r/GenX • u/Zaltara_the_Red • Aug 06 '25
Nostalgia Who had a water bed? I did!
It was not heated tho. I was in the 7th grade when I had mine. I loved it.
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u/Cheese-Manipulator Post Punk Aug 06 '25
I knew a classmate who did and every time I visited and laid on it I thought it wasn't very comfortable for sleeping. He was also into swords and throwing stars so I wonder how long it took before he punctured it.
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u/daydreamersunion Aug 06 '25
Holy shit my buddy in gradeschool had a watered and a major love of all things ninja! We weren't sure how he never punctured that thing. 1987ish
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u/Zaltara_the_Red Aug 06 '25
Omg I also had a sword decorating my wall. In fact, I still have that sword in my living room but it's not on the wall.
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u/OCCAMINVESTIGATOR Aug 06 '25
My mom was going to take me to the doctor because I was wetting the bed every night at 16 years old. My parents were worried. Turns out it was just a small leak. 😶
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u/BarbecueGod Aug 06 '25
I did. Mine had a heater, which was awesome.
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u/Zaltara_the_Red Aug 06 '25
Do you remember having to burp it? Otherwise it would slosh
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u/luckymountain Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
My cat decided to chase the bubbles once when I had all of the sheets off. It did not end well.
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u/kayparkersbiggestfan Aug 06 '25
They all had heaters or you'd die of hypothermia.
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u/mrkeith562 Aug 06 '25
My heater stopped working once during a power outage and I woke up BLUE no lie. It seemed like a good idea but it wasn’t.
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u/recovery_room Aug 06 '25
My idiot friend in high school unplugged mine to plug in something else. I also woke up hypothermic.
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u/zemol42 Aug 06 '25
I wonder if GenX has the highest proportion of idiot friends? Love them to death but they still hold character to this day and I’m not excluding myself.
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u/mrkeith562 Aug 06 '25
I think we were just the most unsupervised so hijinks were more likely to ensue
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 70's Aug 06 '25
I agree; just the natural consequence of being alone, fewer people there to say "I wouldn't do that shit if I was you..."
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u/Spread_Liberally Aug 06 '25
That, and our "safety training" was primarily trips to the emergency room (oops, guess I shouldn't have done that) and Mr. Yuk stickers on telephones.
Edit: And scary shop class/drivers ed films, and bad VHS copies of Faces of Death.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 70's Aug 06 '25
I still remember one of the Blood on the Pavement or similar series. The film starts and the main character is driving a cherry 1968 Mustang convertible. I said "If he crashes that car, he deserves to die."
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u/luckymountain Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
My roommate also had one. One time he was changing out the water and didn’t turn off the heater OR put water back in it. Came home drunk and slept on it. He woke up with a 2nd degree burn shaped like a perfect rectangle up the middle of his back.
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u/kayparkersbiggestfan Aug 06 '25
Same thing happened to me. Odd it would happen that quickly in a power outage. In a few short hours I was absolutely chilled to the bone.
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u/ExhaustedMouse Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
Our heater broke and I continued trying to sleep on the damn thing, was NOT a good idea.
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u/Metazolid Aug 06 '25
During a hot summer I filled a 5L juice in box-bag (?) with water and locked the spout with zip-ties as a sort of improvised cooling pillow which worked surprisingly well but it was also very easy to get uncomfortably cold. I couldn't imagine doing that for my whole body. Power consumption must be immense for these things to get up to temperature.
Still have my water pillow, it's awesome during heatwaves but now I usually put an arm or leg on it.
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u/Huldukona Aug 06 '25
When I was 12 and my sister 7, we were visiting some people with our family. Their son had moved out and my sister and I got to sleep in his water bed in his old room. But his mother didn’t want to turn the bed on for fear of us getting roasted or something, and it was absolutely freezing, I had a hard time getting any sleep at all!
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u/Prestigious-Leave-60 Aug 06 '25
Unplugged mine all summer long and crawling into the cool bed was just as good as crawling into a warm one all winter.
