How to Get Rid of an Old Mattress in North East Adelaide

Mattresses are one of the most awkward things to get rid of. They’re too big for any bin, floppy and heavy to carry, won’t fit in most cars, and many places that take old furniture won’t take a used one. Here are your real options in Adelaide’s north-east, from free to fastest.

Option 1: A council collection (free, but plan ahead)

Every council in the north-east includes mattresses in its free hard waste services — but the rules differ.

City of Tea Tree Gully (suburbs like Golden Grove, Greenwith, Modbury and Tea Tree Gully) gives each household two free collections a year, and you can book either one as a mattress collection. That takes up to two mattresses, or one mattress and one ensemble base, up to queen size. Collections are booked through Solo Resource Recovery, and the council says the wait can be six to eight weeks. Note that mattresses aren’t accepted in a normal Tea Tree Gully hard waste collection — book the mattress option specifically.

Salisbury, Playford and Gawler (run by NAWMA) accept mattresses in a regular hard waste service, with a maximum of two mattresses per service. Salisbury and Playford households get two services a financial year; Gawler gets one. Items must be able to be lifted by two people.

Things to know before you book:

• Put the mattress out no earlier than the council allows (24 hours before for Tea Tree Gully; the night before for NAWMA). Items out too early can be treated as illegal dumping.
• King-size mattresses may not be accepted in Tea Tree Gully’s mattress collection, which is queen size and under.
• If it rains before pick-up, a wet mattress gets very heavy. Stand it on its side under the eaves until the night before, if you can.

Option 2: Drop it at a resource recovery centre

If you have a ute or trailer, NAWMA’s Resource Recovery Centres at Pooraka (Research Road) and Edinburgh North (Bellchambers Road) accept mattresses and ensemble bases. A separate per-item fee applies — check NAWMA’s current price list before you go, and note that NAWMA’s centres don’t accept cash.

Mattresses are bulky, which is why most drop-off sites charge for them individually rather than by the load.

Option 3: Sell or give it away

If the mattress is clean, near-new and you’ve moved to a different bed size, someone may well want it. A few tips:

• Be honest about age and condition in the listing.
• Many charity shops don’t accept used mattresses for hygiene reasons, so call before you load it up.
• Local buy-swap-sell groups and online marketplaces work best for near-new mattresses and ensemble bases.

If it’s sagging, stained or more than a few years old, it’s unlikely to find a new home — skip straight to disposal.

Option 4: Book a mattress removal

This is the fastest option, and the only one where you don’t have to carry it anywhere. We’ll take it from wherever it is in the house — upstairs, in a back bedroom or out of the shed — and it’s gone the same visit.

It makes sense when:

• You’ve got a new mattress arriving and nowhere to store the old one.
• You’re moving out, and the council wait is longer than your lease.
• It’s a king, or it’s heavy, or the stairs are tight.
• You’ve already used your council collections this year.
• There’s other furniture or rubbish to go at the same time.

Single mattresses are welcome — we have no minimum job size. And if you’ve got a bed base, bedhead, side tables or an old wardrobe to go as well, it’s often worth clearing them in the same trip.

What not to do

• Don’t leave it on the verge without a booking. Unbooked items on the verge can be treated as illegal dumping.
• Don’t dump it in a reserve or laneway. Illegal dumping is an offence, and it leaves a mess for your neighbours and the council to clean up.
• Don’t try to cut it up yourself unless you know what you’re doing. Innerspring mattresses are full of tensioned steel coils that can spring out and cause injury.

Getting a mattress out of the house

If you’re going to move it yourself for a council pick-up:

1. Strip it and vacuum it if it’s going to sit outside for a while.
2. Wrap it in an old sheet or a mattress bag so it’s easier to grip and stays dry.
3. Clear the path from the bedroom to the front door, and measure tight corners on stairways.
4. Use two people. Even a single mattress is unwieldy on stairs.
5. Stand it on its side on the verge, tucked against the fence line and clear of the footpath.

Which option suits you?

• Not in a hurry and can get it to the verge? Book a council collection.
• Have a ute or trailer and want it gone this weekend? Drop it at a NAWMA centre.
• Near-new and clean? Sell it or give it away.
• Short on time, heavy lifting or other items to go? Book a removal.

Mattress plus a clean-out?

Old mattresses often turn up as part of a bigger job — a spare room clean-out, a move, or a garage clean-out. If that’s you, read our guide to council hard waste vs private removal to work out which mix suits you best.

Same-week mattress pick-up

We collect mattresses across the north-east — see our furniture and mattress removal page or check that your suburb is on our areas we service list. When you’re ready, send us a photo and we’ll come back with an upfront price.