How to Replace a Hard Sided Waterbed With Soft Sides

Unplug the heat to your waterbed. Wait until the mattress is cool to the touch before you begin draining the mattress.

Remove all of the bubbles from inside your mattress by running a broomstick across the top of the mattress. Start near the head of the bed, or the end farthest from the drain plug. Apply slight pressure and drag the broom down.

Drain the water from the mattress. Attach one end of a drain hose to an electric waterbed pump. Screw the female end of the hose to the outport of the pump, which will be marked. Attach a second drain hose to the input of the pump. This is the fasted and most efficient way to drain your bed. Attach the other end of the input hose to the mattress by inserting a drain plug down into the mattress opening. The waterbed drain plug typically comes with the bed.

Place the output hose into a shower or bathtub. Turn on the pump and allow the water to drain completely. This can take up to 30 minutes depending on the size of the bed. You can also drain the bed with gravity by attaching an output hose to the drain plug on the bed and placing the hose at a lower level that the bed, such as out a sliding glass door.

Disconnect the hose and the drain from the mattress and close the plug tightly.

Fold the mattress in half from the top of the bed to the foot. Fold the mattress again and pull it out of the bed frame. There may be some water still in the mattress so it may require more than one person to move it.

Take the bed frame apart by removing the screws on the inside of frame. The frame will have several screws in all four corners that hold the bed together. Make sure you remove all of them. Remove the screws holding the headboard on with a Philips-head screwdriver.

Take the plywood off the base of the waterbed frame. All pieces can be moved out of the way for assembly of a traditional bed frame.

Place the two long rails of the bed frame parallel from one another where you would like to install the bed. Open the frame up by pulling the center support away from the rails. The support will be attached and work like a hinge.

Slide the peg of one side of the center support frame into the hole on the other side. Pull the two sides apart to snap the frame in place.

Place the waterbed frame into the bed frame. Full and single beds will have one frame; larger beds will have two. The frame resembles a box spring and will provide support for the waterbed.

Lay the empty mattress cover on top of the foundation. The tag will go to the bottom of the bed. Unzip the top of the cover and fold it down toward the bottom of the bed out of the way.

Install the bolsters on the outside edges of the cover. These will serve as the supports for the waterbed.

Place the heater in the center of the bed for a full or a twin bed. For larger beds, place the heaters in the center of each side of the bed. They should be approximately 3 to 4 inches from the edge of the bed and centered side by side the same distance from one another. Run the wires through the holes on the cover and out to an outlet.

Place the liner on top of the heaters in the well that is formed by the bolsters.

Spread the waterbed mattress out on top of the liner.

Remove the mattress cap and seal from the mattress and stick the hose attachment into the hole. Full and twin beds will have one mattress. Beds larger than a full bed will have two mattresses.

Screw the hose on to the hose attachment and turn the water on. Add two to three inches of water to each mattress at a time to prevent overfilling of one side. Fill the mattresses so they are fully inflated. Remove any air from the mattress by pushing the air to the center with your arms. Pull the hose from the plug and install the seal and cap.

Wipe any excess water from around the plug. Zip the top back on to the top of the mattress.

Plug in the heaters and turn the temperature to the desired setting.