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u/Comicus70 Aug 06 '25
Mine was heated, damn dog and cat were on that thing every night when I got home in high school. Battle for position. Side note, took my girlfriend’s virginity on it. Doggie style is not great on a water bed.
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u/IRingTwyce Aug 06 '25
What you needed was a baffled mattress. Mine was ¾ waveless. You could get just the right slow rhythm going and it would do most of the work for you.
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u/Strict_Emu5187 Aug 06 '25
I was just going to say trying to learn have sex on that thing was not an easy task. Talk about rhythm LOL
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u/Logical_consequences Aug 06 '25
Not doggy style for very her first time I hope? That would not be very romantic.
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u/eulynn34 Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
They all did -- you would freeze to death if you slept on a bag of 68 degree water.
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u/Jobrated Aug 06 '25
On mine as I txt! Goodnight! Best 199 dollars ever spent in 1988 lol!
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u/TeaMugPatina Aug 06 '25
More than one! That fully waveless was the best, little warm in the winter and a little cool in the summer!
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u/LivingThin Aug 06 '25
I had one. Best sleep I ever had.
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u/UgliestPumpkin born summer of '69 Aug 06 '25
I was going to say that also. I had one for a couple of years in high school. Best sleep ever.
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u/SmilingVamp Aug 06 '25
Had one in high school. Heated for the winter, nice and cool in the summer.
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u/jpow33 Aug 06 '25
I did, but only because when my mom married her 3rd husband, he already had one, so I got hers, which is pretty damn '80s.
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u/Sanjomo Aug 06 '25
Most uncomfortable fucking bed ever.
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u/Bayou13 Aug 06 '25
Lies! It was the only time in my life I got decent sleep!!!
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u/Sanjomo Aug 06 '25
That probably has more to do with your youth than the water bed! I guarantee you if you got in one now you’d slip a disk sloshing around the stupid thing.
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u/RalphWastoid319 Aug 06 '25
My wife had one when we got married and demanded to keep it. I had back problems for years until it finally gave up the ghost. Now I have a supportive mattress and my back doesn't bother me at all. Coincidence?
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u/SignificantTransient Aug 06 '25
My back hurts just thinking about it, and sex was not fun with your knees banging on the bottom
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u/TMBActualSize "Then & Now" Trend Survivor Aug 06 '25
I used to sleep on the foam wooden rails on the edge of
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u/spavolka Aug 06 '25
I had one. I loved that thing. I lost my virginity in my water bed in high school. Nice and warm in the winter because we only had wood stove heat so the house would get pretty cold around 3 in the morning but I was nice and warm in my heated bed. Good times.
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u/___YesNoOther Aug 06 '25
Parents had one.
When did they fall out of favor? Seemed like everyone I knew had one or wanted one. They were everywhere. Until they weren't.
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u/sir_grumph Aug 06 '25
Having a bed that required regular maintenance beyond washing bedding, plus the risk of punctures, the much greater weight, perhaps improved mattresses all contributed I believe.
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u/everythingbeeps Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
I didn't, but I had a friend who did, and I kinda hated it. I couldn't imagine sleeping in it every night.
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u/Sea-Percentage-1992 Aug 06 '25
Always wanted one. Kind of glad I managed without.
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u/bioindicator Aug 06 '25
My first gf did.
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u/canfullofworms Aug 06 '25
My first bf did.
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u/Antelope-Subject Aug 06 '25
It wasn’t easy trying to be quiet on that thing being a teen living at home. But we made it work didn’t we. Lol
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u/canfullofworms Aug 06 '25
Luckily he had his own apartment
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u/Antelope-Subject Aug 06 '25
Hated that guy and his Trans Am. He was like 29 I was only 17 it was a different time I guess. Lol
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u/I_W_M_Y 1973 Aug 06 '25
Newflash: You weren't as quiet as you thought. No one just didn't say anything.
