If you have ever woken up on a self inflating mat, and realized you are a lot closer to the ground than you were when you went to bed, it might mean that somewhere, somehow you have got a leak.

Despite all the care that you have shown your mat, there is a hole that needs to be fixed.
Before you can fix it, you need to locate that puncture.

You will need some soapy water (small bowl with a squirt of dishwashing liquid, or if you are really organised, a spray bottle filled with that solution).

Step 1:
Inflate your mattress.

Step 2:
Spray the soap/water solution all over the side of the mattress where you think the puncture could be. Or if you are using the soapy water in the bowl method, lightly wet the entire side of the mattress with this water.

Note: you don't want the water to be all bubbly and frothy before you apply to the mat because you will be looking for bubbles in Step 3.

Step 3:
Once you have covered the mattress with the water, at one end of your mattress, start to roll it up gently. As you roll it, watch for any bubbles which are growing in size. The air you are forcing through the rolled mattress, is pushing up through the hole, and making a bubble.

If you do not see a bubble, go to the other end of the mattress, and start rolling. The puncture could have been concealed when you started rolling.

No luck? Then turn over the mattress, wet it down as you did in Step 2, and repeat the process of Step 3.

Still can't find that leak? Then you can, if you have a bath handy, submerge the inflated mat in water (make sure the valve is done up before immersion) and look for little bubbles escaping.

Step 4:
Mark the spot where the bubbles were coming from (and that's a bit tricky when the mat is wet) but you do need to find something that's going to help you remember where that hole was.

Wash off all soapy water completely.

Allow the mat to dry completely before attempting any patches.
Now that the leak has been identified, and the mat is dry, it's time to fix that pesky puncture.


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