Beds have been a human obsession for our entire collective history—this is normal considering we usually require sleep at least once every day. Water beds carry with them a hefty amount of mystique—they are symbols of a whole generation of sexual activity. Indeed no one would have thought water beds would become so successful when they were first mentioned in Mark Twain’s famous article “A New Beecher Church” published in 1871. Originally, in fact, water beds were designed to be the perfect hospital beds for the sick and the injured.
Water beds come in a variety of sizes and types. Sizes match the usual scale for bedding—they range from single to king-sized. The two main different types of water beds are the “soft-sided” model and the hard-sided type. The first is defined by having no side-support—it simply sits atop a reinforced bed frame. The latter’s main characteristic is the rectangular box the mattress sits within—this gives the bed better support and allows it to stay in a more consistent shape when its user is moving around on it.
Water beds have several advantages and disadvantages. Let us start with the perks of owning water beds—they offer their owners heating which can lower blood pressure and increase the quality of your sleep. Water beds also reshape to the body, increasing comfort and allowing the spine to relax more fully. Dead skin and dirt, additionally, cannot penetrate inside water beds—the mattresses are sealed to prevent them from doing this and can be washed very easily.
Downsides to water beds include the inconveniences of draining and refilling them, as well as their difficulty of transport. Leaking is another minor problem that occurs with some (usually low-quality) water beds. You won’t regret investing in water beds—they are some of the most interesting sleeping solutions of our modern age.