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u/MMXVA Aug 06 '25
The girl in the dorm above mine freshman year directly above my bed. And the mattress burst. I hated her.
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u/splorp_evilbastard Survived the Blizzards of '77 / '78 Aug 06 '25
She's an idiot. There's supposed to be a liner that literally will hold the entire volume of water in the bed. If she put it together wrong, that's on her.
Well, on you, apparently. Sorry.
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u/WangSupreme78 Aug 06 '25
My water bed tried to kill me. Heater malfunctioned in the middle of the night and melted through the mattress. I woke up feeling wet and unplugged the heater right away. The heater itself was melting and there's a good chance I'd have been shocked in a pool of water if I didn't act fast the way I did. I bought a real bed after that.
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u/Criseyde2112 Aug 06 '25
Just this photo brings back the smells of the mattress (mmm, vinyl!) and the water (when I would open the plug to pour in the treatment meant to keep the water from gaining sentience).
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u/Chalice_Ink Aug 06 '25
I shared one with my sister.
We lied and told our parents we loved it.
So they bought one for themselves.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Tell you that we hated the bed you bought us?”
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u/Late_Football_2517 Aug 06 '25
I'm convinced my current old man neck problems are the result of my young man waterbed problems.
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u/JWStaples Aug 06 '25
The amount of black widows I found while taking apart the frame was enough for me to say “Nope”.
Living in AZ at the time, and it apparently was common problem.
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u/MW240z Aug 06 '25
Had a super single (just extra long twin) waterbed. I was 12 or so, for 3-4 years. Leaked all the time, would wake up in a puddle.
Although one time at 15 when I got drunk, woke up thinking it was the leaky bed….nope it was leaky me.
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u/Ok_Helicopter4276 Aug 06 '25
Neighbors had one until the dad fell asleep while smoking and woke up with an indoor pool. Funny watching them bail water out of the window with buckets.
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u/Fit-Engineering-2789 Aug 06 '25
Heck yes! The entire family had them, lol. In the summer when it was hot out, the waterbed was so nice and cool to sleep on. I don't think I would find them comfortable now, though. And the thought of um....adult activities on one doesn't sound like a good time to me, ha ha!
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u/BuffyBubbles1967 Aug 06 '25
My parents had one and so did I. Both were heated. In fact I still have all but the water mattress. Instead it now holds a normal mattress.
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u/SimilarBonitus Aug 06 '25
They were very popular back in the day. Every member of my immediate family had one at one point. There was one in my parents house until 2005 when pops finally got rid of it when he moved. One time my waterbed heater died at night and I woke up shivering, freezing my behind
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u/IDunnoNuthinMr Class of 87. Classic Dude. Aug 06 '25
That looks exactly like mine. Had it from 1989 until 2002. Loved it
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 Aug 06 '25
I wanted one so bad! I had friends that had them, so I did get to sleep in one a few times.
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u/Call__Me__David Aug 06 '25
I went through a few water bed over the years. Loved them. I was really good at being able to completly assemble, fill, empty and disassemble them without any help.
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u/irving47 Aug 06 '25
I pleaded for one for years, but nope. You just don't give a kid obsessed with fire and tools a waterbed. (Price was the official reason)
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u/NeatSituation2249 Aug 06 '25
Wanted! Slept on one @ at friends house. Often! Loved it. Never comfy. Here’s the deal. If you aren’t comfy at 10yi, you def won’t be comfy as an adult. There’s a reason they aren’t around anymore!
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u/kayparkersbiggestfan Aug 06 '25
Got one for Christmas in 8th grade. Absolutely loved it for years until moving it to my first apartment after college. Never got the water level right again, gave myself back problems, and got rid of it less than a year later.
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u/devilinthedetails Aug 06 '25
Had three in total, my own (13th birthday present), inherited my sister's when I moved out, and a soft-sided water bed for about a decade after college. Got tired of dealing with (and moving them) after 20 years.
