a hand when moving your belongings, including your bed, then you yourself are going to have to arrange for a suitable moving vehicle to get the job done.
Moving truck. Naturally, the best way to transport your disassembled queen size bed, together with the rest of your household items, is to rent a moving truck from a local truck rental agency. What size of truck do you need to move a queen size bed? Renting a 14-17 ft. truck should be the best option to relocate your big bed and the rest of the belongings you’re moving with you. Not surprisingly, those medium-size rental trucks are always in high demand.
8. The mattress-on-car-roof question…
… will most likely come up sooner or later in conversation when you’re moving a queen size bed only a short distance, say a few blocks down the road.
You are strongly advised against moving your queen size mattress on the top of your car. Trust us, it’s just too risky.
Before anything else, it’s important to understand the risks and dangers of moving a queen size mattress on the roof of a car. Even if you think you’ve secured well the bulky mattress on the top of your car, the vibrations and the wind resistance may still cause the mattress to fall off the vehicle.
And if that should ever happen, then a car accident would be very probable – a serious accident with property damage and even personal injuries are not out of the question either. If the police pulled you over, you’d most likely be fined for risky and unsafe driving.
So, you’re strongly advised NOT to move your queen mattress on the roof of your car.
However, if you’ve already decided to do it despite all the risks, dangers and warnings, make sure you follow these 3 pieces of advice:
Secure the mattress with long pieces of rope that have been looped through the back window of the driver’s side and the back window of the passenger’s side. Tie up the rope ends tightly to secure the mattress.
Test how well the mattress is secured to the car roof by pushing and pulling at the sides of the mattress as hard as you can. If the bed accessory budges even slightly, repeat the mattress fastening procedure.
Drive very slowly and avoid busy roads.
How much does it cost to hire movers?
9. The cost…
… of moving your queen size bed will determine, to a large extent, your actions. If moving your favorite bed to the new home turns out to be very expensive, then the logical choice should be to try to sell it before the move, to gift it or just to leave it behind. That is, unless that bed of yours has sentimental value for you, in which case you will be more willing to cover the relocation costs no matter how high they are. Check with Gago Movers? We’ll try to match or beat your existing quote.
10. The safety…
… should be your number one priority when moving a huge and super heavy bed between two homes – sometimes thousands of miles apart. If you are 100% confident that you can handle the tough task without professional assistance, then you must make sure you take the most critical safety measures when moving heavy furniture to another home.
Moving a queen size bed can turn out to be a real challenge. Let professional movers handle the toughest aspects of your house move.
Get helpers. As mentioned above, you’ll need to have at least two friends to give you a hand with the disassembly, packing, carrying and loading your queen size bed.
Map it out. Have a good plan of how you’re going to handle the entire bed moving operation. Walk the intended exit path and remove any obstacles along the way.
Squeeze it through. The queen size bed frame is what can prove problematic on Moving day when it comes to taking it out of your home. Take your measuring tape and check if all bed components will pass safely through all door openings and hallways.
Get dressed for success. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Wear your most comfortable shoes that will give you good traction (anti-slip soles) and protection for your feet (closed shoes) while you’re moving your queen sized bed. In most cases, sports shoes are ideal for the job. Also, wear comfortable non-baggy clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty or ruined in the process. /What to wear when moving home/
Don’t risk it! If moving your HUGE bed (Dimensions: at least 60 in x 80 in; Weight: 70 pounds without the mattress, add around 120-160 pounds for the queen size mattress) sounds like too much but you’re still taking your queen size bed no matter what, then do yourself a BIG favor and hire professional furniture movers to get the job done quickly and safely.