Water Bed Mattress

Does everyone still dream of owning a water bed mattress? Exactly how comfortable are they, and is the price range affordable to the average family?

What is a Water Bed Mattress

There are two types of water beds available hard and soft side water beds. A hard side water bed mattress is a mattress filled with water, that sits on a hard surface frame usually made of wood. These platforms resemble normal bed frames often with storage and drawers below the water bed mattress.

A soft side water bed is a water filled mattress inside a foam frame, then zipped inside a fabric covering that sits on a platform. This design is meant to make your water bed look as similar to a traditional bed as possible.

Water Bed Mattress History

The history of the Water bed dates back to 1971, when a water bed was used in New York for invalids play, mark Twain also mentioned a water bed during one of his articles that was published in the New York times in 1871. While it is mentioned there isn’t enough information to really describe the components and assembly of a water bed.

In 1883 Dr William Hooper from Portsmouth, England patented a waterbed advertising it as having pain healing capabilities however; not being able to come up with a way to control the water temperature back then, it was a failure.

It was in 1968 that the modern water bed was finally designed by Charles Hall who was a design student in San Francisco State University. There were two other students Ecan Fawkes, and Paul Heckel that also had a contribution to the design.

Benefits an Disadvantages of a Water Bed Mattress

Benefits:

Most water bed mattresses can be heated which is a wonderful comfort feature. Ensuring you can stay extra warm during those cold winter months. Also a warmer sleeping environment lowers your blood pressure allowing you to rest easier, and fall asleep quicker. Blood circulation is improved, and also muscles relax. Because the mattress is liquid filled it shapes around your body reducing pressure on your joints, and back.

Disadvantages:

While the heating option of a water bed mattress is nice, it can be costly to continually have the mattress feeling warm. Filling your mattress, as well as moving it isn’t easy as it must be drained fully to move. Then of course once moved you need to fill it all up again. Now of course this doesn’t happen often but there is a chance that your water bed can become punctured. The mattress will then leak, and can be a difficult to clean up.

Considering both the good and the bad of water beds they can be a great comfort investment and the positives you experience generally out weigh the negatives and damage that can occur. Be sure to shop around for pricing, and get a full understanding of the warranty for the water bed mattress.