Few things in life are quite as irritating as a bed frame that squeaks whenever you move, even slightly. If you're a light sleeper, the noise can be enough to prevent you from getting a proper night's sleep. Squeaky beds can be caused by a variety of things; it could be the mattress, the box springs, or the frame itself. This article will help anyone with a squeaking metal bed to confirm the culprit and then offer some suggestions for how to stop a squeaky metal bed frame.

Confirming the culprit

If you already know for sure that your frame is the issue, you can skip this section. However, it's worth noting that several things can cause a bed to squeak, and even if a bed doesn't have a metal frame, it will have metal components that can start squeaking seemingly out of nowhere. To fix a squeaky metal bed frame, you'll need to remove all the other parts of the bed so you can access the entire bed frame, so you might as well check each part as you remove it.

Mattresses, box springs, and sometimes even headboards can all be responsible for a squeaky bed. As you remove each of these components from your bed, lay them on the floor and lie or stand on them and move around to apply pressure and see if it makes a noise. Once you're left with just the metal frame, see if you can make it squeak and hone in on the exact spot that the noise is coming from.

Yellow Metal Bed Frame

Product: Belmont Bed

How to stop a squeaky metal bed frame

Pinning down the precise cause of a squeaky frame can be difficult, which means you might need to try a few different methods before you find one that fixes the issue. However, these solutions should either eliminate the problem or at least reduce it until you find a permanent solution.

1. Lubricants

If you can see evidence of rust or ageing on a squeaky metal bed frame, especially on or around the joints, applying some WD-40 or a similar lubricant might fix the problem immediately. If your frame looks fine, but you think the squeaking is coming from the joints, it is worth applying some lubricant to them anyway.

Most metal furniture will suffer from some degree of rust or erosion as it gets older. If your bed frame is relatively old, you might want to consider replacing it.

If you don't have any WD40 around, there are several DIY solutions you can try instead. Most types of wax, including candle wax, can offer a temporary solution. Simply apply the wax to the affected area the same way you would with WD40. You will need to use several coats, and this will only be a temporary fix. A professional-grade lubricant will provide a more reliable and longer-term solution.

2. Use more padding

In some cases, hard mattresses can cause metal bed frames to squeak. Softer mattresses absorb your movements more than hard mattresses do. Sometimes, having a hard mattress on a metal bed frame will cause the frame to squeak if the user moves around on it too much. If this is the case, you might find that when you strip your bed down to the frame, you're unable to replicate the noise you've been hearing. That's because it results from the mattress and the bed together.

If you prefer a harder mattress, try placing some kind of padding between your mattress and your bed frame. You can buy foam bed padding for this specific purpose, but you could try using clothes or linens first to confirm that more padding would help.

3. Tighten loose joints

Loose joints are another common cause of squeaky beds. Don't assume that just because there are no visible signs of any of the joints being loose that this isn't the cause. On most bed frames, tightening the bolts on any joints shouldn't be difficult or require any special tools. You could also try adding new washers to sit between the metal frame and the bolt, which will reduce the load on the bolt and can stop the joint from squeaking. If the washers are old or not fitted properly, they might be responsible for the noises you're hearing.

4. Add pads to the frame's feet

It might be that the squeaking noise you're hearing isn't coming from your bed frame itself but its feet rubbing against your floor. Furniture pads are cheap and easy to apply. Even if this doesn't solve your squeaking issue, furniture pads can help with a lot of other unwanted noises while also protecting your floor.

Antique Wooden Bed

Product: Newport Wooden Bed

Are metal bed frames more prone to squeaking?

A bed that's been properly manufactured and assembled should never squeak. And a squeaky frame is not a problem that's unique to metal frames. Even beds made from foam will usually contain metal components. It's not just metal components that squeak either; wooden components can squeak if they're dusty, dirty, rusty, or just old.

However, cheaper beds that are manufactured to lower standards or with inferior materials are more prone to squeaking and are more prone to problems as they age. There are lots of reasons why you shouldn't skimp when buying a bed or mattress, one of which is that cheap metal beds are much more likely to start squeaking. Even if you can stop the squeaking for a while, it's virtually guaranteed to come back in the future.

Endurance Beds offers a range of bespoke metal beds that are built to last and constructed from wrought iron. All our beds are constructed by experienced professionals to a premium standard. Contact us today to find out more about our products and what we have to offer.

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