Mattress Removal in
the DMV

The mattress, carried down and out

Most places won't take a used mattress for hygiene reasons, and leaving it at the curb isn't allowed. So we do it right: carry the mattress and box spring down the stairs and out, no elevator needed, no stair fee, with a flat price by size from a photo. That matters most in the Dupont, Adams Morgan, U Street, and Columbia Heights walk-ups, where the buildings are row houses and three-and-four-story walk-ups with no elevator and a stairwell turn that a queen box spring barely clears. Add the bed frame or the whole room and it's one number. Same-day is usually available. (DC adds sales tax; MD and VA don't tax the service.)

How mattress removal works in the DMV

How much does mattress removal cost in DC?

Flat by size, quoted from a photo. The carry-down, the drive and the disposal are already inside the number — no per-flight charge, no fuel line, no on-site re-quote.

The size ladder is simple and it doesn't hide anything: twin $111 → box spring $124 → full $126 → queen $139 → king $154. Taking the mattress and its box spring together is $192 as a set rather than $263 as two separate line items — that pairing is the single most common booking on this page. $75 minimum. Adding the frame, the headboard, or the dresser that's leaving with it? Put it all in one photo and it comes back as one flat number.

For an outside benchmark: HomeGuide's 2026 junk-removal pricing research puts 1-800-GOT-JUNK at roughly a $100–$150 minimum and College HUNKS starting from $150, both priced by truck volume and both confirmed only after an on-site estimate. Our queen is $139, quoted from a photo before anyone drives out, carry-down included. DC adds sales tax at checkout; MD and VA don't tax the service.

6 ways to get rid of a mattress in the DMV

Does Washington DC pick up mattresses?

From a row house, yes — eventually, and only if you do the carrying. DC DPW runs a free Bulk Trash Collection program, requested through 311 or at dpw.dc.gov, and a mattress and box spring can go out on it. Three limits decide whether that's actually a plan for you:

• Eligibility: the program serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer. That's it.
• Volume: up to seven items per appointment. A mattress, a box spring and a frame is already three of them.
• Exclusion: condos, co-ops and apartment buildings of four or more units are not served at all — those residents must have bulk items removed by a private, licensed hauler.

So if your bed is in a Navy Yard, NoMa, West End, Rosslyn, Ballston or Tysons building, the free program was never on the table and a licensed private hauler is the compliant route, not a convenience. And if you are in an eligible row house, the appointment is curbside and scheduled — DPW's truck stops at the street on a date they give you, which is not today. You are still the person carrying a queen box spring down three flights of a Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan walk-up and leaving it on the sidewalk until the truck comes. For anyone facing a lease deadline, a move-out day, or a new bed being delivered at 2pm, that's the gap we exist to fill: we come to the bedroom, take it off the frame, and carry it down.

Outside the District it's the same shape with different paperwork. Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County each run their own scheduled or on-call bulk programs with their own item caps and exclusions — check your jurisdiction's current rules before you plan around one. All of them are curbside, none are same-day.

What we take

• Mattresses, any size — twin, twin XL, full, queen, king and California king, foam or innerspring, carried down and out.
• Box springs & foundations — including the split-queen and split-king foundations that exist precisely because a solid one won't make a DC stairwell turn.
• Bed frames & headboards — metal, IKEA particleboard, solid wood, upholstered platform beds, canopy frames.
• Bunk beds, daybeds, futons & cribs — the kid's room and the guest room in the same trip.
• The rest of the move-out — dresser, nightstand, couch, mini-fridge, the mattress topper and the bag of bedding, all in one quote.
• Whole apartments — end-of-lease clear-outs priced as flat truck-fill instead of item by item.

What actually happens to your mattress

We'd rather be straight with you than green-wash this one. DC, Maryland and Virginia have no statewide mattress-recycling mandate — unlike California and Connecticut, there's no state-funded program guaranteeing every mattress gets torn down and recovered. Independent recyclers do operate in the region, and where one will take it, that's where it goes: the foam, the steel springs and the wood frame get separated and each stream recovered rather than buried whole. Where no recycler will accept it, the mattress is tipped responsibly at the Fairfax I-66 Transfer Station or the I-95 landfill and energy-recovery complex, or at Montgomery County's Shady Grove facility. Disposal isn't cheap here — Fairfax County's published commercial rate is about $90 a ton for FY2026 — and it's already inside your flat price.

Donation is almost never the answer for a mattress, and any hauler who tells you otherwise is guessing: Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army and Habitat ReStore all decline used mattresses on hygiene grounds. The bed frame is a different story — metal frames go to scrap, and a usable wood frame, headboard or dresser is routed to Habitat for Humanity ReStore or A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving homelessness and issues a donation receipt on request.

