How can I keep my mattress topper on top of my mattress?

August 24, 2006 2:32 PM

My girlfriend recently purchased a foam mattress topper, for our extra-firm hand-me-down queen mattress. It currently resides between the fitted sheet and the mattress, but it creeps down the bed, night by night. The bed doesn't have a footboard, and the mattress topper ends up sagging off the bottom of the bed, and not reaching to where your head goes.

This has become an irritation of mine. On a possibly related note, all of our covers end up falling off the bottom of the bed. The bed was free, but is the only solution a different bed with a larger footboard? Is that a solution?

posted by adamwolf to home & garden (12 comments total)

Does your girlfriend use a mattress pad (as distinct from a topper)? If not, even a simple cotton or cotton/poly blend pad over the mattress might reduce the slippage factor, since the topper won't be against the slick surface of the mattress.
posted by scody at 2:40 PM on August 24, 2006

I seem to recall seeing corner-elastics at the dollar store that are made to hold loose fitted sheets better. They make triangle shapes at the corners. Pulling the fitted sheet tighter should hold the topper in place.

Also, duct tape solves many problems, you could tape the corners down.
posted by cathoo at 2:47 PM on August 24, 2006

You might find some answers here.
posted by willnot at 2:48 PM on August 24, 2006

I just solved this problem last week with those little suspender-type thingies you strap to each corner of the fitted sheet - it makes the sheet fit very tightly and kind of traps the topper so it can't move. Works like a charm.
posted by tristeza at 2:50 PM on August 24, 2006

What about one of those thin, rubbery mats that they put under rugs or between futons and the frame to keep them from sliding around. You could put it between the foam and the bed.

As for the covers...I can't stand a head- or footboard, so I have neither. My covers stay more or less put even though I thrash around a lot. I do have full size covers on my queen size bed because I don't like them hanging off so much. Maybe that's it.
posted by sevenless at 2:50 PM on August 24, 2006

VELCRO TAPE.
posted by luriete at 2:51 PM on August 24, 2006

Thirding the little suspender-type thingies. They were the only thing that kept stuff in place on my waterbed.

(It was the eighties. Back off.)
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 6:19 PM on August 24, 2006

i like garnet hill's mattress covers. you could get one, put the mattress topper over it and then put a fitted sheet over that to hold it in place.
posted by sdn at 8:37 PM on August 24, 2006

If you don't mind using tape, try carpet tape -- it's white, strongly adhesive, and sticky on both sides. I used it to keep slipcovers in place. I use spray adhesive for the same purpose, and you might like that even better than tape. Available at craft and photo stores.

As for the covers falling off the foot of the bed, hospital corners keep the bottom several inches of sheets and blankets where they're supposed to be. Tuck the sheets and blankets in at the foot of the bed, and then do the remaining hospital corners steps on all of them at once...not each one separately.
posted by wryly at 11:18 PM on August 24, 2006

This doesn't eliminate slippage entirely, but putting a fitted sheet on the bare mattress, then the mattress topper, then another fitted sheet helps.
posted by 10ch at 4:55 AM on August 25, 2006

Two fitted sheets works for me. Keeps my loose feather bed from slipping. It slipped all over the place before.
posted by lampoil at 5:02 AM on August 25, 2006

What about one of those thin, rubbery mats that they put under rugs or between futons and the frame to keep them from sliding around.

Another vote for this solution.
posted by deborah at 8:09 AM on August 25, 2006