markp@azure.UUCP (Mark Paulin) (01/12/84)
I recently made the switch from a foam-core futon (read "very firm mattress") to a standard waterbed. I found several problems. Waterbeds do not "breathe." The vinyl water bag will not allow perspiration to leave your skin at its normal rate. Ever stick to a chair in the summer? Then you know what I mean about this. Thick mattress pads help some, but I still prefer my futon. I cannot find a comfortable temperature. I think this is due to the high specific heat and thermal conductivity of water. If the bed is comfortably warm when I get in, I'm bathed in sweat by morning. If it's cooler, I freeze when my body heat drops in the night, and I wake up cold. It seems as though my body heat never warms the part of the bed I'm on, again unlike my cozy futon. I find it difficult to turn over in place because the bed "squishes" so much. It's easy to *roll* over, but then I crush my girlfriend... With two people in a waterbed, the support is not even *close* to uniform. We roll to the middle every night. I don't like having to *climb* out of bed in the morning. One gets *onto* a futon bed, one gets *into* a waterbed. It's *still* better than sleeping alone on my futon... Mark Paulin ...tektronix!tekmdp!markp