Can You Put An Air Mattress on a Bed Frame? – 5 best alternatives
Have you experienced sleeping on an air mattress and wanted to update that sleeping pad to a higher standard? An air mattress is an inflatable mattress or sleeping pad with air pumped inside.
It is lightweight, has reduced thickness and size, and is intended as a temporary bed for outdoor camping, spontaneous night guests, or even full-time home use.
Read this post to have a better understanding of the question “can you put an air mattress on a bed frame?”.
Can You Put An Air Mattress On A Bed Frame?
You want to raise your air mattress off the ground by a bed frame or simply want to know if an air mattress can replace an entire standard mattress. The answer is: not really because Air Mattress has pros and cons for a convenient sleeping place compared to a regular bed.
Of course, there are other solutions for you to upgrade your air bed to increase your experience with it.
Why Is It Better To Elevate My Air Bed Off The Ground?
Due to some characteristics of an air mattress and the owner’s preferences, there are some reasons why people want to place air mattresses on bed frames, although it was designed to be portable and convenient.
Put an air mattress on a bed frame, or say you want the air mattress to be raised higher and off the ground. Why should this be the case? The answer is that people are concerned about some health problems when sleeping on an inflatable bed for a long time.
The body temperature regulation function of an air mattress is bad
Unlike some hybrid latex or foam mattresses, airbeds are primarily made from synthetic materials such as vinyl.
In this case, the heat your body generates through the night is not being dispersed. So you might sweat a lot, which doesn’t make a good night’s sleep.
On the other hand, in winter, the air inside holds a cooler temperature, which could leave you feeling cold.
So having a raised platform down below could somehow reduce this problem by creating a space where the air bed no longer directly contacts the ground or floor.
Air mattress
Fear of bugs crawling on you
Among all the reasons beds were invented, avoiding sneaky invasive animals should be one of those. You worry that you can encounter some small creatures when your sleeping pad is too low and close to the ground, and that freaks you out when thinking. So when you have to sleep on an airbed. You should possibly think of this point.
Avoid breathing problems
As you can see, the amount of dust in the surrounding area is enormous and will not do you good when you sleep close to the floor for a long time.
When you are higher up from the floor, you won’t have to inhale as much dust as when you are lower to the ground. So raise your mattress if you want a healthier breathing condition and, of course, good health.
Reduce the chance of breathing problems
Visual interest added by a bed frame
Sometimes sleeping on a bare air mattress down on the floor doesn’t make sense for a person who loves the aesthetics of things in the bedroom. You want it to be as similar to a regular bed as possible, especially when you have guests over. It just feels and looks better.
Get in and out conveniently.
Having an air mattress on a bed frame makes it feel more eye-flattered and helps you get in and out of bed more easily.
Draw air mattresses more visual’s attention
Common issues with having an air mattress on a bed frame
Briefly, an air mattress is primarily designed for outdoor settings, so it makes less sense to be accompanied by a bed frame.
Specifically, when fully inflated, an airbed would be pretty firm and even, so it will cause some odd feelings when adding a bed frame because of these component reasons:
Unsuitable spacing support
In most circumstances, frames have slatted designs to be more durable. Slats are usually set at a distance of 3 to 5 inches apart. Such spacing can support a memory foam or hybrid mattress well but not an air mattress. You’ll experience discomfort by the feeling that the bed is sinking into the spaces between the slats.
Moreover, slatted construction might expose your mattress to higher chances of tearing and puncturing.
Bed slats
Sliding
A lightweight air cushion slides right off the bed is something that is bound to happen. Moreover, beds are generally made of polished wood or metal frame, which means they possess little to no grip.
So if you are an active sleeper, you might experience falling off the bed at night when you put an air mattress on top of a bed frame.
Mattress Height
An Air mattress was designed to replace a bed at some point so it can be up to 20-22 inches in height. On the other hand, a standard bed frame is about 22-25 inches in height. This means when you put these two together, you might end up with a combo that’s too high for an average human.
Too high for normal person
Bed Frame Alternatives For Air Mattress
Knowing the drawback of a bed frame supporting an air mattress, you still want to elevate the airbed from the ground. There are a few solutions for this matter as the alternative items for a regular bed frame that we list down below.
