What Happens If My Water Bed Does Not Have Enough Water in It?
- To fill the mattress initially, spread a plastic mattress liner over the bed decking on top of the heating pad. Smooth any wrinkles before first spreading a mattress pad and then the mattress itself over the liner. Pull each corner taught, and once again smooth any wrinkles as this will be your last chance to create a smooth bottom surface. Attach one end of a garden hose to a faucet, either directly or with the adapter found in any water bed fill kit, and fill the mattress to the desired level.
- A water bed mattress should be filled to a level between 1/4 and 1/2 inch below the edge of the bed frame. If more than one person will be sleeping in the bed, you may need to adjust the water level accordingly.
- If the mattress looks over-inflated, or if the center line is higher than the edges, then it is too full. Additionally, if you lay on one side of the bed and the other side rises up significantly,the mattress has too much water in it. To drain the bed, attach a hose to the fill valve and a faucet. Turn the water on for 15 seconds, then turn it off and detach the hose from the faucet. Drain the water into the sink or out a window until it reaches the correct level.
- Water beds do not have to be emptied and refilled periodically. Instead, a specially formulated water bed conditioner must be added every six months. The conditioner will kill any bacteria that may have formed inside the mattress, and it will also help minimize bubbles. If bubbles do form, eventually they will come together to form larger bubbles, which may make sleeping uncomfortable. To remove the bubbles, burp the mattress by opening the fill valve and running the handle of a broom across the top of the mattress to force the bubbles out through the hole.