Walk-ups, doormen, and why the stairs are free

The walk-up belt. Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, U Street and Columbia Heights are row houses and three- and four-story walk-ups. There is no elevator to use, the stairwells turn tight at the landing, and a queen box spring is the piece that fights you. We carry it down from any floor and there is no stair fee — not on the third floor, not on the fourth.

English basements. Capitol Hill, Petworth and Brookland row houses put the guest bed down a narrow cellar stair. Same deal in reverse: we carry it up, no surcharge.

Doorman and high-rise buildings. For Navy Yard, NoMa, West End, The Wharf, Rosslyn, Ballston and Tysons we file a certificate of insurance 48–72 hours ahead naming the management company or association as additional insured and reserve the freight-elevator or loading-dock window the building requires. That's the standard across DC, Arlington and the newer Virginia towers, and it's the paperwork that gets a one-truck operator turned away at the front desk.

Historic streets. Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria and Capitol Hill mean cobblestone, narrow vintage stairs and rear-alley loading. We pad the turns and load from the alley rather than block the street.

When people call us for mattress removal

• May university move-out — the metro's biggest single wave. UMD in College Park, plus Georgetown, GWU, Howard, American and Catholic all empty in the same few weeks, and every student apartment leaves a mattress behind.
• Summer PCS season — Permanent Change of Station military moves peak in the summer across Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax, and the mattress rarely makes the household-goods allowance.
• End-of-lease turnover in the walk-ups — the Dupont, Adams Morgan and U Street landlords flipping a unit between tenants, on a deadline, with no elevator.
• A new bed arriving — the delivery crew often won't take the old one, so we schedule around the delivery window and the old set is gone the same afternoon.
• Bed bugs or a post-illness replacement — tell us in advance and we wrap and route it so nothing travels through the stairwell.
• Congressional and administration turnover — Hill staff move-outs come in bursts on the political calendar, and Capitol Hill group houses turn over all at once.

Why the DMV chooses JunkRabbit for this

• A flat price from a photo — $139 for the queen, known before anyone drives out. No volume math, no on-site estimate, no re-quote at the door.
• No stair fee, from any floor — the fourth-floor Adams Morgan walk-up costs the same as a ground-floor apartment.
• Licensed and insured, COI-ready — which matters twice in DC, where condo and 4+ unit buildings are legally required to use a private licensed hauler.
• Honest about recycling — we route to a recycler where one takes it and we say so plainly when one won't, instead of promising a mandate that doesn't exist here.
• Three jurisdictions, one crew — DC, Montgomery and Prince George's, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax, same flat pricing, no MD or VA service tax.

What mattress-removal customers say

Mattress removal questions, answered

How much does mattress removal cost in DC?

Flat by size: twin $111, full $126, queen $139, king $154, box spring $124, mattress-and-box-spring set $192. Bed frame $92, heavy frame $169, headboard $77, futon $150, daybed $120, bunk bed $165, crib $90. $75 minimum, carry-down and disposal included. DC adds sales tax; MD and VA don't tax the service.

Will DC bulk trash pick up a mattress?

From a row house, on an appointment. DC DPW bulk trash (311 / dpw.dc.gov) serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer, up to seven items per appointment. Condos, co-ops and 4+ unit buildings are excluded and must use a private licensed hauler. It's curbside and scheduled, so you're still carrying it down the walk-up stairs and waiting. MD and VA counties run their own capped programs.

Can you take it from a walk-up with no elevator?

Yes — down from any floor, no stair fee. That's the norm in Dupont, Adams Morgan, U Street and Columbia Heights, and the box spring is usually the harder half.

Is a used mattress recyclable here?

Partly. There's no DC, Maryland or Virginia statewide mattress-recycling mandate, but independent recyclers exist and we route to one where they'll take it — foam, springs and wood separated. Where they won't, it tips at Fairfax I-66 or I-95, or MoCo's Shady Grove. Donation is essentially never available for a used mattress.

Can you come same-day?

Usually, with no same-day surcharge. High-rises are the exception — the building's COI and dock rules need 48–72 hours of lead time.

Is it cheaper than 1-800-GOT-JUNK or College HUNKS?

For a single mattress, generally — and always more predictable. HomeGuide's 2026 research puts 1-800-GOT-JUNK at about a $100–$150 minimum and College HUNKS from $150, both volume-priced after an on-site estimate. Ours is $139 for a queen, from a photo, carry-down included.

Can you take the frame and headboard too?

Yes, in the same flat quote — frame $92 (heavy $169), headboard $77. Add the dresser and the rest of the bedroom to the same photo and we price the room together.

Do you handle bed bugs?

Tell us before we arrive so the crew can wrap it and plan the route out. It doesn't change the price.

Mattress removal across the DMV

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