Will Goodwill Take Mattresses? What to Do With an Old Mattress in Greenville, SC

Will Goodwill Take Mattresses? What to Do With an Old Mattress in Greenville, SC

You finally bought a new mattress.

Now there is just one problem:

What are you supposed to do with the old one?

One of the first places people think of is Goodwill. After all, Goodwill accepts everything from clothing and housewares to furniture and electronics.

So, will Goodwill take mattresses?

If you live in Greenville, South Carolina, the answer is no.

Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina specifically lists mattresses and box springs among the items it cannot accept for donation. It also lists bed frames among the items it cannot accept.

That does not necessarily mean your old mattress is destined for the side of the road, though.

At Mattress Folks, we sell mattresses every day, which means we also deal with the question nobody thinks about until delivery day:

“What do I do with my old mattress?”

Here are your options if you live in Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville, Greer, Piedmont, Travelers Rest, or elsewhere in the Upstate.

Why Won’t Thrift Stores or Donation Centers Take Mattresses?

Mattresses are different from most other pieces of furniture.

A dresser can be wiped down. A table can be cleaned. A couch can at least be visually inspected fairly easily.

A mattress is a giant upholstered item that someone has slept on for thousands of hours.

That creates some obvious concerns.

Used mattresses can have stains, odors, pet hair, moisture damage, mold, insects, or other contamination that is not always immediately visible.

And here is something we have learned from being in the mattress business:

People have very different definitions of “gently used.”

A customer may look at a 12-year-old mattress and think, “Someone could still use this.”

Maybe.

But an organization accepting donated items has to think about the person receiving it, storage, transportation, cleanliness, and what happens if the mattress cannot actually be reused.

That is one reason mattresses are much harder to donate than clothes, dishes, or traditional furniture.

Before You Try to Give Your Mattress Away

Just because Goodwill will not take it does not necessarily mean nobody can use it.

If the mattress is relatively new and genuinely clean, you may be able to give it directly to someone through a friend, family member, church, neighborhood group, or local Buy Nothing/Facebook group.

But be realistic about its condition.

Look carefully for stains, odors, tears, significant sagging, broken components, pet damage, signs of moisture or mold, and any evidence of bed bugs.

Our basic rule of thumb would be:

Would you feel comfortable having a friend or family member sleep on this mattress tonight?

If the answer is no, it is probably time to dispose of it rather than pass the problem along to somebody else.

Another suggestion is to snap a photo of the mattres and list it for free on Facebook marketplace. This is a great option if you just want it gone.

5 Places Greenville Residents Can Take an Old Mattress

If you are a Greenville County resident and have a truck or trailer, disposing of the mattress yourself may be your least expensive option.

Greenville County operates staffed Residential Waste & Recycling Centers for county residents. The county currently limits these facilities to residential waste, requires proof of residency, and limits disposal to three cubic yards per vehicle per day.

Convenient staffed Greenville County locations include:

  1. Simpsonville Residential Waste & Recycling Center — 517 Hipps Road, Simpsonville, SC
  2. Enoree Residential Waste & Recycling Center — 1311 Anderson Ridge Road, Greer, SC
  3. O’Neal Residential Waste & Recycling Center — 3778 Camp Road, Greer, SC
  4. Piedmont Residential Waste & Recycling Center — 200 Owens Road, Piedmont, SC
  5. Blackberry Valley Residential Waste & Recycling Center — 409 Blackberry Valley Road, Greenville, SC

Greenville County currently lists staffed centers as open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Because hours, fees, and disposal policies can change, we always recommend checking Greenville County’s current Solid Waste information before loading a king mattress into the back of your truck.

And please secure it.

South Carolina law requires loads to be secured so materials cannot fall, shift, or escape from the vehicle. A mattress flying out of your truck on I-385 is a significantly bigger problem than an old mattress sitting in your bedroom.

Don’t Have a Truck? 5 Companies That Can Pick Up a Mattress

Of course, taking a mattress to a disposal center sounds easy until you are standing downstairs staring at a king-size mattress on the second floor.

Not everyone has a pickup truck.

Not everyone owns a trailer.

And not everyone wants to spend Saturday morning wrestling a mattress into either one.

Fortunately, several companies offer mattress or junk removal in the Greenville area.

  • LoadUp offers mattress pickup and removal in Greenville and handles lifting, hauling, and disposal.
  • Mattress Disposal Plus advertises mattress and box-spring removal in Greenville.
  • 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has a Greenville operation and offers mattress and box-spring removal.
  • VETS Junk Removal & Dumpsters serves Greenville and lists mattress removal and single-item pickups among its services.
  • Kirby’s Hauling & Junk Removal is an Upstate company that offers single-item pickups and junk removal throughout its service area.

Professional pickup will normally cost more than hauling the mattress somewhere yourself.

That is understandable.

You are not really paying someone to “throw away a mattress.”

You are paying them to drive to your house, maneuver a large floppy rectangle through your hallway without damaging anything, carry it outside, load it, transport it, and dispose of it.

