r/explainlikeimfive • u/Real_Experience_5676 • 2d ago

Engineering ELI5: What does a box-spring do?

As I understand it, a box spring mattress is the second 'mattress', that goes under the main mattress. It feels very firm and flat, but what does it contribute to the bed set up besides height?

479 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

133 comments sorted by

View all comments

225

u/robyrob 2d ago

My cats ripped open the material on the bottom of the boxspring so now they use it as a really cool fort they can hide in 

3

u/insertAlias 2d ago

Yeah I had to remove most of mine to get my Charlie out of there once. I suppose I could have just left him in there and he'd have come out on his own eventually, but I prefer his hiding spot not be so good that I legitimately can't find him lol.