The great news is that cleaning an air mattress is very simple to do. To start cleaning your air mattress, you will need a few things that we list below.
- Water
- All Purpose Cleaner
- Scrub Brush
- Simple Green
You may not need all of these supplies to clean an air mattress depending on how dirty your it is.
First Thing
The first thing you want to do is get the air mattress out and lay it in the sun. The sun is great at cleaning things like mold and allows it to freshen up.
The role that the sun plays is that it stretches and relaxes the vinyl which makes cleaning the pores of the material a little easier. Make sure to do this on a warm sunny day.
Cleaning Steps
Once you get the air mattress outside and laid out, make sure to have all your garden hose and other cleaning supplies ready to get to work. You may find it easier to clean the air mattress if it’s inflated or partially inflated. If the air mattress contains any electricals like an air pump – either remove them or don’t wash it as the electrical parts can get damaged from cleaning.
Above all else, follow your cleaning directions for your mattress. They’re usually printed on the mattress or in the instruction manual.
Here is the method I use to clean my simple vinyl air mattresses…
- Wet the entire air mattress with the garden hose. Makes sure to have the air mattress on a solid area like concrete so you don’t get mud and grass on your air mattress.
- Once the air mattress is all nice and wet, get a bottle of diluted Simple Green and a cotton rag and start to clean the entire vinyl air mattress.
- If you don’t have Simple Green, then an All Purpose Cleaner will work just avoid the ones with bleach in them.
- Make sure to rinse often; you don’t want the chemicals to sit for too long.
- Once you have clean the entire area, give the air mattress once over again with the hose.
- Allow the air mattress to dry in the sun.
I like to lean the mattress against the wall to allow it dry quicker.
To learn more about Simple Green and Vinyl cleaning click here.
Remove Mold from Air Mattress
If your mattress has mold (black spots) on the outside, then it can be easily removed with Mildew Remover.* I know all over the internet you might find people saying to use Rubbing Alcohol but you want to avoid using Rubbing Alcohol on Vinyl as it can ruin it.
This is why I recommend Mildew Remover as it’s safe to use on most Vinyls, and it works (just make sure your air mattress is made of vinyl before using). Rubbing Alcohol can be a miss and does more damage in the long run.
Just spot clean with the Mildew Remover and often rinse to remove any mold on an Air Mattress.
You can use Vinegar and Water mix if you want a Natural Cleaner that helps get rid of mold. Plus Vinegar is the safest approach for cleaning anything.
Mold Inside Air Mattress
If you have mold inside of your air mattress then honestly its time to throw that one away. I could tell you ways to remove the mold from the inside, but most involve chemicals that are too reactive to mess with and would be too dangerous to inflate or even sleep on.
Plus, mold on the inside of an Air Mattress is rare and only seen in old and worn out air mattresses. The bright side is that Air Mattress are affordable, especially when you look at the ones sold online.
Drying Air Mattress
It’s best to avoid placing your Air Mattress in the Washing Machine or the Dryer. Especially the dryer!
The dryer can damage the materials of the air mattress and it could also damage your washer or dryer too. It’s best to wash these things outside with the garden hose and let the sun air dry it.
Avoid Stains and Mold
The reason why Air Mattresses get dirty and mold are because they come in contact with water. That water can be urine, sweat, or moisture in the air.
To avoid this mess it’s best to place a Mattress Encasement like this one on the mattress when guest sleep on it.
Once done its best to keep the air mattress in a sealed box or case to repel the dust and moisture out. Doing this will maintain the mattress in good shape for years.