Under mattress condensation mesh

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Slowtack

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Some different suppliers, different product names available. Are these essentially similar or is there a leader in actual performance terms?
 
Aldi, wooden slats (we use some we bought years ago - slightly curved, solved all the problems, cheap - but may not be available in the UK, or even here (now) for that matter).

There have been a number of threads on this issue.

Jonathan

Edit

Apologies, for Aldi read Ikea!

Thanks Allan!

Close edit.
 
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I used some wooden slats bought from Ikea. They came with plastic connectors. I had to cut them down to fit the forepeck berth but worked really well to reduce condensation etc. Thoroughly recommend!
Allan
 
My solution:
Curved beech slats plus a rubbery connecting band bought separately on eBay.
Then the original mattress.
Then a layer of the type of mesh referred to in the OP.
Then a 2 inch "Gelify" gel feel foam mattress from eBay. Says it's breathable.

Only just fitted so we will see how it goes over the next 5 months living on board.
Last year we didn't have the slats and had a memory foam topper - and the mesh for the first time. It did seem to improve matters but it was still necessary to lift and air the mattress now and again.

Paul
 
I don't think there is any magic solution - the various mats help, but not as much as slats - and neither completely fixes condensation. The fundamental problem is that the dampness has to have somewhere to go to and the design of boat cabins does not help that. The mattresses in most boats are resting on a wooden base and are enclosed on three sides by walls - often with a rail along the fourth side to stop the mattress from sliding out. Raising it on a mat or slats will allow the dampness to move around, but if there is no ventilation, it has nowhere to go.

We put mats under the mattresses in our boat and they improved the condensation a bit, but not very much. We spent a couple of hours cutting IKEA slats to fit and they worked better than the mats, but the dampness still builds up. This summer, I intend to fit one of those in-line engine-room blowers in the locker under the bed with an air intake under the mattress - I reckon that running that for a few minutes every morning will keep everything dry without the need to lift the mattresses every day.
 
Our. foam, mattress sat on a flat piece of ply,

I drilled a series of 2" holes with a hole saw. I drilled another series of holes in the vertical panel on which the flat piece of ply sat - in the corridor/passageway along the side of the bed/berth - so I perforated roughly 2m length, small holes about 20mm diameter into which I could fix some decorative vents. We have a one computer fan next to the '2m' vents to keep the air moving, I recall it draws 0.1 amp

Provided its not teeming down we would have an oval port light (that faces forward and catches any breeze, open at night. We do have covers, like mini awnings, for the port light but in torrential rain and a decent breeze nothing stops rain getting in (maybe we need much bigger covers).

With the Ikea slats and the various holes - we now have no problems at all (and parts of Australia can be hot and humid).

Maby is quite correct - you need to look at how to improve air movement - and that will probably be a solution for each specific yacht.

If you go the slat route, which was quite cheap when we did it, try to source curved slats.

Our slats came with a silicone tape with pockets to match the slats (and the silicone makes them non slip, well almost non slip). I note that our silicone tape became unavailable and slats were simply held by a webbing tape stapled to the end of each slat. We also had to trim one set of slats as our bed base narrow slightly - but its not difficult.

Jonathan
 
You lift and prop up the slats, with mattress. They are all interconnected - its not 'neat' but it works.

You could be clever and make the slats part of the locker lid, so that only those slats lifted. Depends how important is the locker and how much time you want to invest. You will still need to lift all the mattress, unless it is neatly segmented for the locker lid - but this would make it easier.

Jonathan
 
Daydream believer said:
How do you get on if there is a couple of locker lids immediately under the mattress that you need to access often?
same question applies to systems with made up slats as well I suppose.
Click to expand...

haha, this is exactly what I get fed up of. We have the dry-mat type stuff, it probably came from Force 4 (fitted it years ago) and every time I lift a saloon seat to get to the lockers (which is all the time) i am wrestling with the stuff

It does seem to work though, mattresses are dry.
 
Slowtack said:
Some different suppliers, different product names available. Are these essentially similar or is there a leader in actual performance terms?
Click to expand...

