Scratching your head wondering how to get rid of your old mattress? It’s not like you can just put it in the trash. Worrying about this may even be holding you back from making your new mattress purchase.
Don’t worry, I’m here to take you through 5 great options to get that old mattress out of your house so you can make way for your new dream bed. One of the options involves you not even having to lift a finger, so make sure you read on to find out about that one.
Understanding Mattress Disposal: Why It Matters
Many mattresses contain materials that can be harmful to the environment if not disposed of properly. Components like synthetic foams, flame retardants, and other chemicals can leach into soil and water, posing a threat to ecosystems.
Improper disposal methods, such as dumping in landfills or incineration, contribute to pollution and the release of harmful substances.
In addition to environmental concerns, there are health implications associated with irresponsible mattress disposal. Mattresses left in open spaces can become breeding grounds for pests and bacteria, leading to potential health hazards.
Initiatives that promote mattress recycling or reuse are much better options than dumping it.
1. Donating Your Old Mattress
Donating your mattress to a charity can be a great option. You’ll be providing a bed for someone in need and the charity will probably even come and collect it, too.
The Salvation Army is a great place to start, follow this link to find pick-up services and drop-off locations in your local area.
Other organizations that accept mattress donations include:
- Furniture bank network
- Habitat for Humanity
- Goodwill
- Vietnam Veterans of America
You could also donate your mattress to someone you know. Maybe a friend needs one for their spare room? Is your nephew off to college? You might be surprised to find out who might be grateful for it.
Your mattress will need to be in usable condition to donate it, nobody will want to sleep on it if springs are poking through or it has lots of rips or stains. To prepare your mattress for donation, give it a thorough check-over.
Are there stains, odors, or rips? Then your mattress is probably not suitable for donation. Read on for more options to get rid of your mattress. Does the mattress just have one or two sagging spots and is in overall good condition? Great! You’re ok to donate.
2. Recycling Your Mattress
If you think your mattress might not be in good enough condition to give away but still could have some use, recycling it is a great way to dispose of an old mattress. There are a couple of things you can do here:
- List it on a site such as the Freecycle Network for someone to reuse in some way
- Do what we did and deconstruct it for its parts! My husband Andrew liked the pillow top part of the mattress so he ripped it off to keep as a topper should we ever want one in the future. He then took out all the pocket coils and disposed of them at our local recycling center. You can see exactly what we did in this post here.
There are recycling programs that will reuse 99% of a mattress: the springs can be melted down and reused for other steel products, the foam can be repurposed for things like carpet, and other soft fibers can be used in furniture filling. Here are some recycling programs you might like to consider:
- Earth-911
- A Bedder World
- City Recycling Programs
3. Repurposing Your Mattress
Beyond just shunting your old mattress along to the guest bedroom or getting rid of it, there are actually a lot of creative things you can do with your old mattress.
Here are some great ideas for repurposing your old mattress from Collect Your Bed.
- Turn it into a garden bed: if you’ve got some outside space, strip all the materials away from the frame and you’re left with a perfect box for a garden bed. Fill it with soil and use it to grow veggies, or perhaps a wildflower patch to encourage bees.
- Repurpose it as a pet bed: break your old mattress down into smaller parts, put a washable cover on it and give it to your pet.
- Upholstery and craft projects: you learned earlier that mattress materials can be recycled for use in furniture and carpets. This also means you can use the foams for craft projects like cushions.
4. Profesional Removal Services
If your mattress is beyond any useful life and you think it’s time for it to be totally disposed of, your best option is to call in the professionals. Unlike the other options I’ve covered so far, this one is probably going to cost you some money.
However, it’s very convenient and saves you from having to do anything yourself. A mattress disposal service will arrange to collect the mattress at a time that is convenient for you, and take your mattress away to be disposed of or recycled responsibly.
A removal service will probably cost you around $50-80 depending on if you just need a mattress removed or you have other bedding components like box springs you also need taken away.
Some of the best nationwide (USA) “Junk” companies that can help you dispose of your mattress and bed frame if needed are:
- Load Up (my favorite for their upfront pricing and recycling of items where they can)
- 1800 Got Junk
5. Utilizing White Glove Service
By far the most stress free and easy way to dispose of a mattress is to pay for white glove service with your new mattress. This means that the company you buy your new bed from will come to your house, remove and dispose of your old mattress and set up your new one for you, all at the same time.
This means you get a totally seamless transition between your old mattress and your new one, without having to lift a finger!
This service usually starts at about $200 and not all companies offer it. Saatva is the notable exception here: when you buy a mattress from them, white glove service is included in the price.
Some of my favorite online mattresses that provide white glove service when you buy from them are:
- PlushBeds (this is a top of the line all latex mattress. These are heavy, so having someone install it for you can be extremely helpful). Read my review of PlushBeds here.
- Avocado Green Mattress (a top quality eco friendly hybrid mattress). Read my review of the Avocado here.
- Saatva: these guys actually INCLUDE white glove delivery in the purchase price of your new mattress. Can’t beat that!!
Summary
We’ve been through a wide range of ways to dispose of your old mattress. You must do this properly as just dumping a mattress or worse, burning it, is bad for your health and the environment.
If your mattress is still in an okay condition, donating it to a charity for reuse is probably the best option. If you don’t want to pay for removal then finding a recycling program or repurposing it will be what you need to do.
The top paid options are professional removal or booking a white glove service with your next mattress purchase.
