Few things are as annoying to get rid of as an old mattress. It is bulky, floppy, impossible to bag, and it does not fit in a car. So it ends up leaning against the garage wall or stuffed in a spare room for months. If you have one you want gone in Naperville, Plainfield, Joliet, or anywhere in the suburbs, here are your actual options and how each one works.
Why You Cannot Just Set It at the Curb
Most garbage service in the Chicago suburbs will not take a mattress with your regular trash. Like other large items, it is treated as a bulk pickup, which usually means scheduling ahead and paying a per-item fee, and even then you have to get it to the curb yourself. Setting one out without arranging pickup typically earns a tag and a missed collection rather than a haul-away.
Mattress Recycling Is the Better Outcome
Here is the part most people do not realize: mattresses are highly recyclable. A typical mattress is around 80 to 90 percent recyclable by weight. The steel springs become scrap metal, the foam is repurposed into carpet padding and other products, and the wood frame and cotton can be reclaimed too. When a mattress is landfilled, all of that is lost, and because they are bulky and slow to break down, they take up a lot of space.
The catch is that mattress recycling is not something you can do at the curb. It requires getting the mattress to a facility that accepts them, which is exactly why a removal service that recycles is the easiest way to do the right thing without the legwork.
Can You Donate It?
Sometimes, but the bar is high. Charities can only accept a mattress that is genuinely clean, undamaged, and free of stains, tears, odors, and any sign of pests. Many organizations will not take used mattresses at all for health reasons, and rules vary by location. If your mattress is in truly good shape, it is worth a call to a local charity first. If it is worn, stained, or sagging, donation is off the table and recycling is the responsible path.
What About Cutting It Up Yourself?
You can technically break a mattress down and dispose of the parts, but it is a miserable job. The steel springs are under tension and hard to cut, the foam and fabric make a mess, and you still have to figure out where each material goes. For most people the time and hassle are not worth it compared to a single pickup.
The Simple Way: Mattress Removal
The easiest option is to have it hauled away. With mattress removal, the crew comes to the bedroom, wraps the mattress so it does not rub against your walls or floors on the way out, carries it down the stairs, and takes it to a recycler where it is broken down properly. One mattress or a whole house full during a move or a rental turnover, you do not lift or drag a thing. Older or soiled mattresses are bagged in the room before they move.
Mattress Removal Across the Suburbs
Onit Junk Removal hauls away mattresses and box springs of every size, from twin to California king, throughout Naperville, Plainfield, Joliet, Aurora, and the surrounding communities, and we recycle them wherever possible instead of sending them to a landfill. It is a quick, no-hassle pickup and often available same day.
Old mattress taking up space? Call or text Onit Junk Removal at (815) 240-0735 for a free, no-obligation mattress removal quote across the Chicago suburbs.
← Back to all articles