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A waterbed or water mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water.

Construction

Waterbeds primarily consist of two types, hard-sided beds and soft-sided beds.

A hard-sided waterbed consists of a water-containing mattress inside a rectangular frame of wood resting on a plywood deck that sits on a platform. Platforms may incorporate drawer systems for storage. Frames may be decorative, with elaborate headboards or tall posts.

A soft-sided waterbed consists of a water-containing mattress inside of a rectangular frame of sturdy foam, zippered inside of a fabric casing, which sits on a platform. The effect is to look like a conventional bed and is designed to fit into existing bedroom furniture. The platform usually looks like a conventional foundation or box spring, and sits atop a much-stronger-than-normal metal frame.

Early waterbed mattresses and many inexpensive modern mattresses have only one water chamber. These mattresses are commonly described in the industry as "free flow" mattresses. When the water mass was disturbed, significant wave-action could be felt. They needed some time to stabilize after a disturbance. Later types employed wave-reducing methods, including fiber batting and interconnected water chambers. More expensive "waveless" modern waterbeds have a mixture of air and water chambers, usually interconnected. Water beds are normally heated. Temperature is controlled via a thermostat and set to personal preference, but is most commonly average skin temperature, 30 °C (86 °F). A typical heating pad consumes 150–400 watts of power. Depending on insulation, bedding, temperature, use and other things, electricity usage may vary significantly.

Waterbeds are usually constructed from vinyl or similar material. They can be repaired with nearly any vinyl repair kit.

History

In 1871 a waterbed was in use in Elmira, NY for "invalids". It was briefly mentioned by Mark Twain in his article "A New Beecher Church" which was published in The New York Times on 1871-07-23. There Twain said that: "In the infirmary will be kept one or two water-beds (for invalids whose pains will not allow them to be on a less yielding substance) and half a dozen reclining invalid-chairs on wheels. The water-beds and invalid-chairs at present belonging to the church are always in demand, and never out of service." This article does not contain enough information to determine the form of the beds involved.

Dr. William Hooper of Portsmouth, England, patented a waterbed in 1883. He devised it to relieve bed sore pains in his patients. Unable to contain the water and control its temperature, his invention was a market failure.

The modern waterbed was created by Charles Hall in 1968, while he was a design student at San Francisco State University in California. Fellow SFSU students Paul Heckel and Evan Fawkes also contributed to the concept. Hall originally wanted to make an innovative chair. His first prototype was a vinyl bag with 300 pounds (136 kg) of cornstarch, but the result was uncomfortable. He next attempted to fill it with Jell-O, but this too was a failure. Ultimately, he abandoned working on a chair, and settled on perfecting a bed. He succeeded. However, because a waterbed is described in the novels Beyond This Horizon (1942), Double Star (1956), and Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) by Robert A. Heinlein, Hall was unable to obtain a patent on his creation. In 1980 Heinlein recalled in Expanded Universe that:

"I designed the waterbed during years as a bed patient in the middle thirties; a pump to control water level, side supports to permit one to float rather than simply lying on a not very soft water filled mattress. Thermostatic control of temperature, safety interfaces to avoid all possibility of electric shock, waterproof box to make a leak no more important than a leaky hot water bottle rather than a domestic disaster, calculation of floor loads (important!), internal rubber mattress and lighting, reading, and eating arrangements—an attempt to design the perfect hospital bed by one who had spent too damn much time in hospital beds."

However, Heinlein made no attempt to build his invention.

Advantages and disadvantages

Waterbeds have several advantages over traditional beds:

• The bed can be heated, which makes it very comfortable in the winter. Falling asleep is easier with the lowered blood pressure that comes from resting in a warmer environment. The warmth of the water also helps muscles to relax resulting in improved blood circulation while alleviating soreness of stiff muscles and joints.
• Excellent sleeping comfort. The bed shapes exactly to the body, thus minimizing pressure, especially around the joints. Waterbeds remove pressure from the spine allowing the spinal muscles to fully relax, aiding in the treatment of backache. In paralytic or movement-impaired people they can reduce the risk of bedsores.
• It is impossible for dirt and dead skin particles to penetrate the water mattress, which can then be wiped periodically with a cloth and vinyl cleaner. The cover over the mattress can be regularly washed — thus virtually eliminating house dust mites in the bed. Dust mites can trigger asthma, eczema, and allergies in people sensitive to them.
• A waterbed mattress has an average lifespan of over 12 years.

But there are also disadvantages:

• Constant heating is costly, especially in cold environments. (The Danish manufacturer Akva says that a double waterbed bed uses about 350–550 kWh a year. This is more or less the same as a standard refrigerator or freezer in energy class A.)
• Since some hard-sided waterbeds are of different sizes than other mattresses, bed sheets are harder to find and are in fewer varieties. Soft-sided mattress are conventionally sized to avoid this problem.
• Moving a waterbed is a more difficult process than a normal bed; the water must be drained and the frame disassembled, then reassembled, the mattress refilled with water, and heated for a period to get the water back to the correct temperature.
• Occasionally, water mattresses may leak. Plastic liners can prevent this, but emptying, patching, refilling, and reheating it (and sleeping elsewhere until all this is completed) is certainly an inconvenience.

Also, seen by some as an advantage and others as a disadvantage, due to its introduction to the masses during the height of the sexual revolution, waterbeds are often thought of as having special sexual significance in popular culture, though this may be diminishing over time. Ironically, it should also be noted that "free flow" style mattresses are said by some couples to interfere with coitus, due to the significant and prolonged wave action (though some couples can adapt, and modern chambered mattresses may not have this disadvantage).

External links

• U.S. Patent 3,585,356  -- "Liquid support for human bodies"
• British Water Bed Association
• Bad Fads Museum
• Waterbed FAQ
• European Waterbed Association
• waterbed / wasserbett construction infos of Germany
• Retail Waterbed Store

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