9 Ways To Inflate Air Mattresses (With & Without Power)

Going on a camping trip? Need an extra mattress for a friend staying overnight? Air mattresses are a good option – They are affordable, easily available, and portable. But while they are great, there is just one problem with inflating the air mattress.

Not everyone has an electric air pump at home, or it is plain dumb to buy a new one just to use it a few times… So just how do we inflate air mattresses? Let us walk through some possible solutions in this guide – Read on!

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No Power With Power The End

 

 

INFLATE AIR MATTRESS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

First, let us start with the ways to inflate an air mattress without using electricity.

 

1) PLASTIC BAG

This is one hack that I personally like – It is even better than using noisy electronic air pumps, and all we need is a big plastic bag.

  • Open the plastic bag fully to collect air.
  • Wrap the open end of the plastic bag around the air inlet.
  • Gently squeeze the plastic bag to “transfer” the air into the pillow/mattress.
  • Keep repeating the same process until the air pillow/mattress is fully inflated.

 

2) BICYCLE PUMP

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If electronics are not an option, then let’s turn back to the good old elbow grease – Use a portable bicycle pump. This one should be very straightforward, but just make sure that you get a suitable adapter nozzle to fit the bicycle pump nozzle into the air pillow or mattress.

 

 

3) SELF-INFLATING MATTRESS

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Yes, you read that right. A self-inflating mattress. Technology does wonders.

 

4) DIY BOTTLE AIR PUMP

Don’t want to buy any equipment? Here’s how to make a DIY air pump with a plastic bottle, balloon, and some tape.

  • Remove the cap from the bottle.
  • Use a marker pen to draw a small rectangle in the center of the cap, then cut it out with a penknife.
  • Cut out a small piece from the ballon, it must be large enough to cover the rectangle hole.
  • Use some tape to stick the ballon cut-out to the cap, in a “U” manner. I.E. Leave one edge open.
  • Use the penknife to create a small hole in the center of the bottle, then screw the cap back on.

Done. Place the modified cap over whatever you want to inflate, and just pump away.

 

 

5) BLOW

If all of the tools mentioned above are somehow not available, your best bet is to exercise your lungs and inflate using your breath instead… Of course, this is only good for the smaller travel pillows, anything larger and you will need to have some kind of crazy air bending skill.

P.S. You might want to wash the air inlet of the air pillow with light soap before use.

 

INFLATE AIR MATTRESS WITH ELECTRONIC GADGETS

Next, let us walk through the electronic gadgets that can be used to inflate air mattresses.

 

6) PORTABLE AIR PUMP

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This is the most “Captain Obvious” gadget used to inflate anything. But no, we are not referring to those old noisy and bulky air pumps. There are portable ones these days, and some of them are rechargeable using the very common USB.

 

 

7) HAIRDRYER

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Nearly all households should have one of these, there are also portable and rechargeable ones. As you probably guessed, they are not the most efficient, but they do blow… Just remember to use cold air and not melt the mattress.

 

8) VACUUM CLEANER

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Vacuum cleaners are another great alternative to air pumps. But you will need a reversible one, just switch it from “suck” to “blow”. For you guys who don’t have a reversible vacuum cleaner, that will require a little bit of creativity.

Depending on how the vacuum cleaner is designed, we can connect the cleaning nozzle to the hole where the dust bag was originally attached – Which will turn it into a “manually reversed vacuum cleaner”. Alternatively, we can use a milk carton on the square HEPA filter to “convert” it into an air outlet.

 

 

9) LEAF BLOWER

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If you have a leaf blower just sitting around, it may be a good alternative too. But one problem with leaf blowers is that they are not made to inflate stuff and have huge nozzles… This can be easily solved by using another “simple DIY adapter”, a water funnel.

 

EXTRA) POWER ON-THE-GO

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Going on an outdoor trip? Don’t want to carry a bulky generator along? Get yourself one of these foldable USB solar panels. It fits into a backpack and provides enough juice to run some common USB appliances – Phones, lights, radios, and even the air pump.

 

THE END

Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end of this guide. We hope this guide has helped you solve the air pump problem – Stay healthy and have good nights of sleep!

 

LINKS & REFERENCES