Advancing technologies and better materials have made modern mattresses ultra-comfortable and sublime to sleep on. Given that, it's natural that many desire to level up with a better mattress. However, one of the first challenges with upgrading is what to do with the old mattress.
One plausible way to get rid of it is to donate a mattress. They would not only be saved from ending up in landfills but would also prove helpful to someone else.
Here, we tell you all about how to donate a mattress.
Can You Donate a Mattress?
You can seriously think about mattress donation if your old one is lightly used or has some normal wear and tear. You can donate a mattress to charity with the help of those manufacturers and organizations who play a key role in the process.
Is Your Mattress Good Enough to Donate?
Not all mattresses can be donated. Foremost, you need to thoroughly inspect and even execute some repair work to ascertain whether you can donate your used mattress. For donation:
- The mattress should not have significant defects like holes, rips, tears, etc. You can also inspect and see if they are in miniature forms and can be repaired to look new.
- It should have working springs with functional cushioning having no extreme sags. The mattress must also be odor-free.
- Sometimes, the mattress is infected with molds or bed bugs. Try eliminating them with homemade or commercial bed bug spray. Always remember to clean any stains caused by its chemicals. If the infection is wiped out, you can consider donating it. Otherwise, you would need to resort to other mattress removal options.
- If you have a memory foam mattress, inspect for its loss of structure and texture. Any damage or breakdown would signify moisture damage or overexposure to chemicals, making it ineligible for donations.
- Finally, check on the laws of mattress donation to find out if your mattress condition qualifies for donation. The laws vary from state to state and even from one charity organization to another.
6 Ways for Mattress Donation
Once you have verified that your mattress is eligible for donation, you might ponder, ‘where can I donate a mattress?’. Here are a few suggestions that most often work.
Large Organizations
Thankfully, several national and international organizations and charitable organizations exist who takes used mattress. They only need the mattress to qualify after passing through their respective checklists. A few of them can also offer you a free mattress pickup.
A few noteworthy organizations include:
Salvation Army
Salvation Army is an international charitable body that runs charity shops and offers services to those in need in 128 countries across the U.S., U.K., and Europe. For nearby locations, they offer free-of-cost pick-up.
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI)
HFHI is an international organization with a network of warehouses across the country. It strives to offer sustainable and affordable accommodation to the needy. Even if they are not using your donated mattress, they would sell it via a ReStore Center and use the money for other charitable shelter causes.
Furniture Bank Association of America (FBA)
The FBA runs an online database or directory of poor people who need essential home furnishing items but cannot afford them. They sell these items, especially mattresses, at extremely low prices and even free, as the case may be.
With over 80 furniture banks across North America, it even arranges for a free pick-up of your mattress, provided your house is within a 15–20 miles radius of its local physical location. You can easily schedule a pick-up or drop-off using its local FBA website.
FreeCycle
It is another online network, but it doesn’t take donations. Instead, it runs a website through which you can directly donate bed or used mattresses and similar items to someone needy in your area.
For it, you need to list your mattress on your local website. People in need search by entering the location on the site. Hence, people in your locality would discover it and then take the free mattress directly. The site allows anonymous communication until you need to coordinate for the pick-up.
Local Charities
Apart from national banks and charitable organizations, you can also explore local charities as they prove highly convenient for free mattress disposal. These organizations include:
- Shelter homes for the poor, orphaned, homeless, abused women, etc. Most of them are in dire need of resources. So they gratefully accept used mattresses and any other items that you can spare. Sometimes, they even accept mattresses that big organizations reject.
- Churches and small furniture places are also excellent choices to donate used mattress. Moreover, they have far looser rules for it than reputed bodies.
The only challenge with these bodies is that you might not get a free pick-up and might need to make arrangements for dropping your mattress at these locations.
Local Furniture Banks
Similar to FBA, you can find several local furniture banks. Presently, they are spread all over the U.S, Europe, and even Australia. They can be easily located through telephone directories, yellow pages, local advertisements, or even through the local search engine.
With a much more relaxed benchmark for used mattress acceptance, you can easily donate mattresses with minimal transportation costs. They, in turn, give it to needy individuals or charitable organizations.
Social Platforms
The power of social media platforms just cannot be overestimated. In this case, too, they might prove to be your best bet while looking for places to donate a mattress. Few noteworthy platforms include:
- Craigslist
- Letgo
- Instagram, etc.
You need to post your willingness to donate a mattress in their free listing section, and you will start getting messages from interested parties. Sometimes, it might take some time, but you get genuine leads. You can then interact and arrange for mattress donations.
Classified Advertisements Sites
There are plenty of classified advertising sites available online where you can place an advertisement for mattress donation without any cost.
Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace rule the niche, and you get a maximum response here. Other noteworthy sites include online Bedtimes magazine, junk king .com, etc.
Thrift Shops
Thrift shops are another excellent place to donate mattresses. These shops take all your junk and sell it to those who need it at extremely nominal pricing. They even donate stuff to needy people who cannot pay.
A few excellent and reputed thrift shops to donate to are AMVETS Thrift Stores, Goodwill, and Habitat for Humanity.
What if You Can’t Donate a Mattress?
We now know where to donate a mattress. But what to do with a used mattress if it is so worn down that it cannot be donated? In that case, you can take either of these two options for safe mattress removal without filling the landfills.
1. Mattress Recycling
The second-best option for donating a mattress is recycling it. The process is easy, and it can also recycle tough materials like memory foam. About 80-90% of the mattress materials get effectively recycled.
For recycling, you can either recycle it yourself or trace any recycling facility near you. A few of these options include:
Earth 911
This site allows you to recycle just about every home good. You can effortlessly connect to a local recycling facility by conducting a zipcode search. Moreover, many facilities give a potential pick-up and drop facility as well.
Bye-Bye Mattress
This site also works similar to Earth 911 but is active only in California, Connecticut, and Rhode Islands. However, it is expanding quickly to other states.
Mattress Disposal
This fully licensed mattress and other furniture removal service have its footprints in every major U.S. city. They pick up and dispose of all your home junk in an eco-friendly way and at a nominal fee. However, this should be your last resort as it does not guarantee to recycle every item you donate.
City Recycling Programs
It is also available in all important cities in the U.S and even offers a pick-up facility. However, it's always best to call them and verify before donating your used mattress to them.
2. Mattress Removal
Regardless of the reason, if you cannot donate or recycle your used mattress, you can choose to go for mattress removal services.
Junk King is a shining example of it. They take just about anything from your home and recycle them or dispose of them in an eco-friendly way.
Likewise, you can choose a waste disposal service to care for your used mattress. When choosing such a company, you should investigate it, read its reviews, and select to dispose of your used mattress.
Final Words
While throwing the mattress in the trash seems easy, donating them, recycling them, or disposing of them ecologically is a much better path. This way, you not only do your part for the planet but also put your mattress to good use and help any needy person in distress.
