Water beds are outdated!

My wife and I slept in one for about the first two months of marriage. I like our pillow top regular mattress far better than most other beds.

We once bought a flat where the previous owner had a waterbed. Didn't even noticed when we viewed the flat but discovered upon moving in that the wall to wall carpet was indeed wall to wall but with a large rectangular hole in the middle where the waterbed had been placed!

Been there, done that, no plans to do it again:)

Oh yes I had a waterbed once, way back in the 80's. When my home was burgled, every single item was removed ...even my tax records... The one exception was the Waterbed ! Smart thieves. That thing cost a fortune back then, but it was horrible! Pic below is the only kinda waterbed I need.

Only got on one once. Made me nauseous.

I think they are for a particular time and place and neither of those are near me!

Had a waveless waterbed for years and never woke with a backache. Now I have sleep number, only thing that is just as comfortable but weighs a whole lot less!

Wow, am I the only one who likes them and remembers them with fondness?

My dad gave us a king-sized waterbed for our wedding present back in 1983. It had a baffled mattress on a high platform so it didn't "wave" and had drawers and storage space underneath with a large bookcase style headboard. The mattress is no more, but we still use the frame of the bed today, although it's pretty beat up by now and we think sometimes of getting something new. I could never live without the bookcase style headboard, though. So handy!

We have so many fond memories of getting the bed. There were many large boxes of unassembled bed that we somehow crammed into our 1974 VW van (a wedding gift from HIS folks) to transport 3 hours to the town where we were living, including the huge one-piece headboard. When my husband went to set it up the first time, he discovered that NO holes had been pre-drilled despite the instructions that said "Your bed pieces have been pre-drilled at the factory . . ." So he had to figure it all out from scratch.

The problem with this behemoth of a bed is that as newlyweds, we moved about 5 times with it. Finding a place with a large enough bedroom to accommodate the bed was not easy! The first time we drained the mattress and collapsed it to move, the baffles came disconnected, and while it was still relatively wave-free, it was never quite right after that. (I still think it was a very comfortable bed and sometimes still miss it.) Tearing it down and setting it all up was quite a production. After about 12 years, the mattress finally sprung a leak and we replaced it with a regular mattress, which we still have. And then we moved two more times with it, to a third-floor walkup apartment and then to the house we finally bought last year.

It was great on cold winter nights to climb into that wonderful preheated bed. It was the best bed for snuggling with toddlers on cold days or for comfort if you felt sick. And to keep the heat in we always made the bed every day -- something we don't do anymore! But it was amazing how much our electric bill went down after we got rid of the heater.

I do think waterbeds have gone the way of our 1974 VW van (and I don't miss the VW at all) but I love the memories just the same.

There's a reason there isn't a waterbed / head shop in every shady part of town anymore!

The year was 1979 and my husband and I bought our son one, who at the time was almost 10 years old and he just had to have one! A friend of his had one. But need less to say, he wasn't able to make the bed at the time...so guess who had to do it...MOM! However he did learn to make his bed, because he kept that bed until he went off to college.

My husband and I tried it out once and I found it to be very unsteady...all the movement of water beneath me did not make a restful/peaceful sleep.

Bought one in 1979. Still sleeping on it and have no plans to change, I stay in a lot of hotels for work and really miss it. Warm when you get in, no pressure on your joints, no baffles and have never been bothered by the motion, in fact I enjoy it. Do have a good mattress pad and find the secret is to have the fill right for firmness. Also jersey sheets stay on the best.

Difficult to get out of one of those things...no way!!!

We would have to say no way!!

hsmeghan, you should have kept the V.W.Kombi Van ( now very collectable) and dumped that water bed ! lol. Loved your story just the same, ah yes the heated waterbed, the worlds dumbest dumb invention. What were we thinking ?

I so miss my waterbed from the early 80s. It was built like a giant castle with full mirror canopy, drawers on both sides and in the very center the most favored spot for my kids to hide when playing hide n' seek.

To rosecafe -- LOL! Don't get me started on stories about our VW van! The 1974 vans were unique in that they changed something in the engine that year and then changed it again the next, so getting parts for it was quite a hassle. It had a dual carburetor system that didn't fire right so it didn't run well. My husband's dad and uncle bought a dual carb conversion kit and then tried to figure out how to install it. They drilled new holes in it and did all sorts of things to make it fit. Later a local VW repair guy was amazed to discover they had installed it backwards!

We've had three Volkswagen vehicles, all of which have some special memories. Dh's first car was a '68 bug affectionately named "Baby," and we also had a Rabbit that was really a fun car to drive (that was the car I ended up in a 65-foot ravine with one slippery winter morning -- no one hurt, car was fine except for a blown tire, but it took 2 tow trucks to get the car out of there!). I'm glad we're out of our VW phase of life.

