The worse time to find out that your air mattress on has spring a leak is when you are sleeping on it.
I found that out twice this month in two different places with two different air mattresses – lucky me!
Fortunately, it is very easy to patch a hole in an air mattress. The slightly more difficult thing is to find the hole in the air mattress or at least it was for me, since the hole in my barely three month old air mattress was a tiny pinhole.
How to Find the Hole in a Leaky Air Mattress or Pool Float
There are at least three ways to find the leak in an inflatable mattress or float:
1. Spray sections of an inflated air mattress with a mixture of water and foamy soap (dish washing liquid, shampoo, liquid laundry detergent, etc.) Push on the area with your hand, if you see the soap forming bubbles, you have found the hole/leak!
2. Instead of using a spray bottle, run a wet soapy sponge over areas of the inflatable mattress. Push on the area with your hand, if you see the soap forming bubbles, you have found the hole/leak!
3. Cover an area of the inflated float or air mattress with wet, soapy water. Submerge the section of the float in water (I used my bathtub.) Push on the area with your hand, if you see the soap forming bubbles, you have found the hole/leak!
Once I found the teensy tiny pin prick of a hole, I marked the area with chalk. Now it’s time to patch the leak.
How to Patch a Hole in an Inflatable Mattress
Once you’ve located the hole in the inflatable, it’s a very simple repair. If your inflatable came with a patch you’re halfway there. If not, y need to buy a bike tire patch kit like this one which is much cheaper than buying a new air mattress – especially if it’s a fancy one with a built in air pump! (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)
1. Locate the leak.
2. If desired, lightly scuff the leaking area with fine grain sand paper or scuffer that came with your bike tire patch kit. One came in my tire patch kit and I figured why not? Otherwise I probably would have skipped this step if I could have found the patches that came with my air mattress.
3. Put the patch on top of the hole/leak to seal it. The patches in my tire patch kit came with adhesive backs but didn’t stick very well because the hole in my mattress is on the curved side of my air mattress. I added my favorite stick to every surface and forever glue E6000 (you can learn more about E6000 glue here) to the back of tire patch, stuck the patch to the area on the deflated mattress, and let the glue dry overnight under a heavy object (the tool box were I keep my E6000.)
4. The following day, I inflated the air mattress and checked it at the end of the day. The patch held, the leak is fixed, and the air mattress stayed inflated - yay! Just in time for holiday guest season.
Looking for more overnight guest, camping, and inflatable air mattress gear and ideas? Check out the following options - and more! - below!
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