Waterbed; a bed or mattress filled with water. Seems pretty self explanatory right? Yet in 1968, when it was first presented by a man named Charles Hall during his Master's Thesis Project, it sparked a fire in the bedding industry. Between the 1970's and 1980's, the waterbed was the item that everyone wanted.
Related Blog: 5 Reasons Why You Should Own a Cool Gel Memory Foam Mattress in Sarasota, Florida
The ultimate purpose of the waterbed was to bring the sleeper complete and incomparable comfort. By sleeping on warm liquid, pressure points could be eliminated and muscles could be relaxed.
However, in the 1990's the waterbed exited the "trending" scene almost as quickly as it had entered. The amount of work required to operate this luxury basically eradicated any feelings of luxury possible. Waterbeds would commonly spring leaks, and if they needed to be fixed it almost always required additional parts. Anytime the bed had to be moved, it first had to be drained. Waterbeds were high-maintenance, causing people to no longer see the worth in running a hose through their house and into their bedroom in order to fill their mattress with hundreds of gallons of water. The industry dried up and as of today, waterbeds account for less than 5% of sales today.
Like most things in life, what started as a phenomenal invention was soon overtaken by something better, faster, and more convenient. Companies were quick to begin generating a higher level of comfort, without all the manual labor and inconvenient effort. Although waterbeds seem to be a mattress of the past, we do know that trends tend to make a reappearance in different forms. Who knows, in a couple of years maybe we will be floating on smart beds? One can only wonder.
