How the Waterbed Became a Sex Thing

how the waterbed became a sex thing 

In the year 2025, waterbeds are trying to make a comeback. And I've got feelings about this.

For those born after 1995, waterbeds peaked in the '70s and '80s as the bed of choice for sexual revolutionaries and people who thought owning a hose in your bedroom was normal.

By 1987, they accounted for 22% of all mattress sales.

Your cool uncle had one. That sketchy neighbor definitely had one.

The Original Sin

Charles Hall invented the waterbed in 1968 as a class project, and his classmates immediately dubbed it the "Pleasure Pit."

Not the "Comfort Chamber."

The Pleasure Pit. The sales pitch was sleep better, feel weightless, and enjoy the motion of the ocean without leaving your bedroom.

It was a 200-gallon vinyl bag that turned every bedroom into a nautical-themed hookup lounge.

My Childhood Trauma (A Fictional Account)

As a kid in Kentucky, I had a friend whose parents had a waterbed. Let's call him Travis.

One day, his mom asked me to grab something from her nightstand. I opened that bedroom door and immediately understood why waterbeds died.

I took one step onto the edge, and the entire bed rippled like I'd thrown a boulder into a pond.

I heard the glug glug glug of water sloshing inside. I grabbed what she needed and got out of there, never speaking of it again.

But I knew. I knew what that bed was for.

Why They Disappeared

Waterbeds fell out of favor for good reasons.

You had to run a garden hose through your house to fill them with up to 200 gallons of water.

If it sprang a leak, you were explaining to your landlord why there's a small lake in your bedroom. Most rentals banned them outright.

They required constant maintenance, adding conditioner, checking for leaks, cleaning vinyl. It was like owning a pool that you slept on.

Then memory foam showed up, and nobody wanted to risk flooding their apartment anymore.

The 2025 Comeback

So why are they back? Hall launched a new company promising "reimagined" waterbeds with better materials and temperature controls.

Modern versions are softsided, look like regular mattresses, and claim to help with back pain and temperature regulation.

But let's not kid ourselves. The waterbed's legacy is sealed.

It will always be the bed you bought when you wanted people to know you were that guy. The guy with the lava lamp, shag carpet, and three Zeppelin vinyls.