Dr Neil Stanley Independent Sleep Expert
© Dr. Neil Stanley 2013-2019
Bed in a box The primary design criteria for a mattress is to provide a comfortable support for a person lying down i.e. when asleep. The mattress-in-the-box however by necessity subverts this primary criterion, because however good the mattress, the sole design criterion is, the fact that the mattress is compressible and able to be put in a box. This primary characteristic, the convenience of your mattress coming in a box, is only relevant to the consumer for approx. 15 minutes, the time it takes to accept delivery and to move the box to the bed-frame. If the mattress lasts 7 years, a very generous figure giving that there are reports of 'dipping' after just a couple of years, then the primary characteristic of a mattress-in-a-box is relevant to the consumer for only 0.00041% of the life of the mattress and absolutely 0% of the time that the mattress is used for its sole intended purpose i.e. sleeping. The primary purpose of a mattress is always going compromised if it has to be compressible, so you cannot make the best mattress, only as good a mattress as can fit in a box. This is in my view an unnecessary compromise.