An air mattress is by far one of the best inventions of the 20th century. In a couple of minutes, you can have a nice comfortable bed, that definitely beats out sleeping in the couch or even worse, the ground.
With that said, while an air mattress is great, there is also nothing more frustrating than blowing it up and over the course of the night; it completely flattens, thanks to a leak.
If you have a leaking air mattress, I will highlight a couple of methods you can try to find that leak, so that you can fix it.
1: Listen
Pump up the air mattress and then you need to let your ears be your detective. Depending on how big the leak is, there is a good chance that you can hear the air escaping. You need to be somewhere where there is silence and then you can begin listening for the sound of escaping air. This sound could be like a slight whistle or sound like a tire or ball deflating. The ear method of is by far one of the better ways you can use at locating the leak.
2: Use Your Hands
You can also use your hands to get an idea where the escaping air is coming from. If you slowly move your hands over the air mattress, there is a possibility that you can actually feel the air rushing out. This can be enhanced even more if your hands are wet. The escaping air can actually make your hands feel cooler if they are wet. With this method you have to be methodical and go over every inch of the air mattress slowly till you find the leak.
3: Soap and Water
If you want a quick way to find out where the leak is coming from in the air mattress, then you can use the soap and water method. Fill up the air mattress and then apply a mixture of dish washing liquid soap and water. This will be a bubbly solution and you can apply this all over the mattress. Wherever there is a leak, the area will begin to bubble. You will have to do all the sides to ensure you have discovered the leak.
4. Submerge in Water
If you own a pool or have something that you can submerge the air mattress in, then you will be able to see where the leak is coming from. The escaping air from the leak will create bubbles when the mattress is submerged. This option is not viable for everyone, unless you have something to submerge the mattress in.
5. Take a Look at the Seams
A lot of times leaks in air mattress can be found in the seams. Spend some time and go through, checking all the seams to ensure that there is no small burst or leak.
6. Check the Air Nozzle
Leaks can also take place where the air nozzle that you use to fill the mattress. The constant opening and closing of the nozzle, as well as the pressure of the air going in and out of item can cause leaks. Check using the methods we mentioned above to make sure that the air nozzle is not the culprit.
Once you have found the leak, then the easy part is patching it. You can check out the video below that will highlight some of the methods used for checking for leaks in an air mattress. It also highlights the way you can patch your mattress.