"It's not a car, it's a Volkswagen" -- you can say that again! LOL!

As for the waterbed, my husband says he still misses the warmth and comfort of that bed when his muscles were aching. It would have been great for him after his car accident when he broke his leg and hip, but by then it was long gone.

Ah, memories of VWs and waterbeds -- I so miss the 70s!

No way. They're fun and comfortable to sleep in, but 99% of them are too low, and they're way too much trouble. Plus I'm a violent sleeper and kill myself on the high rails. A good friend of mine still has one, though, and refuses to give it up even in her late 60s.

Hsmeghan, lol right back at ya ! Installing it backwards is not something you want to do with a waterbed! Sounds like your Vee Dub ought to have had an unfilled waterbed installed and an air compressor under the dash board (early air bag) to keep you all safe on those unexpected down hill runs. A famously colorful town called Nimbin, here in Australia once had its main street lined with Kombis, why? Hippies still livin in them! The Kombis are gone now but the 70s surely do remain alive up there, recently the local Bong & Grass Cafe burned down. They just let it burn, and whole town was high ! Ah, perhaps you should visit. Bring some Flower stickers and a smiley face or two : )

horrendous, had a series of these throughout my first marriage, as my then husband was a true believer. Over the years they morphed from a big bag of water to tubes of water inside a foam rubber frame. Low, plywood platform supporting this.... hated it.

ETA, again, why this question, why is Houzz asking????? Considering a waterbed vertical?

No way. I remember having one of those when I was pregnant, ha (she's 32 now). But when my husband would get out of bed before me, I would get sloshed around and ended up on my side with my fat stomach. Do you know how hard it is to roll over on a wave of water when you've got a belly full of (well call it water) water and baby? A good exercise :)

Had one in the '80s.... That was enough. :)

I had one for about 20 years (I actually used to sell them in a waterbed store when I was young) Switched to a memory foam pillow top. After 15 years of that I recently switched back. Beginning stages of arthritis and pain in my joints upon wakiing (shoulders especially, I'm a side sleeper) brought me back, No pressure points, can set the temp where you like, and I'm full wave all the way, no baffles. I found a mint condition oak 6 drawer pedestal queen frame with mirrored headboard on Craigslist for peanuts, and am so happy to have my waterbed back.

Never, ever again. Once you move even one finger the waves start in and in no time you are motion sick. And they leak. Enough said.

I had one, 20 years ago, it had baffles (so no crazy waves). I kept mine filled to where it was pretty firm; now I have a memory foam mattress and I will never switch from it!

My ex-husband and I had a waterbed many years ago. For the first few months of my pregnancy, I had to sleep in a normal bed or get sick. For the last few months I had to roll and slosh around until i could get up enough momentum to get out of the bed.

Rosecafe, we had a giant waterbed for a while as well. Actually, I used to joke about our boat being a giant sofa for my husband to take his nap.

Waterbed saved my back from hurting when I worked in a factory pushing steel around. Need my waterbed back!!

When I was pregnant with my 2nd child, my husband surprised me with a waterbed for our anniversary. I loved it! We had it for about 14 years. It was semi-waveless. We had to replace the mattress once and the heater once. I would probably still have it but the 2nd mattress started leaking (I think the cat we had at the time got in our room and scratched it). Since my husband was tired of it anyway, we switched to a pillow top mattress. I have very fond memories of my waterbed.

Love mine, think the european ones must be different it's got microfibre inside for extra stability and with care to remove any air in it when putting in the conditioner it doesn't slosh around or make any noise. Its warm and very comfortable. It is a little harder to get out of than an ordinary bed but that's just technique.
The only time it wasn't great was for a few weeks after my knee replacement, it was on the same side as I get out so my usual technique was too painfull, but as everything was painful at that time I'm not sure an ordinary bed would have been any better - it wasn't in hospital!
The only time mine has leaked was when I left a sewing needle stuck in my lapel, forgot threw it on the bed and piled a load of stuff on top. Only realised when I got into bed, luckily I had a patch kit.
No plans to change it, that degree of comfort costs thousands more in a bed.

P.S. In my experience those that laugh loudest and hardest have never actually slept on a waterbed never mind owned one.

Been there, done that. My husband loved our waterbed but I didn't sleep for 26 years! lol

I'm late to the conversation but I have had mine since either 1978 or 1979 - I wake up refreshed daily and sleep soundly. Getting ready to move and will retire it for a Sleep Number bed, only because it's so difficult to drain, move and set back up. Certainly one of my best investments.

I wouldn't sleep on anything else!