Getting Rid of a Mattress in Midland: The Free Routes, and Where They Stop
September 1, 2026
The thrift store says no, the alley container is shared with the neighbors, and no one in Texas is paid to recycle it. A used mattress still has three legitimate exits in Midland. Two of them are free.
Why the Donation Truck Says No
Goodwill West Texas lists mattresses and box springs among the items it does not accept at any store, Midland's two included; the same list rules out water beds, sleeper sofas, and heavily stained furniture. The Permian Basin Habitat for Humanity ReStore on West Loop 250 will schedule a pickup for bed frames, sofas, and appliances, but its pickup form does not list mattresses, warns that the driver may refuse anything worn or unsellable, and asks you to stage items in the garage or on the first floor first. The Salvation Army's national donation guide does list mattresses, but its stores decide locally, so call before you load one.
There is no state backstop behind any of this. Texas stopped licensing and inspecting bedding in 2015, when Senate Bill 202 deregulated the state's bedding program, so whether a store takes a used mattress is purely its own policy. Texas is also not one of the four states (California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Rhode Island) with a statewide Mattress Recycling Council program, so nobody in Midland is paid to take yours apart.
Free Route One: The Citizens Collection Station
The City of Midland's recycling page names "household furniture and mattresses" among the bulky items accepted at two free drop-off sites: the Citizens Collection Station at 4100 Smith Road and the Citizens Convenience Center at 6400 W. Highway 80. Posted hours at both are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For Labor Day 2026, the City lists the Citizens Collection Station and the landfill as closed on Monday, September 7.
The conditions are posted and enforced at the gate:
- City of Midland residents only, hauling household items from their own single-family home; no landscapers, contractors, or anyone paid to haul from a residential address.
- No commercial waste of any type, and the items must come from your own single-family home, so a rental turnover does not qualify even if the owner lives in town.
- Single-axle trailer loads only, and every load must be secured.
- Not accepted: construction material of any type, fencing, concrete, dirt, rock, tires, and hazardous waste. The mattress is fine; the fence panels beside it are not.
Free Route Two: The City's Large-Item Pickup
For residential customers, the City picks up furniture and appliances at no additional charge. You call the Solid Waste Division at 432-685-7278, get on the list, and the item is collected by date of call. The City's published examples name bed frames and "most household furniture" but do not name mattresses, so ask when you schedule. Full rules: Midland's free furniture pickup guide.
Two rules bite harder for a mattress than for a couch. The item must sit in the alley in the city right-of-way behind your home, not next to the dumpster, and City crews will not come onto private property, so the carry from the bedroom to the alley is yours. And because the queue runs by date of call, a mattress set out Saturday may lean against your fence for days.
The Landfill, If You Would Rather Just Go
The City of Midland Landfill at 7901 E. Garden City Highway is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Sunday; it takes card, cash, and check. A vehicle without a Garbage Hauler's Permit pays a $25 Landfill Access Fee plus the regular charges; the permit itself is $500 per year, priced for people who haul for a living. Details are in the landfill guide.
The landfill earns its fee in two cases the free stations cannot handle: an address outside city limits, since the stations are residents-only (the county disposal guide covers that ground), and a mixed load where the mattress rides with fence pickets, drywall, or tires the stations refuse.
Bed Bugs Change the Plan
If an infestation is why the mattress is leaving, donation is off the table. The EPA's do-it-yourself bed bug guidance says not to discard furniture if you can safely eliminate the bugs, but if it is going, to rip the covers, remove the stuffing, spray-paint "Bed Bugs" on it so nobody carries it home, and have it picked up as soon as possible. Wrap it before it travels through the house, and tell whoever hauls it what it is.
When Paid Hauling Is the Right Call
Every free route assumes three things: the mattress belongs to a City resident, it can get from the bedroom to a trailer or the alley under its own household's power, and nobody is in a hurry. When all three hold, keep your money. Paid junk hauling in Midland exists for the cases where one of them breaks.
That is the queen set upstairs in a house where nobody can manage the stairs. It is the household with no truck or trailer to reach the station and no way to get the mattress to the alley. It is the landlord clearing a rental, which the stations refuse because it is not household waste from the owner's own home. It is the move-out with a lease that ends Friday, when the date-of-call queue is a gamble. And it is the bunk room with four mattresses, where the trip count is what costs the weekend. A mattress and furniture removal crew carries from wherever the item sits, and a full property cleanout folds the mattresses into everything else leaving the house. Published ranges are on the cost page; compare them against your Saturday, not against a free service you cannot actually use.
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Quick Answers
How can I get rid of a mattress in Midland for free?
Two ways. City of Midland residents can haul a mattress from their own single-family home to the Citizens Collection Station (4100 Smith Road) or the Citizens Convenience Center (6400 W. Highway 80), Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at no charge. Residential customers can also call 432-685-7278 to schedule the City's free large-item pickup from the alley right-of-way; the City's examples list bed frames and most household furniture, so confirm the mattress when you call.
Will Goodwill in Midland take a used mattress?
No. Goodwill West Texas lists mattresses and box springs among the items it does not accept at any of its stores, along with water beds, sleeper sofas, and heavily stained furniture. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore's pickup form does not list mattresses either, and the Salvation Army decides store by store, so call before you load one.
How do I dispose of a mattress that has bed bugs?
Do not donate it. The EPA advises treating furniture if you can safely eliminate the bugs, and if you are discarding it, ripping the cover, removing the stuffing, spray-painting "Bed Bugs" on it so no one takes it, and having it collected as soon as possible. Wrap it before moving it through the house and tell whoever hauls it what it is.