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An air mattress is an inflatable sleeping pad. It is also called “lilo” or “readybed” in some countries like the UK. When we are out camping in a jungle, we can’t think of a night without an air mattress. It is such a handy thing to make it small and pack in our bags without taking much space. If you are interested of finding the best air mattress then you are in the right place. But in this blog, we’re trying to let you know that, how to fix a hole in an air mattress with super glue.
Most air mattresses are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or textile-reinforced urethane plastic or rubber. That’s why when there is a hole in the mattress (which is very common), Super Glue works perfectly.
You don’t need to carry a mattress toolkit with you. Just having a superglue should suffice. However, the article describes the easiest ways of fixing an air mattress with super glue.
Unfortunately, if you find the hole big enough, the superglue technique might not work. Buy real duct tape. Either get the 3M brand or the military “100 miles an hour” tape or clean the area with some alcohol.
Cut some tape about 1” bigger than the hole. Apply the tape without getting any dirt or oil on it. You can do this by cutting it a little large and trimming the part you touched. Smooth out any bubbles.
To check whether it worked or not, you can follow the same steps you followed in small holes—mix water and soap in a bowl.
Spray or spread it all over the mattress. And observe whether there are any bubbles or not because the air will always try to escape through the whole. You can also leave the mattress for 4 to 5 hours to see whether it deflates or not.
If that doesn’t work, you will need those big air mattress repair kits. They sell air mattress repair kits, and these gave plastic with the proper glue. Larger sporting goods sirs will have these. But duct has saved many camping trips.
How the Mattress Leaks
Finding a leak in an air mattress is very common. While air mattresses are soft and cozy, they can be leaked very easily with little stones or pins on the grounds.
It may happen in the middle of the night while you are sleeping just because of some rocks. If you, however, have super glue, you don’t need to worry.
How to Fix a Hole in an Air Mattress with Super Glue
Fixing the hole of your air mattress is very simple using super glue. You just have to know some tricks for doing so. You may want to follow the steps correctly.
Otherwise, you will find it impossible to sleep on your mattress at night. Before jumping onto the steps, bear in mind that this process takes some time.
Even if super glue works fast enough, you may not take risks and give it enough time to get dried and test. The steps for fixing the hole include:
Finding the Leaks
Your mattress may have one or more leaks. It doesn’t matter because the process will be the same for all of them—however, the size of the holes matter.
As long as they are small leaks, you should be fine. However, for this step, you will need three things:
- Sponge
- Soap
- Water
First, inflate the mattress as much as you can. Next, make a mixture of soap and water. Finally, take a sponge and dunk it in the mix.
Then, spread the mixture all over the mattress. Observe any bubbles popping up. This scenario is the same as the moments when you make bubbles with chewing gums in your mouth.
If there is any bubble, don’t just watch. Go ahead and mark the place where you saw the bubble, not miss pointing out any holes. Keep doing so until any bubbles are popping up. Now, you know the locations of the holes.
Clean the Surface
You may need sandpaper for this step. Sand away the surface gently. Continue it until the exterior of the mattress feels smooth enough.
That is a crucial step because the adherence to the patch with the mattress depends on this step. The patches will not stick properly if the surface is dirty.
Prepare the Patch
You can use a plastic cover as a patch. If that is not available, you can use the tire as a patch. Cut the patch accordingly so that the size of the patch is neither too big nor too small.
You may want to wash and dry it before using it to get the best output.
Gluing the Holes
It is one of the most sensitive steps. You can work on one hole at a time or work on multiple holes together, whatever you wish.
If you work on one leakage at a time, figure out that hole. Then, before starting gluing, do deflate the whole mattress fully.
Some people only use glue, while some use both the patch and glue. If you go for the only glue option, take super glue and squeeze the gel into the hole.
However, if you use both patch and glue, you should apply the glue around the hole and in the patch.
Put a Weight
You can rely on your super glue, but it is not the best idea all the time (mainly when you use a patch with glue to fix it).
Use a weight; it can be anything – a brick, piles of books or stones, or heavy metals. Though super glue dries fast, you should give it a couple of hours to dry to avoid risks.
Testing it Out
You are almost done. Now, it is time to test the mattress. You can follow the same methods you used for pointing out a hole.
Moreover, you can also wait a couple of hours after inflating the mattress. Then, if it doesn’t deflate, it means you are good to go. If not, you can repeat the steps, but this time more carefully.
If you have multiple holes in your matrix, you have to redo the tasks mentioned above step by step.
What If the Holes are Big?
Unfortunately, if you find the hole big enough, the superglue technique might not work. Buy real duct tape. Either get the 3M brand or the military “100 miles an hour” tape or clean the area with some alcohol.
Cut some tape about 1” bigger than the hole. Apply the tape without getting any dirt or oil on it. You can do this by cutting it a little large and trimming the part you touched. Smooth out any bubbles.
To check whether it worked or not, you can follow the same steps you followed in small holes—mix water and soap in a bowl.
Spray or spread it all over the mattress. And observe whether there are any bubbles or not because the air will always try to escape through the whole. You can also leave the mattress for 4 to 5 hours to see whether it deflates or not.
If that doesn’t work, you will need those big air mattress repair kits. They sell air mattress repair kits, and these gave plastic with the proper glue. Larger sporting goods sirs will have these. But duct has saved many camping trips.
Key Suggestions
Super glue is meant to join two very exactly fitting edges. If you only glue the edges of the tear together, you’re putting a lot of faith in whatever glue you’re using.
Using a patch on top of the tear, you’re increasing the area that is glued together, your chances of not waking up to a wet bed with hundreds of gallons of water spraying out into your home.
Most plastic glues work by partially melting the plastic to which they are applied. When you put a patch over the tear, leaving a generous margin around the tear itself, the plastic of the patch and the plastic of the bed both melt a bit at the surface and, when the curing is done, it is as if it was one piece of plastic.
Follow the instructions strictly, don’t get in a hurry, and try to use the bed before the glue is fully set according to the label instructions.
Final Words:
It would be best to check your matrix ahead of time. In that way, you don’t have to find the holes in the dark at night, which will be very challenging.
Since you know how to fix the leaks in your mattress, you will not need to throw it away and repair those holes. So whether you are on a camping trip or planning one, you should know these little hacks for emergency cases.