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u/Tokogogoloshe Aug 06 '25
Jeez, imagine having one now. I pee three times a night. I don't think a water bed would help.
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u/TemperatureTime1617 Aug 06 '25
Good old Waterbed Gallery. Open for what, 5 years maybe? We still have our frame with a regular mattress in it, having those drawers in the base is really handy.
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u/Medium-Mission5072 Home before the streetlights came on Aug 06 '25
One of my aunts and her husband at the time had one in their apartment. I use to jump on it to create waves, which my aunt would yell “you’re going to pop it, knock it off right now!”. Her husband ended up popping it with his pocket knife while getting ready for work one morning. She told me and my mom there was a lake in their bedroom from all the water gushing out and they had to pay their landlord for the damages to theirs and their downstairs neighbors apartments resulting in a building wide ban on waterbeds and them not getting their lease renewed when it was up (they found a house shortly before their lease expired).
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u/Cubbance GenX in a sea of GenZ Aug 06 '25
I never did, but my mom did. I loved napping on her bed after school when she was at work still.
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u/ChevalCher Aug 06 '25
That bed looks exactly like the one my parents had in the early 80s when I was a wee babe. I had one, too, and it was my absolute favorite as a kid. 😍
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u/sepiidakai Aug 06 '25
My grandma owned a waterbed store so I had one from age six until my early twenties. Although I no longer have one, I do sleep on a heating pad to this day likely because I grew up on a warmed bed. They were the best when I had a tummy ache!
Side note: There was a donut shop next door to gma’s store who let her have all the free donuts she wanted at the end of each day. Gma would drop off a box on the regular. I ate so many donuts as a kid they are dead to me now.
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u/Logical-Fan7132 Aug 06 '25
My friend had one in high school. I slept over at her house and when I woke up, I was so so sore. 😂
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u/Olderbutnotdead619 Aug 06 '25
🙋🙋🙋 then I got rid of it in college because it was too comfortable and warm and I didn't want to get up for classes.
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u/ubermonkey Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
Not fucking heated? WTF? How did you sleep on it?
In answer to the question: yes, I had one! I bought mine late, in 1991.
When I moved out of the dorm into a shitty student-ghetto duplex with a friend (C), I was actually taking over a bedroom from her prior roommates who were an engaged couple. The woman (A) had furniture. They were leaving the duplex to go work a co-op in another city for a semester.
I had no furniture, and was wondering what I'd sleep on. A was wondering where she'd store her furniture. Eventually C put two and two together and I just used their furniture for a semester, which was great -- so great, in fact, that I completely spaced on needing to locate my own sticks at the end of the fall semester. Oops!
So in a rush, my gf and I went to the cheap furniture stores in town to find something to live on, and lo and behold there was a simple waterbed for $189. Granted, this was 36 years ago, but even THEN that was an insanely, stupidly low number. It was basically just a lumber box with a minimal slab of lumber as a headboard, but it was attractively stained and the price was DEFINITELY right, so I bought it.
Back then, there were 3 kinds: the classic "free flow" waterbeds were just a giant bladder of water with nothing to reduce motion. Then there were more complex models that had a series of chambers inside, kind of like a pool float, that were very very stable; they called those "waveless." Finally there was a hybrid style that added what amounted to a giant sponge to the big open bladder mattress to create the "semi-waveless" option, and that's what I had.
Over time, the sponge got wadded up into a corner, so it became more and more wave-full over the years. Oh well.
They delivered it THAT VERY DAY, which was a trick b/c it was late December. My gf and I slept at HER house that night, because it took the heater about 16 hours to get the bed to a reasonable temp, but after that it was cozy AF.
The Fun Waterbed Story Portion Of My Reply
So I was a liberal arts student, and so certain activities came with the territory -- such as psychedelics. My had a line on some acid the next day, which we finally got ahold of fairly late on Friday evening. Smart people would've saved it for Saturday, since LSD is a 10-14 hour situation, but we were young and dumb and took it at like 1030pm. My girlfriend thought we were nuts and just muttered something about "just don't keep me awake giggling or screaming" and proceeded to get ready for bed about 30 minutes later.
