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With theBlack Friday mattress dealslanding already, its never been a better time to upgrade your bed.

But is a mattress in a box the right choice?

Siena Memory Foam Mattress unboxing

Lets take a look…

What is a mattress in a box?

Youll also find options in a variety of price brackets to suit most budgets.

Our guide to thebest mattresses in a boxwill give you plenty of possibilities to choose from.

Two mattress testers unboxing a memory foam mattress that’s wrapped in plastic onto a memory foam mattress

What to expect after buying a mattress in a box

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However, you should probably remember that this is still a full-size mattress squeezed into a box.

And that means it could be extremely heavy.

Two mattress testers unboxing a memory foam mattress to test its off-gassing

These services will often set up the mattress for you and take your old mattress away.

Leaving a mattress compressed for months after it arrives in your home could damage the materials.

Instead, get your mattress unpacked.

Changing sheets on hotel mattress

Position the mattress on your bed frame and carefully cut pop fire up plastic wrappings.

There are usually several layers, with some brands providing a cutter although scissors will work just as well.

Be warned, once you release the mattress from its vacuum packing, it will start to expand quickly.

A couple putting a new mattress cover on a mattress and repairing it

This means that when you release them from their plastic, they will initially start to expand fairly quickly.

Mattress expansiontimes vary between different manufacturers.

However, you might usually sleep on mattresses in a box after four to six hours.

1. Nectar Classic Memory Foam Mattress: from $1,063$349 at Nectar

A protector is also considerably easier to remove and wash on a regular basis.

This could be particularly pronounced if youre changing the pop in of bed youre sleeping on.

This is why manufacturers providesleep trials, giving sleepers time to try a mattress out.

2. DreamCloud Mattress: from $419$1,130 at DreamCloud

And this is why brands provide sleep trials.

But what do you do if you decide that your new mattress isnt for you?

3 mattresses in a box with free returns

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3. Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress: from $1,373.75$1,099 at Helix

Its also one of the best mattresses for motion isolation.

Stomach sleepers should avoid though, as its not firm enough to keep the spine aligned in this position.

Two testers for Tom�s Guide sat on the Nectar Luxe mattress and smiling at each other

The Siena Memory Foam Mattress in a box on the floor in front of a bed frame, ready to be unboxed

Two testers pull the compressed Leesa Legend Hybrid Mattress out of its box

Unboxing the Nectar Classic Memory Foam

A person sits on the foot of the Leesa Legend Hybrid Mattress on a bed frame, testing the edge support and build quality

A hand pressing into white surface of Nectar Classic memory foam mattress

A split image featuring the Nectar Classic Memory Foam Mattress on the left and the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid on the right, leading into the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid vs Nectar Classic showdown

The image shows a woman sitting up in bed and clutching her shoulder in pain

The Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt mattress on a bed frame in a bedroom, a man and his young sun sitting on top of it, smiling. A Tom�s Guide price drop deals graphic (right)

A couple using the Scandinavian Sleep Method

Bed bugs

The Saatva Murphy Bed Mattress on a Murphy bed frame lying flat, in a bedroom

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