Trying to clear out an old mattress somewhere in Summit County? Here’s why it’s such a pain, what your local options actually are, and what it costs to just have it gone.
Hi — we’re Chris and Shawna, and we own Ohio Junk Force. If you’re somewhere around Akron trying to get rid of an old mattress, you’ve probably already hit the annoying part: there’s no obvious place to put the thing. It won’t fit in the car, the garbage truck rolled right past it, and what’s allowed at the curb seems to shift depending on which Summit County town you’re in. We’ve pulled thousands of these out of homes from Akron proper out to Hudson, so here’s the straight story — including the options that have nothing to do with hiring us.
Why won’t my Akron trash pickup just take the mattress?
This one trips people up, because the rules honestly aren’t the same from one Summit County community to the next. Some towns will only take a mattress if you book a bulk-item pickup ahead of time. Some cap how many large items you can set out in a week. Some tack on a fee. And a few won’t touch it at the curb unless it’s sealed in plastic first. Akron proper, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Tallmadge, Hudson — each runs its own program, so the safe move is a quick call to your city or hauler before you wrestle it out to the tree lawn and watch it sit there for two weeks. Rather skip all that? When we take it, none of those rules apply to you — no bagging, no scheduling with the city, no dragging it anywhere.
Is there any way to keep a good mattress out of the landfill?
Yes — if it’s still in decent shape. We honestly didn’t know this until we started working alongside the Cleveland Furniture Bank, which places donated furnishings with families all over Northeast Ohio, Akron included. A clean, sleepable mattress can be donated, and you can reach out to the Furniture Bank directly to ask about it. Two things to know going in. They aren’t a drop-everything pickup service, so if your timeline is tight, a donation probably won’t clear the bedroom by this weekend — that’s usually when folks call us instead. And condition is the whole game: anything stained, soiled, or worn through can’t be donated by anyone. If nobody can comfortably sleep on it, nobody wants it, and it has to be thrown out.
We take the keep-it-in-use idea to heart. Over the years we’ve rescued a lot of good mattresses from the dumpster — some of our crew have carried solid ones home, and so have we. There are two living in our own house right now. The first belonged to an older woman whose guest-room mattress had been slept on exactly once; the moment she heard one of our kids needed a bed and that hers would get real use, she lit up — to her, it meant far more going to a family than to a landfill. The second was a Sleep Number the previous owners had clearly babied. It was so close to brand new that tossing it felt wrong to everyone standing in the room, so it came home with us, and it’s been in our guest room ever since.
Can’t a mattress just be recycled or broken down?
It’s the obvious next question, and the truthful answer is no — not in any way that’s realistic for you. A mattress is foam, fabric, and steel bonded into a single sealed slab that was never built to come apart, and there’s no convenient recycling drop-off for them around here. That’s actually a big reason they’re such a headache: you can’t shrink one down or pull it into pieces that fit a bin or a car trunk. Once it’s past the point of being slept on, disposal is the honest path. We’d rather say that plainly than send you chasing a ‘recycle it’ option that doesn’t really exist in our area.
Why is a mattress such a beast to move in the first place?
Because it’s big, floppy, and heavier than it looks, and it won’t fold or come apart to make it around a tight stairwell or doorway. Realistically it’s a two-person job — try it solo and you’ll either scuff a wall or tweak your back getting it up the basement stairs. A queen or king is worse, and a mattress plus a box spring turns into two awkward trips. None of it is hard for a crew that does it every day. It’s just genuinely miserable to do alone.
What does mattress removal cost around Akron?
For a single mattress, plan on somewhere between $130 and $250. Three things move the number: how big the mattress is, whether the box spring is going too, and whether you want the bed frame hauled with it. There’s no Akron surcharge on any of that. You’ll get a price up front and a firm quote before we lift a finger, so the number you okay is the number you pay.
Why does an Akron pickup come through a Cleveland phone number?
Fair question — Akron callers ask it all the time. The short version is geography. We’ve run Akron and Cleveland as one operation since 2010, with shared crews, shared dispatch, and a single phone line, and the disposal sites our trucks use sit roughly midway between the two cities, about forty minutes apart. The crew clearing a mattress in Fairlawn today is the same crew that worked a job near Cleveland yesterday. There’s no Akron premium and no travel fee hiding behind that Cleveland area code, and the same Amazing Service Guarantee covers your job either way.
How it works when we take it
Easy on your end. You tell us where the mattress is, we show up in the window we gave you, and we carry it out — basement, second floor, wherever it lives. We bring the second set of hands, so you don’t touch it, bag it, or move it an inch. If it’s a good one, we’ll try to keep it in use; if it’s done, we dispose of it properly. And every job is backed by our Amazing Service Guarantee: Friendly, Professional, Dependable — or it’s FREE.
Want it out of the house this week? Call or text (440) 577-6010. A real person picks up, you get a firm price up front, and most pickups happen same day or next.
Or read more about how we handle mattress and furniture removal in the Akron area: [PRIMARY_CTA_URL — confirm Akron canonical service page AFTER the duplicate-URL cleanup; do not point at one of the old Akron URLs slated for redirect]
Frequently Asked Questions About Mattress Removal Near Akron
Which Summit County towns do you pick up mattresses in?
All of them. Akron proper, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, Tallmadge, Munroe Falls, Fairlawn, Bath, Copley, Norton, Barberton, Green, and the surrounding communities. If you’re near Akron and not sure, just call and ask.
Can I donate my old mattress instead of trashing it?
If it’s clean and still good to sleep on, yes. The Cleveland Furniture Bank places donated items with families across Northeast Ohio, including the Akron area, and you can contact them directly. A stained or worn-out mattress can’t be donated and will have to be thrown away.
Why does an Akron pickup go through a Cleveland phone number?
We’ve run Akron and Cleveland as a single operation since 2010, sharing crews and dispatch, with disposal sites about midway between the cities. There’s no Akron premium or travel fee for calling a Cleveland number.
How much does it cost to get rid of a mattress near Akron?
A single mattress typically runs $130 to $250, depending on its size, whether a box spring is included, and whether the bed frame goes too. You get a firm price before any work starts.
Do I have to bag the mattress or drag it to the curb?
No. We carry it out from wherever it is and you don’t have to bag it. Bagging is only something some Summit County towns require for curbside trash pickup, not for us.
Can an old mattress be recycled?
Not realistically. A mattress is a sealed mix of foam, fabric, and steel that won’t come apart, and there’s no convenient recycling for them locally. Once it can’t be slept on, it gets disposed of.
Will you take the box spring and bed frame too?
Yes — mattress, box spring, and frame if you want them gone. Mention them when you get your price so everything is accounted for.
When you’re ready to be rid of it, call or text (440) 577-6010. We’ll carry it out, you won’t lift a thing, and if it’s still a good one, it might find a second home.
Read more about mattress and furniture removal in the Akron area: [PRIMARY_CTA_URL — confirm Akron canonical service page AFTER the duplicate-URL cleanup; do not point at one of the old Akron URLs slated for redirect]
— Chris & Shawna Blumfeldt, Ohio Junk Force. Locally owned. Serving Akron, Cleveland, and Northeast Ohio since 2010.