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Who remembers waterbeds from the 1980s? Basically a big water bottle (some had heaters too). I assume they were uncomfortable as heck to sleep on, but as a ki

by danans 5y ago

Who remembers waterbeds from the 1980s? Basically a big water bottle (some had heaters too). I assume they were uncomfortable as heck to sleep on, but as a kid they were sure fun to play on until you got reprimanded.

kwhitefoot 5y ago
I've only tied a water bed once; it was very comfortable. It had damping inside so it didn't slosh around all that much.
Tagbert 5y ago
They were very comfortable in many cases. The water container conformed to your body and provided very evenly distributed pressure. Having a heated bed was very nice in the winter. You usually had an extra pad on top to reduce contact with the vinyl container. It was hard to sleep with someone else though as their movements tended to cause you to bounce around. Later versions had baffles that reduced the motion of the ocean. They were very heavy. I had to get rid of mine when the downstairs neighbor could no longer open her door due to warping of the doorframe in a very old house.
mikecoles 5y ago
I bought one in the late 1990s. I needed a bed and found waterbed mattresses were cheap, actually they were all the same cost from single to CA king. I ordered the king size because why not and went to building the frame while waiting for the mattress arrival. I only had 1' left around two sides of the bed in my bedroom after setting it up, but it was the most comfortable sleep. I think the "waveless" feature was a big benefit. It did take a few days to get used. I now sleep on a high end pillow top bed. It's nice, but is second to the waterbed.
aidenn0 5y ago
The ones with internal baffles to prevent sea-sickness are still generally liked by people who try them. However, they are extremely heavy and if they leak are a potential source of significant damage (many apartment and condo complexes have a "no water bed" policy for this reason). I'm not sure, but I think that most (if not all) of them had heaters because water can pull an awful lot of heat from your body over the course of 8 hours even if it's quite warm (if it's under 95F or so, you can cool off quite fast by sleeping on a bare waterbed mattress; a bare waterbed mattress under 80F can put you at risk of hypothermia). That being said, the mattresses had insulating covers so it's possible there were some where heaters were not needed.

by danans 5y ago

kwhitefoot 5y ago

I've only tied a water bed once; it was very comfortable. It had damping inside so it didn't slosh around all that much.

Tagbert 5y ago

They were very comfortable in many cases. The water container conformed to your body and provided very evenly distributed pressure. Having a heated bed was very nice in the winter. You usually had an extra pad on top to reduce contact with the vinyl container. It was hard to sleep with someone else though as their movements tended to cause you to bounce around. Later versions had baffles that reduced the motion of the ocean. They were very heavy. I had to get rid of mine when the downstairs neighbor could no longer open her door due to warping of the doorframe in a very old house.

mikecoles 5y ago

I bought one in the late 1990s. I needed a bed and found waterbed mattresses were cheap, actually they were all the same cost from single to CA king. I ordered the king size because why not and went to building the frame while waiting for the mattress arrival. I only had 1' left around two sides of the bed in my bedroom after setting it up, but it was the most comfortable sleep. I think the "waveless" feature was a big benefit. It did take a few days to get used. I now sleep on a high end pillow top bed. It's nice, but is second to the waterbed.

aidenn0 5y ago

The ones with internal baffles to prevent sea-sickness are still generally liked by people who try them. However, they are extremely heavy and if they leak are a potential source of significant damage (many apartment and condo complexes have a "no water bed" policy for this reason). I'm not sure, but I think that most (if not all) of them had heaters because water can pull an awful lot of heat from your body over the course of 8 hours even if it's quite warm (if it's under 95F or so, you can cool off quite fast by sleeping on a bare waterbed mattress; a bare waterbed mattress under 80F can put you at risk of hypothermia). That being said, the mattresses had insulating covers so it's possible there were some where heaters were not needed.