How To Patch A Leak In An Air Mattress

By Philip Yiga | October 8, 2015

If you own an air-mattress, then you should know that at some point it will get a leak and actually a deflated air-mattress offers a rough night’s sleep. However, you don’t have throw away your air-mattress when it gets a leak because you can find the leak/hole on this air-mattress and patch it which is quite a simple process that can be done at home while using regular household objects coupled with a cheap patch-kit. So, I have decided to provide you with some of the steps and methods that you may use to patch a leak in an air-mattress incase it happens to get damaged.

RELATED:- What Is The Best Air Mattress

 

STEP-1: FINDING THE LEAK ON AN AIR-MATTRESS:

1. Learn that all air-mattresses lose air naturally: before deciding to strip the covers off your air-mattress in order to search for holes/leaks, you need to know to that all air-mattresses tend to lose air at some point and will always have to re-inflate your air-bed whether it has a leak or not.

2. Fully inflate an air-mattress: you will have to fully-inflate your air-mattress in order to test for any leaks and incase after several minutes your mattress quickly gets depleted, then it’s most likely to have a leak. In fact, you will need to sit on an air-mattress after inflating it and it shouldn’t sink more than 1-2 inches under your weight. additionally, if you’re not sure whether there is a leak in your mattress, then leave it inflated overnight while putting weight on it and if it’s very deflated in the morning, then it has a leak somewhere.

3. Check the valve on the air-mattress: this involves holding your hand over the valve in order to feel for any escaping air from the mattress. In fact, the valve is usually located next to air-pump and it’s used to quickly deflate the air-bed. However, the valve is a bit difficult to repair when at home.

4. Examine the air-mattress for leaks: this involves standing the mattress upon one side in quiet, huge-room in order to examine for any leaks. Make sure that your air-mattress is fully-inflated before examining it and try to move it around in order to easily search for any leaks.

5. Place your ear a few inches away from the mattress in order to listen for any hissing sounds: try placing one ear 2-3 inches away from the mattress and then slowly move it across the entire surface on the mattress while keeping close-enough in order to hear any escaping air. In case you happen to hear thin-hissing noise, then there is a leak around that section of your air-bed.

6. Wet the back of the hand and pass it over the mattress: air escaping from an air-bed will quickly evaporate the water on your hand and make it feel cooler. In fact, try to run a moistened-hand over the entire surface of the air-bed 2-3 inches away when searching for small leaks.

7. Use soapy-water over the air-bed: apply soapy-water onto your air-bed and then search for bubbles because these actually expose the leak on your air-mattress.

8. Mark the leak: circle the leak using a pen or marker before deflating your air-mattress. This will actually make it easy for you to locate and repair the leak on your air-bed.

9. Deflate and dry the air-mattress: after, finding and marking the leak, deflate the mattress and dry it if you had used the soapy-water method then repair all the leaks.

 

STEP-2: USE A PATCH-KIT:

1. Purchase a patch-kit: most outdoor-stores have patch-kits in the camping-section. These area actually small-sets that contain sandpaper, glue, patches for mattresses, tents and bike-tires. Additionally, some companies have actually manufactured air-mattress repair kits that can be found on online-stores. However, make sure that the patch-kit works on plastic and vinyl.

2. Deflate the mattress completely: air shouldn’t get under your patch because it will ruin the glue. This means that you need to deflate your air-mattress completely before patching it.

3. Sand the affected area: you will have to sand the affected area in order to remove the soft-covering so that the patch can stick well. This will be done using a wire-brush or sandpaper and try to lightly remove the soft-coating until only a plastic-surface remains around the leak.

4. Clean and dry the section around the leak: use some little isopropyl-alcohol or soapy-water to clean the leaky-area in order to get rid of any dust and debris around the hole. But remember to dry this section before patching it.

5. Cut-out the patch: after, cut-out the patch roughly 1.5 times bigger than the leak/hole because you will need ample room for covering the leak. In fact, it’s recommended to cut a patch that fits over the hole with a centimeter or more around the leak. Additionally, if the patches a pre-cut then use the one’s which provide 1-2 centimeters of space around the leak/hole.

6. Apply the patch onto the leak/hole: you will have to apply the patch according to the manufacturer’s directions. In fact, patches can either be applied like stickers or you may first apply special-glue and then attach the patch.

7. Press-down on the patch using firm and even pressure: after placing the patch onto the leak/hole, apply pressure to it for about 30-seconds in order to make sure that it’s firmly attached. In fact, use the heel of the hand to press-down on the patch against the mattress.

8. Leave the glue to dry on the patch: let the glue dry on this patch for about 2 to 3 hours and you should not inflate the mattress until the glue is completely dry for best results.

9. Inflate the mattress: re-inflate your air-mattress and then check for any other leaks/holes. You may also place the ear next to the patched-area in order to listen for any escaping-air.

 

STEP-3: PATCHING A LEAK WITHOUT A PATCH-KIT:

1. Sand the section around the leak/hole: after finding the leak, sand away the soft-layer around this leak/hole while using a wire-brush or sandpaper but do this lightly until only a plastic-layer remains around the leak/hole.

 

2. Cut-out a thin malleable plastic piece: afterwards, cut-out a circular or square-shaped thin malleable-plastic from any object like a shower-curtain. But make sure that cut-out patch is big enough to cover the leak with at least 1 extra-centimeter on every side.

 

3. Attach the patch with strong-glue: fill the patch with strong, adhesive glue and then cover the leak/hole. Press the patch using strong, even pressure so that the glue can get fully attach the patch with the leak/hole on the mattress. Additionally, smooth-out the patch using the fingers and then gently wipe-off any excess glue around the patch-edges.