How to Fix a Leaking Air Bed

Air bed mattress are a quick and easy way to set up a room in case you suddenly have guests staying over for the night. They start at a price around from $15.00 and go up over $150.00 each. Some have a vinyl top covering while others a soft velour top cover. But what’s one to do if the air bed mattress has a tiny hole in the bed that causes the bed to deflate quickly when the bed is in use? What if it’s in the middle of the night and you don’t want to rush out to the store at that moment? Two items lying around the house can help not only delay the air leak, but stop it — if done correctly.

First experience with trying to fix the air mattress was with a car leather kit I had bought since it had the same type of patch pieces that the airbed originally came with. Unfortunately to this day I still do not understand why the airbed company “MainStays” which is marketed by Wal*Mart, does not include enough patches in case the bed has more than one hole or has a large air leak. After spending $7+ dollars on the car leather patch kit, the hole was covered but a few weeks later the air bed had yet another small hole. Spending each time for a patch at around $7+ seemed too pricey.

Two items that many household have lying around is a bottle of SuperGlue Liquid and a plastic CD sleeve case. If you don’t have a bottle of Superglue, it’s fairly inexpensive. Stores such as BigLots sell them as a single for under a dollar a bottle. Perhaps you bought the CD sleeve case to organize your cds but ended up leaving them all over the place instead. If the CD case isn’t getting any use, why not use it to fix up your air bed or other inflatable items. Now there are two types of CD sleeve plastics, one is the thin inexpensive style and the other is a more thick, durable plastic. If you have the thin plastic lined for the CD sleeve, it won’t work for the bed.

Next find out where the air holes are by inflating the bed and not only looking but listening to where the air is leaking. Also run your hand around about 1-2 inches above from the surface of the bed to fill where the air is coming from. You can try using dish washing detergent and run it over the air bed if you are still having a hard time finding holes. Make sure the bed is full of air to see bubbles appear at the sight of the hole. Once you have found the leak, mark where it is so you won’t lose the spot(s). If the bed is used for personal use, you may want to use a permanent marker to mark the spots. Next cut either with a utility knife or scissors a big enough patch from the thick CD sleeve plastic to cover the hole. After carefully apply enough glue to both the bed’s leaking hole and the plastic. Ensure enough glue is not only over the hole but around the hole. If there is any leaking around the hole, glue and material around it can ensure air won’t be able to escape. Have the plastic pressed down flat so the end result won’t be half the plastic hard and crusty and up from the bed’s surface. Now wait while pressing firmly down to bond both materials. Hold for about 5 minutes and then gently remove your hand from the patch.

Make sure to work quickly as SuperGlue can dry rather quickly. Also it’s a good idea to wear safety goggles when using SuperGlue as it can seal not only fingers but cause eye irritation when the item is too close to the face. Work in a well ventilated area. This procedure was done on a velour covered air bed. It may work differently on your bed. This isn’t the most attractive way to fix an airbed but haven’t had any problems after fixing it with this manner. Try this method at your own risk.