Waterbed opinions - softside vs. hardside
Feb 3, 2011 1:45 PM
Joined: Jun 27, 2010
Points: 3
Hi, I've been reminiscing about days when I could sleep without pain and my waterbed (old hardsided bladder-style with baffles/fiberfill) keeps coming up in my mind. The only time I've slept as comfortably since then was on a tempurpedic mattress, until canoeing started.

So do any of you still remember yours fondly? I've thought about getting a softsided one for easier entry/exit and linen changing, and to keep my cats from putting holes in the mattress. Has anyone slept on both soft and hardsided, and if so, how do they compare?

Re: Waterbed opinions - softside vs. hardside
Reply #1 Feb 3, 2011 7:02 PM
Joined: Dec 13, 2009
Points: 26
I sleep on a 100% waveless hardside waterbed.  Absolutely love it and nothing like the old water filled bladder that people think of when you say waterbed.

I have tried softside at a store and didn't really like it.  It had a pad on top and you lost that feeling of being close to the water, hard to explain.

Waterbeds are one of the best kept secrets and people should definitely consider them.  You won't get a lot of responses here, this is a latex fanboy sitewink

Re: Waterbed opinions - softside vs. hardside
Reply #2 Feb 4, 2011 12:41 PM
Joined: Jun 27, 2010
Points: 3
Yeah I know people here are fans of latex and memory foam. We had two Tempur-pedics, the first one was a queen and was the demo unit that we picked up cheap. I think the only reason it was so great was that there was a sprayed on polyurethane foam backing on the underside of the cover, making it waterproof. No sweat getting into the foam. It worked--our puking cats proved it probably 100 times over. The next one was king due to the increase in family size and it sucked so bad. Canoeing. Ugh, Discomfort City!

 

Hmmmm, I'd prefer going with soft-side, again, cats. Lots of them! We had a hardside one with baffles and I do miss it. I think it would be so ideal for side sleeping, which is what we prefer to do, though I spend a chunk of the night on my tummy. Mostly because it has cushion to mask the horridness that is our current bed setup.

 

We're supposed to look at a single-bladder waveless king softside today or tomorrow and it only has 2 layers between it and the top cover. I hope it's not too much, but just enough for cat claws to avoid doing damage. There's also one with the tubes. I can see an upside to that if you need to move the bed, and maybe to keep one sleeper from bottoming out when another sleeper climbs out of bed. I recall that happened with our old bed, but it might've been underfilled.

Re: Waterbed opinions - softside vs. hardside
Reply #3 Feb 4, 2011 10:21 PM
Joined: Jan 27, 2011
Points: 4
I am currently in a hardside 90% waveless (thought it was an 85% but I was wrong) and getting into it is absolute bliss.  Then 3 hours later my fingers start to fall asleep and my low back begins to ache.  In the morning, rolling out of it and draging myself to the upright position is hell, my back is stiff and stabbing pain shoots to my hips, my shoulders ache from lifting myself out of the bed. (I am quite heavy)  It has been 25 years in water land....time to dry off and find a new bed for me.

PS...An extra thick mattress pad has kept my cats toe nails out just fine.  Only 1 incident in 10 years.

Miz

Waterbeds - opinions
Reply #4 Sep 18, 2012 9:00 PM
Joined: Sep 18, 2012
Points: 1
What a relief to finally find a Forum JUST FOR Waterbeds!

ImJay, thank you especially for the detailed descriptions of what you bought (Dreamweaver) and where, and what you added to yours for more comfort.  (I'm leaning towards down instead of laytex unless that doesn't work.)

Question from a waterbed novice:  Do the instructions with the bladder explain "burping" and when to stop filling it with water?  (Too much can make it uncomfortably hard, I gather.)  Any tips on setting one up would be greatly appreciated.

Like so many others, beds as we knew them are no more.  The old fashioned one lasted an amazing 21 years.  Since then the "new" beds (Sealy, S&F) lasted 3 months, 5 weeks, and 10 weeks before the "hammock" hole killed my back and thoroughly warped any circadium rythm. 

Of the laytex offerings (and scores of research hours) I found only one worth considering; however, $2500+ made zero sense for a twin bed.

I was leaning towards the soft-sided waterbed -- until finding this Forum.  Now the "hard-sided" makes more sense, especially knowing the heater can be turned off (except for the few weeks it's needed it in Florida) and the bladder can be covered to keep comfortable in spite of the cold water.

What a relief to have made a decision, and END the research of so much industry hype and so little quality!

LynnClaire