How to Change a Waterbed Mattress to a Regular Mattress

An old waterbed mattress can be easily converted to a regular mattress in no time!

Have you had one too many sleepless nights on your leaky old waterbed mattress? Is the thermostat broken, leaving you with a cold bed to sleep on? Maybe you are just tired of your waterbed. Buying a brand new mattress may not be in your budget but you can transform your softside or hardside waterbed mattress into a regular mattress in no time at all. Simply follow these easy directions and soon you will be having the restful night you need!

Things You'll Need

• Memory foam Waterbed drain or garden hose Electric kitchen knife

Instructions

Remove the water from the mattress

1. Softside and hardside waterbed mattresses contain water chambers inside, but on the outside they look just like regular mattresses. You can remove the water chamber and replace it with memory foam and change the mattress from a waterbed to a regular mattress. The first step is to remove the existing water from your mattress. Be sure to unplug the water heater before attempting to drain the water from the mattress. The outside mattress frame has a zipper which zips all the way around the mattress. Unzip it.

2. If you do not have an electric draining pump, you will need to attach a gardening hose to the pop-up valve on the waterbed insert so that the water will be able to filter out of the mattress. The other end of the hose should be hung out of the the bedroom window and be attached to the water spigot outside.

3. Turn the water on for 15 seconds. This will push air into the garden hose and create the siphoning action needed to pump water out of the mattress. Turn the water off after 15 seconds and remove the other end of the hose from the water spigot and let it drop to the ground. Placing a few heavy books around each side of the valve will prevent bubbles from forming and interfering with the siphoning. Always keep the garden hose lower than the bed to keep the water flowing. Drainage will likely take an hour or more, especially if you have a queen, king or California king-sized mattress.

Converting the waterbed mattress into a regular mattress

1. Once water has been completely removed, take the plastic insert out from inside the mattress frame.

2. You can purchase a memory foam mattress that is closest to your mattress size, but it will need to be cut to fit inside the mattress frame. Measure inside the mattress frame to determine how much will have to be trimmed from the memory foam.

3. Mark the measurements on the foam using a marker. This will help guide you during the cutting process.

4. Now taking your electric knife and cut the memory foam along the marked measurements. Cut through the foam as if you were carving a turkey. Do not try to "saw" the foam or it will shred. Be sure that the foam is thick enough to come to the top of the inside of the mattress frame or you will experiencing a sagging effect.

5. After you have filled the mattress with the memory foam, zip the mattress closed. Put the mattress back onto the bed and you are in for a good nights sleep!

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to recycle the vinyl water chambers. Do not put them in the garbage.

Resources

• About Memory Foam