How to Choose a Waterbed

An image of a waterbed heater, which is an accessory for waterbeds.

Sleeping on waterbeds provides many benefits. The warmth from the waterbed heater has a soothing effect, and the vinyl waterbed bag is easy to clean and has fewer dust mites than standard mattresses, which decreases allergic reactions. Waterbeds also improve blood circulation and provide complete body support, which eases back pain. Nowadays, there are so many waterbed options, choosing the model that is right for you can be challenging.

Instructions

Choosing Your Mattress

1. Decide if you want a hardside or softside waterbed. Hardside beds are mattresses filled with water that sit on top of a wooden frame. Softside beds are water-filled mattresses that are inside a foam frame encased in vinyl.

2. Measure your room. While softside beds look like regular beds and come in conventional sizes, hardside beds have rigid external frames, which make them a more unconventional size, and they sometimes come in slightly oval shapes. Account for extra space if you want to add a headboard to your waterbed.

3. Determine how soft or firm you want your waterbed to be. If you want more cushioning, add a pillow top. You can also add memory foam on top of your bed so it molds to the shape of your body.

4. Shop around. Prices for waterbeds range significantly. Comparison shop at websites such as eWaterbedStore.com and Waterbed.com.

Tips & Warnings

• Softside waterbeds tend to be more popular than hardside beds, because softside beds are steadier. If you are not sleeping alone, hardside beds may not be a good choice because you can feel every movement of the other person; it feels as if they are jumping up and down on a regular mattress. Hardside waterbeds are good if you like the feeling of sloshing around. Softside mattresses can have either a shallowfill midfill, or deepfill, depending on how much water you want. Hardside mattresses come in three styles: free flow, semi-waveless, and waveless. Free-flow mattresses only have one water chamber, and you can feel considerable wave action. Semi-waveless mattresses have fiber batting and interconnected water chambers, so there is less movement. Waveless mattresses have a combination of air and water chambers, so you hardly feel any movement. You can use any type of sheets for softside mattresses, but since hardside mattresses come in unconventional sizes, you will need to purchase waterbed sheets. All waterbeds need the following accessories: waterbed bladders, waterbed heaters and waterbed conditioners. Waterbed bladders are a set of water tubes that sit inside the mattress. Waterbed heaters keep the bed warm, and some waterbeds do not come with them. Waterbed conditioners are necessary to keep mold or bacteria from growing inside your mattress. Oftentimes, all you need to do is pour a liquid treatment into the waterbed bladder once a year.

References

• Garret Kruger; Waterbed User; California
• Waterbed Store and Information
• About Waterbeds

Resources

• Waterbed Store