Lost Your Pump? Here’s How to Blow Up an Air Mattress Without One

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You need to use your air mattress but your pump is broken, you’re out of electricity, or you simply don’t want to spend extra money on a special electric air pump? Don’t worry – you don’t need a new pump, you can still inflate your air mattress with a little creativity and the whole process doesn’t have to take a long time.

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How to Blow Up an Air Mattress Without a Pump – With and Without Electricity

I’m pretty sure that there are at least a couple of the items I recommend in your home. You just need to pick your favorite unconventional method to inflate your air mattress.

Here’s a list of ways you can blow up an air mattress without an electric pump.

You can inflate an air mattress without electricity:

• using a garbage bag (or any large plastic bag),
• using a foot pump,
• using a bicycle pump.

You can inflate an air mattress with electricity:

• using a hair dryer,
• using a vacuum cleaner,
• using a leaf blower.

Can I blow up the mattress using my breath?

Sure, you can use your breath to blow air inside, but I don’t recommend this for two big reasons. First, the moisture from your lungs will get into the mattress which will then cause it to smell bad because of mold and bacteria that’ll develop inside. This problem is super hard to get rid of. Second, you’re more likely to faint from all the blowing than to actually manage to inflate the mattress sufficiently enough to sleep on. This method can take hours and hours and you’ll feel like you’re not going anywhere.

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Inflate an Air Mattress with a Plastic Bag

If you can’t use any other pump replacements, a garbage bag is a fast and relatively easy way to blow up a mattress.

All you need is a strong bag without any holes in it. The bigger, the better. Once your air mattress is unrolled and lying flat, do the following:

• Shake the garbage bag through the air so that it fills with air.
• Wrap your hand around the top part of the bag. It should look like a balloon now.
• Remove the air mattress valve cap and put the bag opening on the valve.
• Use your hand to hold the opening of the bag tightly against the valve opening.
• Press the bag – use your other hand or your body to compress it until all the air’s in the mattress.
• Remove the bag and repeat the process. Don’t worry about the air escaping from the mattress – that’s what the one-way valve is for. If you don’t have a one-way valve, you need to put the cap back every time you finish blowing the air.

If you’re camping, you should have more than one garbage bag with you – some for trash and some for your things, like something you don’t want to get wet. So the bag you’re using instead of a pump will probably have more than one use.

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Foot Pump or a Bike Pump

Inflating air mattresses with foot or bike pumps is quite handy and requires no electricity.

Foot pumps have a hose that you should connect to the mattress valve. Then repeatedly press the pump with your foot. This can be a good exercise as you can alternate your feet, but if it’s too bothersome for you (if you’re feeling super lazy), you can lean against a wall or a tree while you’re pumping.

A bicycle pump takes more of your energy but it’s another good alternative for pumping air mattresses electricity-free. They have a high output, so you’ll see the results of your work fairly quickly.

Finally, you can also use a manual pump or a hand pump, but these should be your last resort of all pumps. Hand pumps let so little air out that it may take hours for you to make it fully inflated.

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Hair Dryer

Haven’t thought about this hair styling device as a pump alternative? This is a great way to inflate a mattress without a pump as long as it has cold air settings.

Most hair dryers do have them but if for any reason yours doesn’t, don’t even think about using it. Hot air can severely damage (or burn) your air mattress and you can break the dryer along the way.

Here’s how to do this properly:

• Connect the outlet of the dryer to the valve. You can use a bag or paper to make a connection to the valve. Use duct tape to seal the hair dryer outlet to the valve.
• Set the air to cooling and put it on high power. To be sure everything’s OK, let the dryer rest every couple of minutes, especially if it starts to warm up.
• Make sure that the back part of the dryer is free – that’s where it sucks the air in and if you block the backside, the dryer will suffer damage. That’s why you should hold it in your hand during the entire process and not put it down.
• Once the mattress is inflated enough, turn off the dryer and close the valve.

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Vacuum Cleaner

Vacuum cleaners are the most common and very powerful way to blow up your mattress without a pump. You need to use the reverse mode or exhaust mode and your mattress will be ready before you know it.

• Clean the vacuum cleaner. Remove the bag or dirt container and make sure that the hose is clean. Run it for a few seconds to clean any dirt out.
• Use a thin vacuum nozzle or use the hose without a hose attachment.
• Attach the hose to the valve of your blow-up mattress. Make a tight seal between them to prevent air from coming out on the sides.
• Turn on the exhaust mode. If your vacuum has power settings, start with a slower one and then increase it to keep the mattress seams from excessive stress.

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Leaf Blower

Yes, the leaf blower is really strong, but it won’t damage your inflatable air mattress as long as you use it properly.

• Lay your airbed flat.
• Attach the leaf blower to the mattress valve. Make a tight connection and if necessary, use a vacuum hose to stream the air. If you need a tighter seal, use duct tape.
• Start with the lowest setting and wait until it’s inflated. Too much stress on the seams can damage the mattress, so be careful with the power settings.

That’s it! The leaf blower is probably the fastest way for inflating air mattresses without a pump.

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Bottom Line

You can use a variety of items to blow up your mattress. Aside from the special electric pumps, you can go with hand pumps, foot pumps, bike pumps, or even appliances such as hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, or leaf blowers.

If you have none of those, a plain old plastic bag will do the trick.

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• Mattresses without memory foam

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