Plywood
By putting a sheet of plywood under the airbed, you are only adding 1-2 inches at best for the height of the bed, but it will ease the possibility of getting too cold or too warm during the night when sleeping on an air mattress.
Or, if you already have a wood or metal bed frame, you can add the plywood sheet to make the surface more uniform and solve the slats or sliding problems of an air mattress.
Just make sure you choose the right size of plywood for your airbed, and it’s better if the plywood is wrapped in waterproof fabric, such as a tarp, so that it will not soak the moisture from the air.
Mattress Topper
Adding a topper on top of the airbed is also an affordable way to elevate your air bed by a little, but it can increase the quality of the bed. It ensures that you don’t sleep on the air mattress’s characteristic rough and cold rubbery surface.
The air mattress surface can feel generally uncomfortable in cheaper solutions, and a mattress topper can easily eliminate those issues.
Wood Pallets
Wood pallets are the best DIY resource that you can get to elevate the air beds from the ground. It offers some great benefits such as:
- Affordability: One wooden pallet with the size of 40×48 costs no more than 25. A stack of four to six pallets varied by your wish can ideally raise the airbed height. And it’s way too much cheaper than buying a bed frame.
- Sturdiness: A stack of wooden pallets can support a heavy hybrid mattress with sleepers, so holding a lighter inflatable mattress wouldn’t be a big deal.
Remember that those wooden pallets are excess materials from raw wood production. Therefore they can have a good grip, but it also has friction which can cause scratches or holes in the mattress.
So it’s better to place a layer of fabric or a mattress topper on those pallets and then have the air mattress on the top.
Box Spring
Most traditional mattresses need a box spring to maintain their support, let alone air mattresses with less support than regular mattresses. A box spring serves two essential but important functions that can help you go along with an air mattress:
- Foundation: They offer a sturdy and firm foundation for your airbed that will prevent your air mattress from sliding better than a regular bed frame. Having a box spring’s support also increases the longevity of your mattress by reducing tear, shock, and wear.
- Better Height: They elevate the mattress off the floor, which is essential for an air mattress that is restricted to bed frames’ use.
Rug
A thick fabric rug below the air mattress can eliminate the contact between your bed and the floor. In addition, the soft materials will help to protect the bottom of your airbed from tears and punctures, and their firm grip will reduce the chances of sliding.
You can use a thick rug or can build a stack of rugs of 15-20 inches wider to have the best effect of elevating your mattress and also boosting the comfort of your sleep.
Of course, keeping the rugs clean will require more effort because the fabric materials make them dirty quickly.
Keep the rug clean is too much work
Conclusion
Can you put an air mattress on a bed frame? Of course, it is and you also know that instead of a bed frame, you can now use one of several alternatives to increase the comfort of sleeping on an air mattress.
To the best of our knowledge, we have provided everything you need to know when choosing to use an air bed instead of a normal one.
Have you decided which item to go for? If not, find out more about this topic in other relevant posts on our page.
FAQ
How to maintain your air mattress?
One scenario of an air mattress getting worse is getting leaky and losing the air over time, and when it has released too much air, it can get punctured more easily.
So make sure you inflate the airbed regularly to keep your airbed in good condition and ensure a comfortable night’s sleep for the long term.
Should I put a blanket under an air mattress?
It’s not a good solution; a blanket usually generates heat that can damage your plastic air mattress. Instead, using the blanket to cover yourself rather than putting it under the airbed is better.
If you still want to raise the airbed’s height by something like a blanket, you can use other options such as thick rugs or mattress toppers as alternatives.
Does having a bed frame make a difference?
The bed frame can play as important a role as the mattress itself because, without an appropriate frame, the mattress can be very disturbing by squeaking, creaking, and sliding.
Is it better to have a higher or lower bed frame?
A lower bed gives a more aesthetic appearance with a feeling of minimalism, while a taller bed looks more complementary in a room with a high ceiling. Again, it’s all about your taste in decorating style. If you are more spontaneous and up with trends, you should go for a lower bed frame; if you are geared towards a more traditional point of view, a higher bed frame would be the best choice.
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