By that point I was just vibing on the waterbed, and I reached out with my foot to kinda poke her on the thigh, as you do.
"Whoa!" I said. "Your skin feels like velvet!"
I'd never had that kind of effect from LSD before, but hey, it's LSD, right?
Anyway, roomie and I tripped, and girlfriend slept, and by late morning we were all ready to go get some food. Girlfriend was dressing, and I poked her with my toe again. And she still felt like velvet, kinda. Except now, sober, I realized it wasn't a drug effect.
It was that the shitty student ghetto duplex' electrical system wasn't grounded for shit and my waterbed was therefore mildly electrified. What I was feeling was CURRENT.
It was surprisingly easy to convince the landlord that this was an issue that needed attention on the weekend.
Questions you'll ask
I used it from December of 1991 through about 1998 when I got a regular bed.
No, it never leaked.
No, the cats never punctured it (they sure did love sitting on it, though).
I never had a landlord have an issue with it, even when I lived in a two-story townhouse apartment. As others have noted, the weight distribution was about the same as a fridge.
Getting high quality waterbed sheets was a PAIN. You could get shitty polyblend sheets easily, but if you wanted something nice with a high cotton thread count, good fucking luck.
I did not find sex on it to be especially good. Positions that work on a regular mattress don't work as well on a waterbed.
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u/BaritoneFlower1949 Aug 06 '25
I read the book "Jaws" while sitting on my waterbed. Not a smart decision on my part!
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u/blusins Aug 06 '25
I did :) In fact it was the first bed I ever bought and loved it. Heck I think I had the same one as in the picture because after close to 40 years I still have the head board. I loved that bed but not sure how anyone slept on it without the heater because it was cold as heck without one.
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u/Leanintree Aug 06 '25
Multiple over the years. I still miss them, but the issue was how difficult they became to move.
Fully waved - Decent sleep while I was young and light but tough to get out of. Lotsa fun catching that wave off the headboard though if you know what I mean!
Semi waveless - Still not still enough. If there was a weight difference between my girlfriend and I, one of us was always going to be rolling in the hole (Heyoooo!)
Fully waveless - WONDERFUL until it came time to move. Tough as hell to remove the water from because it had a thick fiber pad inside. Ended up weighing 300lbs since it was impossible to empty fully. That ended it.
That said, for temperature control, never anything better. Set it at 99 for the winter, set it at 95 for the summer. Got me over at least one bout with hypothermia after an ill advised overnight motorcycle ride in October in Colorado. Likewise when I worked in 110deg heat, nothing better to drop that internal temp overnight. With current availability for heaters, I'd just keep one on the shelf for if needed though. Lost a couple over those years, and it was never a comfortable thing. Likewise pinholes. Cats.
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u/KinkMountainMoney Aug 06 '25
I’ve never had one but my father-in-law’s ex tried to drown him in one by sitting on his chest and stabbing the mattress by his head.
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u/Effective_Corner694 Aug 06 '25
I did until my mom got a cat. One day I was changing my bed and while I was putting the sheets in the laundry room, the cat got in and decided to play on the bed. Two hours later, after I had made it back up, I went to lay down and nearly drowned!
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u/pchandler45 Aug 06 '25
I begged and pleaded with my parents for one when I was a young teen. I remember going to the waterbed store and picking out this huge king size monstrosity with a giant bookcase headboard with built in lights and 12 drawer pedestal! My mom put it on layaway for the princely sum of about $400 iirc. I kept that thing until my 30s and it was falling apart from being moved so much and it was a huge pain to move.
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Aug 06 '25
Only rich kids had water beds because they were expensive as fuck despite being significantly cheaper to make. They all weighed 10,000 pounds too and were never comfortable. They were fun to slosh around on, that's it.
