Cutting a mattress in half

[KC10Chief]

Tonight, I was taking the bus back to the storage lot. Tomorrow is trash day. I spotted two mattresses on the side of the road. One king size and one full size. I got out to inspect and they are both in excellent shape! SCORE! I don't know why anybody would throw them out. Anyways, I got the full size in the bus, but there is just NO good way to get a king size mattress in a bus! It sure doesn't fit in the back door, and I had to Terry Tate this thing to get it in the front door! People were driving by looking at me like I was nuts! I want a king size bed in the back of my bus, but I don't plan to use this mattress. Instead, I plan to buy two twin size mattresses. I'm thinking that I'll take this king size mattress and cut it in half and use it for my bunks. I saw where somebody cut a foam mattress in half. This mattress has springs in the middle. I'm sure I can cut it in half, but do you think it will try to come apart? Also, this mattress is a pillow top on both sides. I was thinking about cutting one of the pillow tops off to lay across my twin mattresses so there's no seam in the middle. I don't know what to do with the full size mattress. But I loaded it up anyways and figured something might come to me. It's a pillow top too.

[phillbus914]

That was Jake VonSlatt that cut a queen mattress in half... you can read about how he did it here. http://www.vonslatt.com/bus-bunk.shtml



I was looking for a queen mattress to cut in half to make bunks out of because my twin size bunks are a little too wide. If you used cut-in-half queen bunks you could probably do bunks across from each other. With my twin bunks there's just not enough room.

I was steered away by the messieness of the project. I was picturing dust mites, dead skin and god knows what else from some strangers mattress flying around while I'm cutting it in half. I guess if you wore a good dust mask it'd be ok, plus It would make a better size bunk.

[dentarthurdent]

Not to hijack the thread, but I was wondering if anyone had every tried to repurpose the cushions from the bus seats to make bunks from? Otherwise, it looks like cutting large mattressi up is the only option for 28" wide bunks from what I've seen. Hopefully there is another option I haven't found yet.

[KC10Chief]

Well, my plans include 36" wide bunks. The mattress I have is 72" wide! Perfect! Only problem is the springs that are inside it. I'm wondering if the mattress will fly to pieces if I start cutting it in half? I guess there's only one way to find out. I'm going to go to town on it with my sawzall.

[dentarthurdent]

LOL that should be interesting to watch! I think Jake VonSlatt used foam ones so they were easy to cut. I'm looking forward to a report on how your cutting turns out.. have a fire extinguisher handy!

[KC10Chief]

HA! Well maybe I'll have my wife film it and I'll put it on YouTube. Mattress vs. Sawzall. Anyways, it's a free mattress that I found on the side of the road. If I destroy it, I haven't lost any money.

[lapeer20m]

Originally Posted by dentarthurdent

Not to hijack the thread, but I was wondering if anyone had every tried to repurpose the cushions from the bus seats to make bunks from? Otherwise, it looks like cutting large mattressi up is the only option for 28" wide bunks from what I've seen. Hopefully there is another option I haven't found yet.

as a matter of fact, we re-purposed cushions from bus seats for one bench that folded into a bed, and used the entire seats and a couple extra cushions to make a dinette that transformed into a bed as well in jacuzzi bus III.

Down position:




Up position





Here is the dinette:



transformed into sleeping mode:

[KC10Chief]

Very cool seats. Who sewed the material together for you? Do you use a sewing machine? I am planning to buy a nice industrial sewing machine after Christmas sometime.

[lapeer20m]

i added a couple photos to the above post....

anyhow, the only fabric that is sewed are the backs for the actual bus seats. All of the cushions are simply stapled to the wood on the back....i'm pretty sure. I did work in an industrial sewing shop for a year and a half when i was younger, and i still go back and sew things from time to time (ie: the tonneau cover on jacuzzi bus II) The seats in question were all done by me using a sewing machine i borrowed from my mother. Fuzzy fabric can be really messy when cut,,,there are fuzzies that float around and get caught everywhere! We set up a "sewing table" and did everything outside.

[dentarthurdent]

those are really cool seats! I suddenly have the urge to watch the Muppets...

[lapeer20m]

FYI....i didn't choose the colors, i built the bus for a client and he chose what color fabric i was to use.

[Elliot Naess]

I see that Jake used a bread knife to cut his foam mattress.

But I'll tell you what REALLY works well to cut foam rubber: an electric carving knife -- the kind with two blades that run back and forth alongside each other. Commonly used for slicing meat, turkey etc. A few bucks wherever small kitchen appliances are sold.

I'd sure be leery of any used mattress. New foam is not all that expensive. I just paid... hmmm... something around $75 for a Queen, four inches thick. To cut it in halves, I laid a sheet of plywood on top of it, which allowed me to crawl on the plywood while I cut.

[bdavis441]

Used mattresses gross me out!!! Other people's assorted dried fluids and skin cells. YUK!!!!