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Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/20414
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

<p>I have an old six-reed inflatable camping mattress -- one of the ones with six long parallel chambers that you inflate with lung power. It looks similar to this one.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Yv7B.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Yv7B.jpg" alt="airbed"></a></p>

<p>The chambers are sealed with the typical pop-up soft plastic nozzles commonly seen on inflatable water toys -- something like this.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/CssUr.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/CssUr.jpg" alt="nozzle"></a></p>

<p>These nozzles don't have a one-way valve flap on the inside, so when the stopper comes out, the chamber deflates very quickly.</p>

<p>This mattress has served me well for (very) occasional use over several years, but it gave me an unpleasant surprise this summer. Although the nozzles look fine, the stoppers now seem to be suffering from a lack of friction: even without someone lying on the mattress, they work themselves out within an hour or so and the mattress deflates.</p>

<p>There are various experimental treatments I've been considering (roughening the stoppers with sandpaper, treating them with solvents, covering them with clingfilm, etc.) but first I'd like to know whether anyone else has experienced a similar problem, and whether they've found an effective cure for it.</p>

<p>(The mattress in question is currently in another country and I won't be able to get at it again to evaluate suggested fixes until December, but I will be grateful for any suggestions that I can try out when I do finally get the chance.)</p>