Draining The Waterbed
For a variety of reasons, mostly my bad knee, we have decided to get rid of the waterbed. And this week is when we are going to do it. We've used it for nearly 18 years, but recently I am having great trouble getting in and out of it and changing the sheets has become a big problem too. We want one of those new, Scandinavian type, firm foam beds they advertise on TV. It's "foam with a memory." Oh, if beds could talk! And not just remember.
Now, the first step is to drain the mattress, or as they say in the waterbed business -- the bladder. It's a firm-sided, California King in a beautiful solid oak frame with big drawers in the base. It is six feet wide by seven feet long. This differs from the regular king-sized mattress that's four inches wider and four inches shorter. Who comes up with these rules?
Anyway, the bed we have holds 2000 pounds of water, so carrying it out is not an option. I have purchased a plastic nozzle that you attach with a hose to the bed drain hole and the other end of the hose attaches to a faucet and somehow if you turn the faucet on the bed drains. Slowly.
The directions say it might take 90 minutes. It works! After two hours the bed seems as flat as it's going to get. There is still some water in it but it is now light enough to roll up and cart away to the backyard. Step one, done.
Now, the first step is to drain the mattress, or as they say in the waterbed business -- the bladder. It's a firm-sided, California King in a beautiful solid oak frame with big drawers in the base. It is six feet wide by seven feet long. This differs from the regular king-sized mattress that's four inches wider and four inches shorter. Who comes up with these rules?
Anyway, the bed we have holds 2000 pounds of water, so carrying it out is not an option. I have purchased a plastic nozzle that you attach with a hose to the bed drain hole and the other end of the hose attaches to a faucet and somehow if you turn the faucet on the bed drains. Slowly.
The directions say it might take 90 minutes. It works! After two hours the bed seems as flat as it's going to get. There is still some water in it but it is now light enough to roll up and cart away to the backyard. Step one, done.
Labels: home and garden
posted by Ken at 7:14 PM
1 Comments:
Ah, yes. I used to have a waterbed and eventually had to drain it (not good for my back problems, to heavy to transport to my apartment). We use a similar system now to drain our 90 gal aquarium when it needs cleaning.
Let me know what you think of the memory foam. We've contemplated getting one, but thought the foam might retain body heat too well.
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