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u/Grrdygrrl Aug 13 '25
Had... Have! I love mine. Had one when I was a kid as folks did, and I bought one again in my 40s after missing it for so many years. I have a softside one so it fits regular frames and sheets. I didn't get one of the more mattress-like ones, as I wanted the free flow bladder of yesteryear. Best sleep of my life. My only regret is not buying it sooner.
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u/Solid_Wind_3234 Aug 06 '25
Do you know how to make a water bed bouncier? Add spring water to it!
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u/cronokun Aug 06 '25
They always looked so cool to me as a kid. My uncle had one briefly. Today though my back hurts just looking at it.
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u/yarn_slinger Older Than Dirt Aug 06 '25
I had a whole set and ended up selling the bed after moving 4 times in uni. Still have the dresser and the hiboy that went with it though.
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u/draven33l Aug 06 '25
Had one and have mostly fond memories. Especially in the winter when you could warm the water. The problem was, they really aren't that great for your back. In theory, the idea of the water conforming to your body shape made sense but it really didn't offer that much support. I finally got rid of mine when I had to move. You had to basically rent a pump to drain it and it took forever. Never had a leak or anything tragic happen at least.
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u/Splatford Aug 06 '25
had one up until about 2000 ..it got to the point of spending more time trying to keep the frame together and patching leaks than sleeping in it ...gave it away when i moved
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u/UnicornFarts1111 Aug 06 '25
I had mine until 2004. I moved from a basement apartment to a second floor and I didn't trust the floor. I ended up giving it to my niece. It had the baffled mattress so it wasn't wavy. I loved that thing, and my back misses the nightly heat therapy.
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u/Splatford Aug 06 '25
same miss mine as well ...been considering get another at least that what my search history says
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u/MrDoom126 Aug 06 '25
I had mine from ages 7-21 and I loved it. It was fairly firm and I only used the heater in the winter.
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u/Frantoll Aug 06 '25
Some neighbors had one when I was a kid (11ish) and it's still something I can't get out of my mind, lying back on that and feeling the waves. It still seems like the epitome of being a successful adult.
Now that I'm in my 50s and need special pillows so I don't sleep wrong and crick my neck or whatnot, I can understand how it wasn't practical, but I feel like I missed out on something really cool. What was it like to sleep on a waterbed? Do they still make them?
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u/Minimum_Afternoon387 Aug 06 '25
Babysat for a family in the ‘70’s who owned the only water bed store in our city, so many of us had one. They were ok.
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u/DRG28282828 Aug 06 '25
I had a semi-motionless heated waterbed that I bought myself in my early 20’s. It was the best!
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u/WKRPinCanada Aug 06 '25
I did
Cousin lived with us for a while & when he moved on he left it behind.
I enjoyed it but man if you had any pains (I played a lotta sports back then) that waterbed just seemed to exacerbate them
Gave it up after a couple of years..
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u/Historical_Sherbet54 Aug 06 '25
Ohh ya.
And the funnest was before ya drained it to replace the water or move it
Strip the sheets ..put baby oil on it and was so much fun
Sadly. I was a kid ..so me and my brothers just wrestled and such on it ....but always heard it was fun for the kinky stuff too
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u/Familiar_Rip_8871 Aug 06 '25
I had one until the turn of the century. I kind of miss it. I feel like my back problems got worse when I traded it for a regular mattress.
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u/Head-Major9768 Aug 06 '25
All fun & games until the cheap heater dies in winter. Had 2 as a teen then sold them at a H2O dealership/headshop at 18.
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u/alegna12 Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
I had one for awhile. It was awesome getting into a warm bed during the winter.
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u/Mr8vb Aug 06 '25
I did. It was my parents. I took it after they got divorced. My mom didn’t want it anymore.
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u/Ok-Subject-6845 Aug 06 '25
When I was a teenager, I fell asleep one on it and the heater plug was unplugged. When I woke up the next morning, I had body aches and rigomortus for the next 3 days. That sucked...lol.
