How to Repair a Leaky Air Mattress

A slow leak in your air bed can result in a miserable night’s sleep on what was supposed to be your weekend off!

If something goes wrong with your air mat, it’s important to know how to patch it up in the field so you can get back to enjoying your trip. In this video, our gear expert Lauren shows you exactly how to repair a leak or hole in your air mattress.

She starts off with the gear that you need to repair your mat – dishwashing liquid, a spray bottle filled with water, paper towel, a texta and a mattress repair kit. Then she demonstrates the repair process, so watch the whole thing above for all the details.

How to repair a hole in an air mattress step-by-step:
1. Firstly, pump up your air mattress using a bit more air than usual so that there’s enough air pressure to identify even the smallest hole.
2. Add detergent to the water in your spray bottle, then spray the whole surface starting with the bottom.
3. Bubbles will form on the surface of the mattress where the leak is.
4. After you’ve located the leak, dry the area off and mark the puncture with a texta.
5. Using the patches that come with your repair kit, cut a twenty-cent coin size shape to use as a patch.
6. Fully delate the mattress to remove any air pressure to avoid compromising the repair.
7. Apply glue to the area, let it become tacky, then attach the patch.
8. After it’s fully dried, it will be ready to sleep on again!

0:00 - Intro
0:37 - What you'll need
2:23 - Fully inflate mattress
2:42 - Spray with detergent/water
3:20 - Watch for bubbles
3:30 - Dry the area & mark with texta
4:21 - Cut patch to size
5:25 - Deflate mattress
6:12 - Apply glue & stick patch
6:54 - Allow to dry up to 24hrs