The question of the allowable time to keep an air mattress fully inflated seems to get asked time and time again. It’s a common question, but a good one. When you purchase that new air bed, the manufacturer’s setup instructions don’t necessarily go into much detail about inflation limitations, so people are usually left to fend for themselves. This article will provide you some guidance, and at a minimum, help you make an informed decision about what’s best for your situation.

The Answer Is…

The abbreviated answer is: there is no set time limit associated with leaving your inflatable mattress full of air. You won’t find any suggested limits or best practices in the literature provided by the air bed vendors. Therefore, you need to ask yourself a few questions to help get to a decision, since there are several factors that can influence your decision. The first thing to ask yourself is how do you intend to use the blow up bed?

What Are The Intended Uses Of Your Inflatable Bed?

Is this going to be a permanent bed or is this a guest bed situation? If this is going to be a bed that gets everyday use, you will probably want to leave it inflated as long as possible, right? The real issue in this situation is prolonged exposure to things that may inadvertently puncture the mattress. The longer it is inflated, the more chances there are for it to get a hole. This is especially true if you have animals or children that will be around the bed frequently. Come on, you know what I’m talking about! If the air mattress will be in an area where there are less opportunities for puncturing, you can leave it inflated for as long as you would like. Of course, all air beds lose air over time (some faster than others), so it won’t be “fully inflated” for the entire time anyway.

What Is The Impact Of Continually Inflating And Deflating Your Portable Air Bed?

To make a case for leaving the inflatable bed up for longer periods of time, you should consider the wear and tear that can occur on the mattress. As you fill up the air bed, the seams that hold it together stretch. The more you inflate and deflate the mattress over time, the more stress there is on the seams of the air mattress. This could eventually cause failure of the seams, and loss of the ability to hold air for any significant amount of time. This goes to the root of air mattress care and maintenance.

Are There Any Cost Implications? Depending on your choice, there could be. If you stress the seams of the airbed too much, they may fail, causing you to expend more money for another purchase. Additionally, if you do not have a built-in air pump for your mattress and it relies on those huge D-size batteries, you will have to make a budget for batteries if you choose to continually inflate and deflate your air bed.

In Summary…

Taking everything into consideration, there is no reason why you can’t leave your airbed inflated for weeks at a time, unless it is in an area where it can become easily damaged. The air beds do not have any requirements to be deflated after a certain period of usage, so that is not a factor. Lastly, they all lose a little air over time anyway, so keeping air in it, as long as it is not over-inflated, should not be an issue.