Waterbed solution is an essential accessory to have around the house if you happen to own a waterbed. Waterbed conditioner solutions and anti bubble solutions often come as a one pack solution
and are essential for maintaining your waterbed bladder and extending the life of the mattress as long as possible, as well as noise reduction in the case of anti-bubble solutions.
Unfortunately the water in a waterbed bladder can have a tendency to go bad or essentially stagnant if it isn’t treated regularly. Molds grow from bacteria suspended in the water and the only way to inhibit and prevent their growth is by using a waterbed conditioner.
Inhibiting the growth of mold is important as these molds can give rise to nasty aromas as well as having a detrimental effect on the constituent vinyl on the inner walls of the mattress. Most conditioners do exactly what they say on the tin, they condition the water and they condition the inner vinyl to improve life expectancy of the bladder.
Using a water bed conditioner isn’t particularly difficult. Treatments often come in liquid form or tablet form. Tablets make dosing the waterbed bladder easy but most proprietary solutions come with clear instructions depending on the size of the mattress and the last time, if at all, that you last conditioned the mattress. Most solutions or tablet treatments only need to be carried out once a year and if used on an annual basis do not require the removal of the water in the bladder.
If you never got round to treating the water in the mattress, or if you have inherited or bought the bed second hand and don’t know whether the bladder has been treated regularly before, then it may often be best to start fresh. Drain the mattress using a drain kit, rinse the mattress and refill with fresh water then add your conditioner treatment in liquid or tablet form. Once you have done this just maintain the treatment frequency. Alternatively if draining the mattress is difficult always consider that something is better than nothing and condition the mattress anyway, some manufacturers will give guidance of doses for this type of situation.
If you have a new bed then follow the instructions on the waterbed conditioner solution packet. Usually with the bladder already filled you just add a prescribed amount through the vent and allow the treatment to disperse through the water under it own steam.
When using waterbed solution see if you can find a brand that also has anti bubble solution included such as Blue Magic Waterbed Conditioner. Alternatively you can reduce the air in the mattress whilst you treat the bladder by coaxing air in the bed toward the vent hole as part of the same operation as adding a tablet or solution conditioner. Getting rid of air from the mattress can considerably quieten down your mattress.
Warning : In all honesty trying to create your own waterbed conditioning solution just isn’t worth it. All treatments, be they conditioner solutions/tablets or anti bubble are easy to get from any waterbed store on the net and as packages are small and light transportation by courier or mail is often very reasonable. Alternatively if you use a home brew solution who knows what effect it could have on the bladder, six months down the line the vinyl could be weakened to the point it weep or break badly, all for saving a few dollars.