Water-Bed Description

Styles

• Older-style water beds are fairly uniform in appearance, with a wood-box frame underneath and around the sides of the mattress. Those beds usually had a built-in headboard with storage compartments. Modern water beds are available in two styles. One does away with the hard-sided frames around the mattress, while the other keeps the hard-sided frame but has a large notch cut in each side to make it easier to slide into bed. Some people prefer water beds without the hard-sided frame, because they do not look like a typical water bed.

Mattresses

• Water beds have six different mattress styles, each of which have a different feel. A free-flow mattress has a thick vinyl exterior and is filled with water. These mattresses must be used with a hard-sided frame, which provides the proper support around the mattress edges. Other types of mattresses include semi-motionless, waveless, motionless, fully stabilized and dual system. These types of mattresses have different amounts of fiber pads inside the mattress to reduce the amount of movement in the bed. For example, when a person lays down on a waveless mattress, the mattress will move for approximately four to six seconds before it levels out, compared to a free-flow mattress that has approximately 15 to 20 seconds of movement.

Sizes

• Not only are a variety of sizes available for water beds, but there are also various sizes and shapes to fit your particular needs and decor. Water beds are produced in single, double, queen and king. In addition to the standard rectangular and box shapes, water beds in oval also are available.

Maintenance

• Very little maintenance is required for your water bed. The only time you should have to drain out the water is if the mattress develops a leak or if you are moving the bed to another location. However, it is important to add water conditioner to the water in the mattress every six months. The conditioner prevents bacteria and algae growth, which can damage the mattress. The exact amount of conditioner to add varies based on the size of the mattress.