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 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 getting rid of your old mattress!

Definition of a Mattress

You may have a general idea of what a mattress is, but it’s important to know what state regulations define it as before disposing of your mattress. It will save you a lot of time and potential trouble when considering your options.

According to The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), “Mattress means any resilient material or combination of materials that is enclosed by ticking, used alone or in combination with other products, that is intended for sleeping upon, except for mattresses that are contaminated with mold, bodily fluids, insects, oil, or hazardous substances. Mattress includes any foundation or box-spring. Mattress does not include any mattress pad, mattress topper, sleeping bag, pillow, car bed, carriage, basket, dressing table, stroller, playpen, infant carrier, lounge pad, crib bumper, liquid or gaseous filled ticking, including any water bed and any air mattress that does not contain upholstery.”

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. They’ll handle the actual disposal so you don’t need to worry about figuring out what to do with your old mattress when you’d rather just lay on your new one.

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 always looking for donations. Check with local charities, shelters, veteran’s organizations, domestic violence prevention centers, and churches. You’ll be doing a good deed as well.

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 of your replacement. Secondhand mattresses don’t have a particularly long lifespan compared to a brand-new mattress. Yet for those who are looking for a mattress to hold them over while they shop for a new mattress or when they’re in a transitional phase of life, buying someone’s gently used mattress can be a good temporary option.

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:

HandUp US LLC
127 West Rodney French Boulevard
New Bedford, MA 02744
Contact: 617-378-7619

Raw Material Recovery Corp.
461 West Broadway
Gardner, MA 01440
Contact: 978-730-8266

Tough Stuff Recycling
145 Authority Drive
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Contact: 978-307-4118

UTEC Inc. / United Teen Equality Center
35 Warren Street
Lowell, MA 01825
Contact: 978-856-3997

5. Throw It Out

This might be your first instinct, but just tossing your mattress in the garbage should be your last resort. That’s because you can’t just throw out your mattress in Massachusetts. As of November 1, 2022, mattresses and textiles were added to the list of materials banned for disposal in Massachusetts.

It might seem inconvenient, but the decision was made 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.” Because the fact is, mattresses take up a lot of space in landfills, so merely throwing them out isn’t ideal from an environmental standpoint.

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

•  Excessively torn, punctured, soiled or moldy
•  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 of and it’s important to follow the guidelines of your city or town. Thankfully, organic mattresses take less time to decompose than mattresses made primarily from synthetic materials. So buying an organic mattress continues to benefit the environment even when it’s reached the end of its life.

Whichever option you choose, it’ll be so exciting to say goodbye to the old and get ready for your brand new mattress! Visit a Gardner Mattress showroom to pick out your new mattress with the help of our experienced crafters who can guide you towards the right mattress for your sleep needs.