Sometimes that is money well spent.

What About City of Greenville Bulk Pickup?

If you live inside the City of Greenville, there is another option worth checking before paying a junk-removal company.

The City of Greenville provides bulk waste collection rules for large items, and the city code says residential bulk waste should be placed at the curb only after notification has been given and a collection date and time have been agreed upon.

Greater Greenville Sanitation also states that bulk items such as mattresses, appliances, furniture, or cardboard need scheduled pickup and are typically collected within three days of notification for customers in its service district.

Because municipal services depend on exactly where you live, do not assume that having a “Greenville” mailing address means you are inside Greenville city limits.

If you live in Mauldin, Simpsonville, Greer, Fountain Inn, Travelers Rest, or an unincorporated part of Greenville County, your trash provider and bulky-item rules may be different.

Check with whoever currently handles your household trash before paying someone else to remove the mattress. You may already have a bulk-item option available.

Why Does Mattress Folks Charge for Old Mattress Removal?

We love our customers.

We just do not love their old mattresses.

Mattress removal is something we offer as a convenience, but it is not a service we are particularly trying to sell.

When we take your old mattress, our delivery team has to remove it from your home, make room for it on the truck, haul it around during the rest of the delivery route, and eventually take it to an approved commercial disposal facility.

That means additional labor, drive time, disposal costs, and sometimes an entirely separate trip.

And there is another reality that anyone who has spent enough time in the mattress business eventually discovers:

Old mattresses can be gross.

We have encountered mattresses that are stained, heavily soiled, covered in pet hair, or simply difficult to handle.

Then that mattress has to ride around on a truck whose main purpose is delivering clean, new mattresses to other customers.

As you can imagine, we would rather not fill every available spot on that truck with somebody’s 15-year-old king-size pillow top.

That is why we charge for old-mattress removal, and why we intentionally do not price ourselves like a bargain junk-removal company.

The Cheapest Option Is Usually to Dispose of It Yourself

If you live in Greenville County, have access to a truck or trailer, and are physically able to move the mattress, one of the county’s residential disposal centers will often make the most sense.

That is actually what we would prefer our customers consider first.

We are not trying to turn mattress disposal into a profit center.

We are trying to deliver mattresses.

But we also understand reality.

Maybe you are 75 years old.

Maybe you live on the third floor.

Maybe you drive a Toyota Corolla.

Maybe you just bought a king-size mattress and have absolutely no interest in figuring out how to strap the old one to the roof.

That is why we offer removal.

So Will Mattress Folks Take My Old Mattress?

Yes, we can.

Our removal charge can vary depending on the purchase, the number and size of items being removed, and the circumstances surrounding the delivery.

In some situations, particularly with larger purchases, we may have more flexibility with the removal charge.

The basic idea is simple:

We price mattress removal high enough that every customer does not automatically say, “Sure, take it!”

But reasonably enough that it is available for the customers who truly need the convenience.

If you can easily take your mattress to a Greenville County residential disposal center yourself, that is probably what we would recommend.

If you cannot?

We will help.

If you are planning a new mattress purchase and want to ask about delivery or removal, contact Mattress Folks before you come in or before delivery day.

What Is the Best Way to Get Rid of an Old Mattress in Greenville?

For most people, we would think about it in this order.

  1. If the mattress is genuinely clean and still has useful life left, see whether somebody you know actually needs it.
  2. If it is not something you should pass along, check whether your local trash service offers bulky-item pickup.
  3. If you live in Greenville County and can transport it yourself, check the county’s Residential Waste & Recycling Centers.
  4. If transportation or physical limitations make that impractical, hire a junk-removal company.
  5. If you are buying a new mattress from us and just want the old one gone, ask Mattress Folks about removal when arranging your delivery.

There is not one perfect answer for everybody.

There is usually, however, an easier option than discovering on delivery morning that you own two mattresses and only have room for one.

Need to Replace That Old Mattress Too?

If you landed on this page because your old mattress has finally reached the end of the road, that is the part we actually are excited to help with.

Mattress Folks is a local mattress store serving Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville, and the surrounding Upstate. You can shop our mattress options, ask us about adjustable bases, or contact Mattress Folks if you have questions about delivery and old mattress removal.

Instead of building our business around a huge showroom and traditional retail markups, we specialize in finding name-brand mattresses through closeouts, overstock, factory markdowns, and other opportunities that allow us to sell them significantly below typical retail pricing.

And because we are local, you can actually come in, lie on the mattresses, and figure out what feels right before buying one.

If you are still comparing options, our FAQs can also help answer common questions before you visit.

Then we will help you get the new mattress home.

And, if necessary...

We will deal with the old one too.

Quick Answer: Does Goodwill Take Mattresses in Greenville, SC?

No. Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina currently does not accept mattresses or box springs.

Instead, Greenville residents can consider county residential waste centers, municipal bulk pickup, professional junk removal, giving a clean usable mattress directly to someone who needs it, or arranging old-mattress removal with their mattress retailer.

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