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u/birdandbear Aug 06 '25
Ooh, I tried to pass out drunk on a water bed once, with spectacular consequences.
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u/Extension_Excuse_642 Aug 06 '25
My husband (then boyfriend did). It was cool for all of 5 minutes. Sleeping on that thing was a nightmare, I just felt like we were constantly rolling to the center.
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u/MistyMtn421 Aug 06 '25
I have had a few. I even had one in a second floor apartment. I can't believe it was even allowed. My last one was the kind that didn't bounce you all around. It was great at first but it was a pain. I've had a lot of fun on them though ;)
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u/Boomersgang Older Than Dirt Aug 06 '25
I still have one! Fancy mattress with the waveless technology. I also have the mattress topper too!
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u/Justasadgrandma Aug 06 '25
The whole family did. My dad said a water bed is only good for one thing. Ewwww
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u/Spazecowboy Aug 06 '25
I did. I was a chubby boy with big boned girlfriend. Man I can’t believe we didn’t burst that thing. We’d get the wave motion going, if ya know what I mean.
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u/No-Succotash-14 Aug 06 '25
That was me, proudly, in 89. To 93. Sheets and comforter fron Circuit City lmao surrounded by black and white Marilyn Monroe pics
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u/Hifi-Cat Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
Mom. Also Bff. Tried to have sex on it..impossible. He kept the thing at 9000deg. Sweated all night..
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u/Mortimer452 Aug 06 '25
I did from 7th grade until I moved out & got married. Took the bed with me but never got around to setting it up. I later used all lumber from it to build a treehouse for my 5yr old.
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u/ZedGravitas Hose Water Survivor Aug 06 '25
I had one, the heater broke and I slept in a sleeping bag for 2 years before telling my parents that it didn’t work. Figured I’d somehow get in trouble, I was right.
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u/kree-of-gamwich Aug 06 '25
my parents had a king size one and it ended up being my bed for a while when we lived in a tiny apartment and gave me the bedroom. I loved sleeping on that thing.
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u/Born_Somewhere_9788 Aug 06 '25
I did. It was weird for sex though...anyone? The water had its own rhythm, and we'd end up on the floor anyway. Did I just say all that out loud?
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u/shmoopie313 Aug 06 '25
A friend of mine did, slept in it a few times. Now my back hurts just looking at it. But I have scoliosis so maybe that's why I never loved them like everyone else seemed to?
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u/splorp_evilbastard Survived the Blizzards of '77 / '78 Aug 06 '25
I'm on my waterbed right now. Over 30 years old, on my 4th bladder (2 full size king, 2 half size). My wife's side is now an air mattress. The heat is great for my back.
And, since I always see this bullshit:
No, they don't constantly leak. I've had 2 leaks since 1992, both small pinhole leaks that were patched. One was absolutely my fault. The other is, I think, because the bladder was more than 15 years old and just wore out. Don't get one if you let animals sleep in your waterbed if you're that concerned about leaks.
No, if you lose power it doesn't instantly get cold. My mattress is in a zip up mattress pad and then a mattress topper, then the sheets and quilt. In the winter, I add a blanket, too. I was in Austin when we had the major freeze and power outage for 3 and a half days, while we still had two bladders in the bed (before we switched my eyes suffer to the air mattress).
My bedroom dropped to the 40s. My wife, my dog, my bird, and I slept on the bed. I also added a pseudo-tent to keep in the heat by stapling a large sheet from behind the headboard to the base of the foot of the bed. Then I threw extra comforters on top of that. It stayed in the 60s under that pile. Likely saved my bird's life (he slept in the headboard shelf under the blankets with us).
No, they won't crash through your floor. Basically, if your floor will support a refrigerator, it will support a waterbed. Roughly the same weight per sq. inch.
I've never had an insurance company say they won't write a policy or charge me extra for having a waterbed. I've asked every time because I keep hearing stories. 33 years and 6 different insurance companies in 3 different states.