How Can I Get Rid of My Old Mattress Cheaply?

Mattresses don’t last forever.

When you’re ready to get rid of your old mattress, you may need to hire someone to haul it out. But that’s expensive.

What are your options? And is there a cheap way to get rid of it that doesn’t involve littering?

That’s what a listener of the Clark Howard Podcast recently asked.

How To Get Rid of Your Old Mattress Without Paying a Fortune

How do I get rid of my old mattress without putting a dent in my monthly budget?

That’s what a listener wondered on the March 21 podcast episode.

YJ in California asked: “In a recent podcast episode, Clark [said] now is the best time to buy mattresses. One advantage of the old way of purchasing mattresses is that the deliverer would haul away the old mattresses for free or for a small fee. With the new mattress-in-a-box delivery model, what is the best way to get rid of my old mattresses so I don’t have to spend a fortune just to dispose of them?”

The key to getting rid of a mattress cheaply, Clark joked, is to wait until it’s dark and throw it into a vacant lot. (Don’t do that. In addition to the fact that it’s littering and selfish, you can get into legal trouble.)

Clark then got serious. YJ lives in California. Under California law, the entity that sells your new mattress has to haul away your old one.

“So if you buy an online mattress, the seller may not even be aware that under California law, they have to come get your old mattress,” Clark says. “Let them know they’ve got to come get it and dispose of it.”

Thinking of getting rid of your old mattress because you need a new one? Here’s the best time and place to buy a new mattress.

Getting the company that is delivering your new mattress to haul away your old mattress is probably the most convenient method. And it’s often included in the price of your mattress purchase. It’s hardly the only way to get the job done, though.

Other Ways To Get Rid of an Old Mattress

Your state may have a similar law, even if you don’t live in California.

Regardless, many jurisdictions have “solid waste days” or something of a similar name. These typically happen once a month or bi-weekly. During these days, you can take something big and bulky, put it out on the curb and have your local trash service haul it away.

A Christmas tree, for example. Or an old mattress.

“They may charge you a fee to do so, but usually the fee will not be extraordinarily large,” Clark says.

Some charities will also come and get rid of your old mattress.

“They use a recovery service to put a new cover on them and then they either give them to people who need a bed or they sell them at very low prices,” Clark says.

Bye Bye Mattress, which operates in California and a few other states, is an example. The nonprofit is dedicated to keeping mattresses out of landfills. Depending on where you live, Bye Bye Mattress offers guidance about where you can bring your mattress or dispose of it.

Final Thoughts

There are multiple ways to save money on getting rid of an old mattress. Some of them even recycle or reuse mattresses to avoid adding to landfills.

There are some big differences between states in terms of laws and available nonprofit groups. But there’s plenty of information available if you spend a half-hour on some Google searches.