I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a really
bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep sleep to
announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job turned out to be
swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one at the daughter's
house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy bases never quite fit
in the back of an estate car both at once, and mattresses are ridiculously
heavy and have a mind of their own, particularly on stairs where they are
very floppy, and at tight restrictions where they inexplicably become so
stiff that they won't bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a
peculiar ability to scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short' sides
of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides so that you
can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to moving one from
A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and then there is nothing
other than the piping around the edge of it, to grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I don't
recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone know of a
'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

A lot of modern ones don't even have handles on the long sides!

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

A lot of modern ones don't even have handles on the long sides!

I come close to de-bollocking myself every time I "turn" our mattress.
According to RTFM it don't require turning; but I do it anyway.

On 24/02/2013 15:53, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

A lot of modern ones don't even have handles on the long sides!


Tie two pieces of rope around the matress either sideways or longways
tight enough to stop them slipping but will still allow your hand
through to grip it....thats your handles positioned where you want them.

On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?
--
David

On 24/02/2013 16:07, ss wrote:


Tie two pieces of rope around the matress either sideways or longways
tight enough to stop them slipping but will still allow your hand
through to grip it....thats your handles positioned where you want them.

Use webbing, if possible. Even making an extra loop so as to making
grabbing it easier. Some of the fairly inexpensive aldidl things with
appropriate hooks/things would probably do a decent job of it - but not
sure if they are long enough?

--
Rod

In article ,
Lobster wrote:

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?

They're not for carrying - they're for moving the mattress, when you
make the bed, esp. if it's against a wall. You remember making beds,
don't you? (I barely do: mine's been made for me, since I got
married....)

J.

In article , davidlobsterpot601
@hotmail.com says...

On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?

Just to be annoying, our mattress _has_ handles on all four sides.
Mind you, the d@mn thing is also twice as heavy as any we've previously
had.

Incidentally, was there any good reason for swapping these two beds?

I.E. Good enough to justify the slog involved?

--
Sam

Arfa Daily wrote:
I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short' sides
of a mattress?

Similarly, why don't fridges, washing machines, etc., have handles on
the side? They are moved just as frequently as pianos, yet they have
handles on the side.

JGH

On 24/02/2013 16:55, Lobster wrote:
On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?

How tall are you? :-)



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

No, but given a foldable mattress, I make up a rope noose, role it up
and truss it like a turkey. then its far more civilised to pick up and
carry via the ropes. The trick seems to be to put a loop in the end of
the rope, and then another some way along it so you can double the free
end back through both and get a neat 3:1 mechanical advantage.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 24/02/2013 15:53, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

A lot of modern ones don't even have handles on the long sides!

Probably why the professional movers have special bags to zip them up
into first that have handles all round.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep sleep
to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job turned out
to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one at the
daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy bases
never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and mattresses
are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own, particularly on
stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight restrictions where they
inexplicably become so stiff that they won't bend. Also, for something so
soft, they have a peculiar ability to scratch any wall that they pass
within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides so
that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and then
there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to grab hold
of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I don't
recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone know of
a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Its hard to do given the weight involved and the strength of the sides.

I have seen it done on one single mattress.

Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

The handles are for turning the mattress, not moving it.

--
AC

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?
--
David


Like a suitcase ? Blimey, you must have long legs ... ! :-)

Arfa

"Sam Plusnet" wrote in message
...
In article , davidlobsterpot601
@hotmail.com says...

On 24/02/2013 15:40, Arfa Daily wrote:

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the
hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

I'd assumed it was so you can carry them 'vertically', eg up and down
stairs, like a suitcase. If you're carrying then horizontally, you can
just hold the sides of the mattress?

Just to be annoying, our mattress _has_ handles on all four sides.
Mind you, the d@mn thing is also twice as heavy as any we've previously
had.

Incidentally, was there any good reason for swapping these two beds?

I.E. Good enough to justify the slog involved?

--
Sam


Well, the missus thought so ... Basically, they bought a cheap bed when
they got married, as you do. Now, a few years later, it's clapped out, and
she was moaning about it on the phone, and saying that they couldn't afford
a new one. So, big-hearted missus says "Never mind. The one in our spare
room hardly ever gets slept in, so you have that one, and we'll put your one
back in there just in case ..."

I didn't think that it was a good enough reason, and didn't really see why
we should end up with the ****ty end of the stick - and I said so. As you
can imagine, that went down like a lead balloon, and just resulted in me
getting called a miserable old sod, but hey-ho. I don't really care ...

Arfa

"AC" wrote in message ...
Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm not a morning person in the first place, and the day got off to a
really bad start when this morning, the missus awoke me from a deep
sleep to announce "Come on. Get up. We've got a job to do !" The job
turned out to be swapping the bed in one of our spare bedrooms for one
at the daughter's house. Now I have always loathed moving beds. The boxy
bases never quite fit in the back of an estate car both at once, and
mattresses are ridiculously heavy and have a mind of their own,
particularly on stairs where they are very floppy, and at tight
restrictions where they inexplicably become so stiff that they won't
bend. Also, for something so soft, they have a peculiar ability to
scratch any wall that they pass within a foot of ...

But this all aside, once again as I got involved with moving the hateful
thing, I had to wonder WTF they don't stitch handles onto the 'short'
sides of a mattress ? It's all very nice having them on the long sides
so that you can position the mattress on the base, but when it comes to
moving one from A to B, the only sensible way is with it upright, and
then there is nothing other than the piping around the edge of it, to
grab hold of.

I've been moving the bloody things for more than 40 years now, and I
don't recall ever having seen one with handles on the ends. Does anyone
know of a 'real' practical reason for this ?

Arfa

The handles are for turning the mattress, not moving it.

--
AC


Which is what I said, didn't I ... ??

Arfa