Here's the thing most people find out the hard way: you can't just leave a mattress at the Denver curb for regular trash. So what can you do? Recycle it, donate it if it's resellable, or have it flat-price hauled out. Here's each option, what it costs, and the city rule that rules the curb out.
Snap a photo — flat price back in seconds. A twin is $111, a queen $139.
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →Denver will not take a mattress with your regular cart trash — period. The only municipal route is Large Item Pickup, and even that comes with strings: the mattress has to be bagged and wrapped in plastic, it counts as one of your five large items, and the program only swings by about once every nine weeks. Set a loose mattress at the curb off-schedule and you're looking at a possible code violation, not a free pickup. So unlike a couch, where the city queue at least technically works, a mattress genuinely forces you to choose one of the three real options below.
Mattresses are one of the most recyclable big items there is — the steel springs, foam, and fiber all get reclaimed. Denver has dedicated recyclers like Spring Back Colorado that break them down and keep them out of the landfill, typically for a modest per-mattress fee if you drop it off. The trade-off is the same as any self-haul: you need a vehicle it fits in (a queen or king doesn't ride in a sedan), a way to strap it down, and the time to run it over. If you've got a truck and a free afternoon, it's the greenest DIY route. When we haul a mattress, we route it to recycling or donation the same way rather than defaulting to the dump.
A clean, structurally sound, relatively new mattress can sometimes be donated — but be realistic. Most thrift operations and shelters have strict rules on mattresses for hygiene reasons, many won't take them at all, and none will take one with stains, sagging, tears, or any hint of bed bugs. If it's genuinely nice, call ARC Thrift Stores, Goodwill of Colorado, or a local shelter first and ask specifically about mattresses before you load it — a wasted trip is the usual outcome when people assume. An old, worn mattress is a recycling job, not a donation.
Send a photo, get a set price — a twin is $111, a full $126, a queen $139, a king $154, a box spring $124, and a mattress-and-box-spring set $192 — and a crew carries it out from any floor. Up the basement stairs in Wash Park, down a Capitol Hill walk-up, out of a DU-area apartment on move-out day. We route it to recycling or donation, the load is tarped, and there's no Colorado sales tax on the service, so the photo-quote is the whole number. Often same-day. No wrapping in plastic, no nine-week wait, no strapping a king to your roof. See mattress removal in Denver for the full size ladder.
| Option | Cost | Speed | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular curb trash | — | — | Not allowed; possible code violation |
| Large Item Pickup | Free | Up to ~9 weeks | Must be bagged & wrapped; curbside; you carry it out |
| Recycle (Spring Back Colorado) | Small drop-off fee | An afternoon | You transport and strap it down |
| Donation | Free | Days | Resellable only; most won't take mattresses |
| JunkRabbit flat pickup | $111 (twin) – $154 (king) | Often same-day | Just book it |
JunkRabbit prices are flat and photo-quoted: twin $111, full $126, queen $139, king $154, box spring $124, mattress + box spring set $192. $75 minimum, disposal included, no Colorado sales tax on the service.