When most people think of waterbeds, they picture a bed from the 70's or 80's that was like riding a wave at sea every time you got on the bed. As you laid down to go to sleep at night, you sank into a hole in the center because you could never fill up the single water compartment enough to give you any real support, and your body was just too heavy. The waterbeds tended to lose water, whether through evaporation or slow leak, very quickly, and you couldn't have sharp objects around the bed, with girls even having to be careful of long fingernails. All of this made waterbeds a fun and exciting fad that faded pretty quickly.

Today, you probably can't think of a single reason why you would want to have a waterbed. Nonetheless, they are still on the market and, with the new design of these beds, they've become quite popular again. The way they are structured, you'll never sink into the middle again, you'll have an incredibly difficult time trying to puncture the mattress, and you'll find a great level of support combined with custom contouring that makes waterbeds today more comfortable than many other types of beds. In fact, these modern beds are more comfortable than standard mattresses.

Here's a quick overview of how the waterbed has been modernized to make it more practical and a lot more comfortable. First of all, the water is no longer held in a single compartment. Instead, an inner chamber holds several tubes of water that can be removed one at a time and refilled should they become too empty, and, should the bed be too firm, you can simply remove a tube to create more fluid movement. Also, the water tubes are not directly accessible from the top of the mattress. Several layers go between you and the water tubes, making the waterbed virtually indestructible from your poking and prodding.

After pulling a protective plastic cover over the water tubes, there are usually two foam layers on top of the water tubes, the first thick and flat and the second with the egg carton shape for support and contouring. These offer enough protection themselves, but the packing doesn't end there. In order to assure that you won't sink into the mattress, you will zip the entire mattress closed, leaving it to appear like any other standard mattress, and the waterbed usually has a mattress topper enclosed for that added support.

With all the changes that have been made, the modern waterbed has become a standard in the home once again. These contemporary beds are almost impossible to puncture or destroy in any fashion. Waterbed mattresses can now be used with all sorts of high end bedroom furniture, including king size platform beds and wood and iron beds. Of course, to support the weight, you'll need a king size metal bed frame. All of the added padding gives you the support you need and the protection the waterbed needs while still offering that liquid motion and comfort. New waterbeds are amazing, and while they evolved from a lesser model of the past, they show few traces of the same weaknesses.