Comments on: Winter Camping + Condensation = Yucky Mattress Mold

By: AnnaMarie

AnnaMarie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:22:45 +0000

May I suggest a layer of cork tile under the mattress. (Or over the slats etc.) I have read that it resists mold growth. Perhaps this will offer some level of insulation as well. Any feedback would be appreciated as I want to address this issue as a preventative measure.

Thank you for your important blog post. Mold is something to be taken very seriously. We recently discovered a LOT of black mold growing under the entire bed area. Trapped by the carpet and plastic layers – growing ON the Marine Grade Plywood floor. Very difficult and expensive to remediate. This is a ’99 – very young to require such an extensive renovation of the flooring.

We still love you, Airstream.

By: martylama

martylama — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:12:04 +0000

I wouldn’t use peg board. It seems to porous. Just drill holes into your existing bed board and be careful not to hit anything below. Or do the replacement I did in this blog post. I haven’t had a mold problem since. Hope this helps. Martin

By: scott

scott — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:01:33 +0000

I am wondering if super-duty peg-board (cut in 2 sections) would create enough air circulation? Thoughts?

…this will be my second summer with my ’05 16′Bambi – found mold the first time I flipped the mattras and have been wondering how and why – great dialog

By: martylama

martylama — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:51:36 +0000

I’m sure drilling 2″ holes will help if you don’t have mold already. If you have mold I would put fresh cedar slates in. Make sure you check below the mattress regularly though, since the mold build-up can happen quite quickly. Good luck.

By: Andrew Denton

Andrew Denton — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 05:10:21 +0000

Thank you for this information. We have been living in an Airstream since June in Vancouver, BC during a house renovation. As expected the weather has cooled and the other day while changing the bed linen we were shocked to see the amount of moisture under the mattress. I didn’t even consider condensation until I did a little bit of internet research. In the absence of mold, I wonder if drilling 2″ holes in the plywood would accomplsh the same thing as installing the slats as suggested? Another 6 weeks of renovation, so more cold and wet weather ahead.

By: martylama

martylama — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:01:28 +0000

We did not have to replace the Mattress. I just washed it down with diluted bleach in water and let the sun dry it. But ours wasn’t too bad. If your Mattress is really bad then I would replace it. I don’t know of any places where you could get a replacement, but I would buy a solid latex mattress and cut it to fit. I like latex mattresses more and since there are no springs inside you can cut the corners off to match the Airstream.

Good luck. Martin

By: Melani

Melani — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:33:26 +0000

Did you have to replace the mattress itself? If so, do you know where I can order one? We lived in the desert for the first few years we owned our CCD Airstream, and so we never had this problem. Four months in Washington State…different story.

By: martylama

martylama — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:23:59 +0000

I haven’t gone through another winter yet but did some cold weather camping and so far so good. It definitely keeps moisture from building up below the mattress in our DWR Airstream. Good Luck. Martin Thomas

By: rick savage

rick savage — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:14:32 +0000

I also have a similar problem. How did your solution work this year? Thanks. Rick Savage

By: Mattress

Mattress — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:03:57 +0000

This was a great idea!