Mattress breathing

[Petercatterall]

I keep reading about this subject and have suffered the problem (condensation of body heat) myself. I was looking for and have now found a fairly simple solution. This is a one inch thick rubberised 'horsehair' undermattress. It certainly improved the damp situation on my last winter visit to the boat. I had seen thinner and more expensive stuff advertised but bought the one inch stuff from Woolies the car trim guys (about £20)

 

[claymore]

There was a stand at the boat show selling the stuff you describe - it looked like it would work well. I couldn't find my way back to the stand so felt a bit of a pillock really. Are you saying you can get it from car body shop people?

 

[Anonymous]

We bought a double kit of Airspring at the Boat Show. Not cheap, but it is brilliant and gives the bed real spring. Sold by the Natural Mat Company.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

Do you know what it is actually called?

 

[mainmarine]

Hi
There is a product called Ventair its a plastic construction between two flexible sheets, about 20mm thick overall, designed to fit under the mattress. 2m x 1m sheets around £45 per sheet
Regards Malc

 

[snowleopard]

i bought some of this stuff (rubberised coir) from 'The Natural Mat Company'. it does prevent condensation but has a few diasadvantages- it smells of rubber and is not very robust, it tends to come apart down the middle if not handled carefully.

i also bought expensive mattresses from them for the main cabins - 4" of latex foam with 2" of coir, not rubberised, on the bottom. the mattresses cost over £300 for a double. the ticking encloses the coir so the underside is often damp. the separate mats work far better.

 

[andrewg]

Have you thought about an electic blanket? One of the best buys (and cheapest at £12.99!) I have made.

 

[BobOwen]

This was asked recently - maybe in the Liveaboard section. Someone pointed out that Ikea sell a wooden slat system for around £8. Check in the bedding sections.

It consists of a series of slightly bowed beech? slats, held together in a roll. Its simply unrolled beneath the matteress , bowed side up, thereby providing an airspace and a little springing to the mattress. The ends of each slat are held in a plastic cup, so the slats can be removed, easily trimmed to suit berth profile and replaced.

There is a "marine" version out there , that someone linked to - much the same and the cost was about £80!

I bought two for a double berth, but have not fitted them yet, so no user report. I did read up on the problem though and its simply caused by moisture (Sweat) passing through the matteress and hitting a cold surface. There it condenses and causes all the problems. An air gap cures it. I'm pretty confident these will work /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Petercatterall]

Its called rubberised horsehair. I bought mine from Woolies car trim company (try google search). I used it years ago for upholstery sub cushioning. It never came apart and I havn't noticed any smell either. There may be 'competing odours' on my boat though!

 

[alan]

I've just fitted two sets of the Ikea wooden slats in my aft cabin (and also the same on a friends boat); very easy to fit and I used steel "poppers" as used on spray hoods e.t.c. through the plastic edge trims, so the slats would be easy to remove or roll back for access to the sea cocks e.t.c.

These are a great buy (19 euros for 80cm set) and easy to fit; I haven't actually tried sleeping there yet, but am hoping for a big improvement in condensation found under mattress.

As an aside: I also bought a stainless steel cooker safety guard from Ikea which I am modifying for use as a splash/heat guard for my hob. I hope Ikea dont find about these ideas and create Ikea Marine .................. else the prices will quadruple!!

 

[chockswahay]

I fitted Ikea slats and the problem was solved over night! I can't really say that sleep is much more comfy but certainly the condensation is either nil or negligible...............£9 per bunk well spent!

Chox /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif