A waterbed or water mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. A double bed A bed is a piece of furniture or location primarily used or intended for sleeping upon, but also commonly used for sexual activities, relaxing, sitting, and reading. ... A pillow top queen-size mattress. ...

Construction

Softside Waterbed 160x200 cm with dual heating

Waterbeds primarily consist of two types, hard-sided beds and soft-sided beds. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ...

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. Towers of Hanoi constructed from plywood. ...

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.

Softside Waterbed 160x200 cm with two waterchambers and flexible chamberisolation inside

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... A heating pad is a pad used for warming of parts of the body in order to manage pain. ... Bedding refers to the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for warmth. ...

Waterbeds are usually constructed from vinyl or similar material. They can be repaired with nearly any vinyl repair kit. Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ...

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. Elmira is a city located in Chemung County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 30,940. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... is the 204th day of the year (205th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

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: There are several notable people named Charles Hall. ... San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State, State and SFSU) is a public university located in the southwestern San Francisco, California, bordering Lake Merced and Lowell High School, near Fort Funston and Daly City, near the San Mateo County line. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... JELL-O is a brand name belonging to USA-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. ... Beyond This Horizon is a 1942 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. ... When two stars are so nearly in the same direction as seen from Earth that they appear to be a single star to the naked eye but may be separated by the use of telescopes, they are referred to as a double star. ... For other uses, see Stranger in a Strange Land (disambiguation). ... Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... The full title of this book by Robert A. Heinlein is Expanded Universe, The New Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein, copyright 1980 by Heinlein. ...

"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. ^{[citation needed]}

But there are also disadvantages: A sphygmomanometer, a device used for measuring arterial pressure. ... The vertebral column seen from the side Different regions (curvatures) of the vertebral column The vertebral column (backbone or spine) is a column of vertebrae situated in the dorsal aspect of the abdomen. ... Bedsores, also called pressure sores or decubitus ulcers, are ulcers (sores) caused by prolonged pressure or rubbing on vulnerable areas of the body. ... Binomial name Trouessart, 1897 The house dust mite (sometimes abbreviated by allergists to HDM), is a cosmopolitan guest in human habitation. ... For the beetle, see Exema. ... Allergy is an abnormal reaction to a substance foreign to the body that is acquired, predictable and rapid. ...

• 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.) ^{[citation needed]}

• 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). ^{[citation needed]} The kilowatt-hour (symbol: kW·h) is a unit for measuring energy. ... A bed sheet is a large piece of cotton or linen cloth used to cover a mattress. ... For the Macy Gray song, see Sexual Revolution (song). ...

External links

• U.S. Patent 3,585,356  -- "Liquid support for human bodies"
• British Water Bed Association
• Bad Fads Museum
• Online Waterbed Stores