How to Fix a Hole in An Air Mattress Without a Patch?

Your trips for weekends won’t be dull if you have an air mattress in the car. Therefore, it has become a perfect choice for camping in the US now. But what if you find a hole in it in the middle of the journey or home on holiday! What if you don’t have the patch kits with you once you accidentally put your mattress on sharp objects!

No worries. You can do it with some tolls around you! Here you will know how to fix a hole in an air mattress without a patch kit. Also, all about the techniques to find the holes. Take a look!

Can You Find Leak in Air Mattress without Filling it with Water?

Submerging technique to find leakage or hole needs a pool to do it effectively. But there are some other indoor and outdoor methods available for you to do it. They are,

Find Leak in Air Mattress

Ear and hand test

Ears are more sensitive than your eyes. Therefore, using ears will be more efficient than visual inspection. All you have to do is inflate the air mattress entirely with a breath or air gun and put it into an airtight room.

Then, listen to the mattress top to bottom and mark the places where the air is coming out. Also, you can use your hand for it. But please wash your hand with cold water first so that you can feel the air instantly.

Ear and hand test

Garden hose test

You can use your garden hose to detect the hole in the air mattress. Therefore, you have to ensure you have enough time for it as it’s a slow process. First, you have to inflate the mattress full and put it on a table.

Garden hose test

Then, use the hose with standard water pressure on the surface. If there is a hole, air bubbles will come out when the water sprinkles on it. After that, mark the bubble spot with a permanent marker and go for another one.

Spray bottle test

It is pretty similar to the garden hose method. Here, you have to use liquid soapy water and water mixture into the spray bottle and spray it on the air mattress. If there is a hole, the soapy bubbles will show up eventually. In contrast with a garden hose, you can use this method indoors and in a much quicker way.

Tissue paper and powder test

This is quite a messy but effective method. If you can’t use the methods above and have plenty of time, you can use tissue paper to find the hole. You have to put tissue papers in every section of the inflated mattress.

Then, put pressure on the corners of the mattress. The tissue will fly off if there is a hole under it as the air comes out. Also, you can use powder for it, like baby powder. But there will be a cloudy situation if you do it in a closed room.

How to Fix a Hole in An Air Mattress Without a Patch Kit?

Can’t find the patch kit to fix a hole in your mattress? Are there any home remedies for it? These questions are apparent when it happens in times like midnight or stormy day. Therefore, we have found some solutions to fix the hole without any patch kit. Here they are,

How to Fix a Hole in An Air Mattress Without a patch kit

Nail polish

Nail polish can be creative in many ways for fixing holes, especially transparent ones. Therefore, you can fix your air mattress holes with it in just a few minutes. But the coating will work temporarily when there is regular inflation and deflation of air. Here is the process-

  • Complete inspecting the holes and mark them up.
  • Scrub the spots if your mattress has an extra layer of plastic material coating.
  • Apply it on the holes as much as you need but in thin layers. Therefore, we will prefer 5-8times can provide thick film on the puncture.
  • Wait at least an hour before using to emphasize the thickness of nail polish coating.

Bicycle repair kit

Notably, fixing the pinhole of your air mattress is pretty similar to fixing a puncture of a tire. So, if you have the bicycle repair kit, you can fix any hole in your air mattress. Here is what you need to do-

Bicycle repair kit

  • Find the holes and rub them lightly with sandpaper if it’s in the flocked area of the mattress.
  • Cut some pieces of rubber bicycle tire patch. Then, add some contact cement glue on them and put on the holes. Here, you have to do it so that the hole remains in the middle of the patch.
  • When the patch dries up with hot glue, dab it gently against the hole. It will ensure excellent sealing on the mattress.
  • Wait for 2-3 minutes to go for another hole. Therefore, you can start with the upper body first and end with the sides more efficiently.

DIY patch

Don’t have any kits on the house? Your new shower curtain can be an intelligent patch to fix holes in an air mattress if you know the trick. Here is the material you will need to make your DIY patch,

  • Old shower curtain or thin tarpaulin.
  • Super glue or gorilla glue.
  • Cool iron.
  • Hot glue

First off, you have to cut the curtain or tarpaulin into pieces, not above 2 cm. Then, you have to make it dust-free by cleaning and warm it up. Also, you have to flatten the pieces with a cool iron. After that, this procedure-

  • Put the strong glue on the pieces and make sure it covers the whole circular area. Also, you can use Evo-stick for it if it’s available.
  • Dab it on the mattress with enough pressure on it so that no air bubbles show up.
  • Try it smooth the patch out and wait for at least 4-5minutes to dry the patch up.

DIY patch

Goop glue

If you have done DIY projects, you will be familiar with marine goop glue. Specifically, the glue is waterproof and UV resistant sealant. So, it will give you the best quality coating on holes, especially for air mattresses for heavy person. Here is the process to use it,

  • Find the holes and mark a circle around them. Also, wear a rubber glove before using the glue.
  • Apply the glue on the marked area and make it rough with thin layers. Therefore, you can use a toothbrush to make the sealing perfect.
  • Follow the manufacturer’s guide and keep it untouched until it’s dry. Therefore, we will suggest you wait at least a day.
  • If you use glue, wipe off excess glue once you’ve repaired the air leak in your leaky air mattress before you dry it out and start inflating with an air pump.

If you can’t find any of these materials, you can seal the hole with duct tape. But you must do it with a more significant piece and cover at least 2-4 inches around the hole. It will seal the air temporarily as regular use will quickly loosen the glue of the tape.

In Conclusion

Now you know How to Fix a Hole in An Air Mattress Without a Patch, using simple steps that starts with finding the air mattress leak. You have to follow the tips given in the manufacturer’s guide of the bed apart from following the guides without using an air mattress patch kit. Keeping an air mattress repair kit in your disposal is a great thing for easy repair. Also, you have to be careful to maintain the pressure on the surface of the mattress. Otherwise, the methods provided won’t last for long.

So, start fixing with home remedies now!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top