What to Do With Your Old Mattress

You’ve signed the receipt and now your new mattress will be ready in a few short weeks.  Delivered to your front door and set up by professionals. You can’t wait to jump into a bed made of the softest cotton and stuffed by experts with your choice of material (premiere horse hair, anyone?) Like goldilocks, you searched and searched. This mattress was too firm, this mattress was too soft. So when you found the perfect mattress and worked with a Gardner Mattress associate, you were able to create a mattress that’s just right and literally made for you. 

You can’t wait to get cozy in the dreamiest bed and you might even go pick up some new luxe sheets with a high thread count just to make the whole experience even more magical. But once you get home, you realize you forgot an important step: what are you going to do with your old mattress?

We’re happy to tell you, you have a few options for your old mattress!

1. Haul Away Services 

Did you know that many companies offer haul away services for mattresses? When you buy a mattress, many stores will offer this service for a low cost, or even for free. 

For Gardner Mattress customers, the team is here to help to facilitate the recycling of your old mattress for just $20 per item. 

2. Donate

If your mattress is in really good condition and is unstained, donating it is a great option. A number of different charities within Massachusetts are looking for donations. Check with local charities, shelters, veteran’s organizations, domestic violence prevention centers, and churches.

3. Sell

Selling your mattress is a great option especially if it’s high quality, in good condition, and you might be able to offset the cost. Everyone has heard of Craigslist and it is still a good place to post a listing to sell the mattress. 

Another option is Facebook Marketplace which is currently booming with new listings every day. While that could mean a bit of competition, you’ll be able to get offers left and right. 

If selling it isn’t something you’d like to do, you can also post on these websites that the mattress is for free and the buyer will only have to pick it up from the designated location. Of course, always make sure to stay safe and use caution when buying or selling items online. 

4. Recycle

Recycling your mattress is an option! Your city or town might have a specific process or vendors who can come to pick up a mattress from your location. Throughout Massachusetts there are a number of recycling vendors who can pick up larger objects like mattresses for recycling, though they may have a fee so keep that in mind. Below are a few of them:

While some mattresses can be repurposed for DIY projects which have been popular on websites like Youtube and TikTok, you may not want to take that risk if you are not 100& sure which materials were used inside your old mattress. Otherwise, you could accidentally flood your home with fiberglass, a flame retardant, which is almost impossible to remove completely.

5. Throw It Out

Did you know that there is a ban on disposing of mattresses in Massachusetts? This is in an effort to “reduce disposal statewide by 30 percent (from 5.7 million tons in 2018 to 4 million tons in 2030) over the next decade. It sets a long-term goal of achieving a 90 percent reduction in disposal to 570,000 tons by 2050.”

If your mattress is stained, broken, or any of the following, you can’t recycle it: 

•  Excessively torn, punctured, soiled or moldy items
•  Twisted or crushed mattresses or broken box springs
•  Wet or frozen mattresses or box springs
•  Mattresses or box springs infested with bed bugs or other pests
•  Futon mattresses, fold-out sofa beds
•  Mattress pads or toppers
•  Infant sleeping pads; air or water beds; any other furniture or textiles

This is when a mattress would need to be disposed off and it’s important to follow the guidelines of your city or town.

If you’re not sure of what to do with your old mattress, but you definitely know you’d like a new one, why not visit a Gardner Mattress showroom?

Whichever option you choose, it’ll be so exciting to say goodbye to the old and get ready for your brand new mattress!