I suspect that the under-mattress mesh is all made by one company although sold under different brand names. I've looked at it from various suppliers at SIBS and certainly all look the same, so I am sure would all work the same.

I bought the Force 4 stuff as I was calling into the Bristol store for some other stuff as I was passing so could avoid the postage and it works well.

Richard
 
Neeves said:
You lift and prop up the slats, with mattress. They are all interconnected - its not 'neat' but it works.

You could be clever and make the slats part of the locker lid, so that only those slats lifted. Depends how important is the locker and how much time you want to invest. You will still need to lift all the mattress, unless it is neatly segmented for the locker lid - but this would make it easier.

Jonathan
Click to expand...

So, if like me, your berth in the saloon comprises 3 cushions you have to lift all 3. Sounds a real faff & the main reason not to have systems that are "one piece" solutions. I agree that the batten solution could be cut into sections but then one would end up with a load of sticks. Bearing in mind that they are meant to flex & would need to be wider than the lid ( because in most cases the lid is smaller than the base it fits in to) actually fixing them to the lid may not actually be that easy. Would one cut a hole in the main section leaving short sticks around the edges that have to be retained ( & loose the shape of the curve) or would one attach the longer length to the lid so a greater area has to be lifted in one go?
All this has to be considered & if lifted as a complete set then they will want to fold up & have to be re arranged. I suspect that the Froli system is the same except that it probably falls apart when one lifts a section ( i recall playing with it at a boat show years ago & rejected for this reason)
 
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The mattress in my aft cabin rests on ply topped lockers and touches on three sides, one side touches the hull (covered in foam backed vinyl) the foot touches an aft locker and the head touches the bulkhead to the main saloon. The edge that touches the hull gets damp overnight and if left will get wet, the wetness will creep under the mattress and it then needs to go outside to dry/air. This caught me unawares when i first bought the boat and the mattress got quite wet, as did the quilt, where it also touched the hull and was tucked under the mattress.

The side opposite the hull is next to the cockpit well, but not a tight fit. I find that if i pull the mattress and quilt (which i no longer tuck under the mattress) away from the hull in the morning, which gives a gap of about 2" any dampness from the night disappears very quickly and the mattress does not get damp, never mind wet.

With this in mind, plus Mabys comments about mattress fitment, i wonder if we really need slats/mates etc under the mattress or if all we need to do is keep the mattress away from the hull. Maybe a slightly undersized mattress and some for of slat/mesh arrangement ? Anyone with a fore cabin that has a split mattress could easily test this by slightly overlapping the mattresses in the morning to get them away from the hull.
 
I found a company who make the under mattress stuff. They refer to it as a spacer fabric.

We have an industrial use for this stuff, but have to buy a massive roll of 100 m.

If we do buy it I expect we will advertise it on EBAY as we only require about 20 - 30 m.
 
I went round the houses with this...if I didn't have lockers under the bed I'd have just got slats from Ikea but went with Dry-Mat as extortionate cost instead. To be fair the dry mat does work well and took me all of about 30 seconds to install. It's very light to move aside when you access lockers under the mattress.
 
northcave said:
I went round the houses with this...if I didn't have lockers under the bed I'd have just got slats from Ikea but went with Dry-Mat as extortionate cost instead. To be fair the dry mat does work well and took me all of about 30 seconds to install. It's very light to move aside when you access lockers under the mattress.
Click to expand...

Reviewing locker storage also seems like a key thing to do.

I had considered cutting out access so that I could go in sideways, rather than from the top, possibly partitioning under the bunk a little as well so that I had more quickly available storage and less space that required dissassembly of the bunks.

If coupled with a "breathable" locker door (we had those wicker fronted lockers elsewhere) and some vent holes through any under bunk partitioning that you create you could create quite a nice solution to both awkward storage and wet mattresses.
 
Daydream believer said:
How do you get on if there is a couple of locker lids immediately under the mattress that you need to access often?
same question applies to systems with made up slats as well I suppose.
Click to expand...

the Froli system enables you to fix the pieces to the locker lid. We simply lift the mattress and the lid to access the locker. The rest of the systeem remains on the bunk base. It's a bit more fiddly, but it works well.
 
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