Vanlife: How To Prevent Mold Under Your Mattress | DIY Hypervent

When building out your van conversion, something that is often overlooked is ventilation under the bed. You need air flow under the bed because you create moisture when you sleep. Often times we sweat while we sleep without really knowing it. 

Don’t make the same mistake we did and have mold grow under your bed. We found moisture under our bed and ended up having mold grow under our foam mattress topper. We then had to buy a new mattress topper and additionally add a hypervent. So it’s best to take the precautionary measures with your first van conversion build out so you don’t have to buy everything twice!

Unlike beds in your home that have a box spring underneath to help create ventilation, van conversions don’t usually allow space for one. So, we created a DIY hypervent under our bed in our van conversion so air can flow underneath the bed 24/7. 

Follow these 4 easy steps for a DIY Hypervent to prevent mold under your mattress in your van conversion. 

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Step 1:

If the frame for your mattress is made out of wood, make sure you mold proof it with either mold spray, 123 Bull’s Eye Primer, or varnish. We also suggest doing a combination of two if it fits into your budget. That way if there happens to be moisture you won’t have to replace the wood too. 

Another precautionary measure you could take is drilling holes into the wood to increase air flow.

Step 2:

We purchased Victory 8 Garden DekProTek Modulars for the hypervent under our bed. The modulars are 1ft x 1ft squares. They are meant for large plants that sit on a wooden deck and need air circulation after being watered. The modulars will serve a similar purpose to ensure that air can always flow freely under your mattress.

Depending on the size of your bed you will probably need multiple packages. We have a bed that is a little smaller than a full and we needed an 18 pack + 8 pack.

Other Products You Could Use To Prevent Mold Under Your Mattress:

You can also buy a hypervent from Hypervent Marine, but we found the price to be much more expensive, so we went with the DIY route.

Other products we have noticed other vanlifers using are:

• Den-Dry Mattress Underlay
• Coconut-Coir Mattress Pad

Step 3:

We tied together each square so they would stay connected and wouldn’t slide around. Twist ties worked great for us, but you could tie them together with anything you have lying around such as string, fishing line, etc. We also had to cut some of the modulars to fit the size of our bed frame. 

Step 4:

Place your mattress on top of the modulars. You want to make sure that there is complete airflow under the bed and that the mattress doesn’t drape too far down over on one side blocking air circulation. If you can see the modulars on both sides, then air will continually flow underneath the bed. 

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Optional: Adding Fans & Humidity Sensors

After using the hypervents for a few months in the winter months, we still noticed a little moisture under my side of the bed (I’m a chronic sweater in the night). We weren’t having the van doors open for airflow as much because it was cold, and condensation was becoming more of a problem because the temperatures were dropping. 

Therefore, we decided to take the extra measure of adding in fans that could move the moisture from under the bed. We even adding in humidity sensors to turn the fans on automatically when the humidity gets too high! We now have no problems with moisture under our mattress! 

Check out our post: Campervan Bed Ventilation Fans With Humidity Sensor

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Takeaway | How To Prevent Mold Under Your Mattress in Vanlife

No one wants mold in their van, but sometimes it’s hard to spend the money on necessary precautions. But having to replace things will ultimately cost you more money in the long run. And having mold in your van can be bad for your health, so eliminating the opportunity for mold to grow under your bed can be fixed in these 4 easy steps. Don’t make the same mistake we did and think it won’t happen to you.

Check out our article on Campervan Ventilation for more information on getting air circulation in your van.

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