Waterbed Sheets and Bedding Primer- part 1

On just about every vinyl watermattress manufactured these days, there is usually a tag or sticker that warns that, among other things, a mattress pad should be used to prevent damage from body oils. This damage manifests itself as a hardening of the vinyl, which is uncomfortable and noisy. It can also crack in extreme cases. One such case comes to mind of an old customer who needed me to take a look at his waterbed. It felt like plexiglas, and had a small crack, which leaked when pushed on. After telling him this was in no way like any other problem i had ever encountered, and must be a result of some type of abuse, he finally confessed (in private) that he and his wife enjoyed covering each other in baby oil, and sliding around on the bare water mattress. While this sounds like a lot of fun, it destroyed his bed, so we do not recommend that practice. We do, however, advise that you use a fitted waterbed mattress pad to insulate, protect, and soften a vinyl watermattress. For added comfort and absorbancy you can upgrade to a quilted cotton mattress pad.