You can donate a used mattress, but only if it is clean and in good condition, and the catch is that many charities will not take mattresses at all. Hygiene laws, bedbug risk, and storage make them one of the trickier household items to give away. Here is exactly who accepts mattresses, who does not, and what to do with one nobody will take.
The Salvation Army is the most reliable national option for mattresses. It accepts clean, reasonable-condition mattresses, which are used in its shelters or sold in its thrift stores to fund recovery and social programs. The Salvation Army also runs the largest free donation pickup service in the country. Schedule online at satruck.org or call 1-800-SA-TRUCK (1-800-728-7825) to confirm your local store is currently taking mattresses.
Some Habitat for Humanity ReStores accept new or gently used mattresses, and many offer free pickup for large items. Policy is set locally, so call your nearest ReStore first. Proceeds from ReStore sales help fund Habitat home builds in your community.
Furniture banks collect gently used furniture, including mattresses, and give it directly to people exiting homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, and families in need. They tend to have strict condition rules because items go straight into someone's home. Find one through the Furniture Bank Network, which operates in many states.
Local homeless shelters, transitional housing programs, and women's shelters often need mattresses and may accept ones in more worn condition than a resale store would. Call directly and ask. Demand is steady because people moving into housing frequently arrive with nothing to sleep on.
Smaller community charities, faith groups, and neighborhood Buy Nothing groups (search Facebook for "Buy Nothing" plus your area) can rehome a clean mattress quickly. This is often the fastest route when the larger organizations near you are not accepting mattresses that week.
Last updated June 2026. Errors: [email protected]
Mattresses combine several problems that make charities cautious. Bedbugs can hide in seams and spread to an entire store of inventory. Many states have sanitation laws governing the resale of used bedding, which adds cost and paperwork. Mattresses are bulky and hard to store. And a stained or sagging mattress simply will not sell or be usable in a home. Together these factors explain why a store that gladly takes your couch may turn away your mattress.
Before you call around, check your mattress against what charities look for: no visible stains, no rips or exposed springs, no strong odors, no sagging or broken support, and no sign of pests. A mattress that has been protected by a cover and is only a few years old is far easier to place than one that has been used without protection. If yours fails these checks, plan on recycling rather than donating.
A mattress that cannot be donated does not have to go to the landfill whole. Most of its materials, including steel springs, foam, and wood, can be recovered. The Mattress Recycling Council runs the Bye Bye Mattress program in participating states with free or low-cost drop-off points. In other areas, some municipal solid-waste programs, junk-removal services, and mattress retailers offer recycling or haul-away. Recycling keeps a bulky item out of the landfill and recovers usable materials.
Several states require used mattresses to be sanitized and labeled before they can be resold, which is one reason charities are selective. This is also why a donated mattress may be cleaned or relabeled before it appears in a thrift store. None of this affects your ability to donate a clean, good-condition mattress; it simply shapes which organizations are set up to accept one.
Box springs and metal or wood bed frames are usually easier to donate than the mattress itself, and the Salvation Army, ReStores, and furniture banks generally welcome them in good condition. Mattress toppers and pads are accepted by some charities if clean. When you donate a bed, offering the frame and box spring along with the mattress makes the set far more useful to a family setting up a bedroom.