Mattress drama ! (1 Viewer)

[scotjimland]

About a year ago we treated ourselves to a top quality mattress, a VI Sprung , as used by the Queen.. .. seriously, we got it in a sale, reduced from £1400 to £700.. We were delighted, what a great nights sleep .. pure luxury, no more sore backs..

Now being so heavy, it is really hard to turn it but one of the selling features was ' No need to turn' .. we asked about this and the sales guy assured us that it wasn't required.. so we didn't turn or look under it..

All went well until this week, nice weather, so we decided to give it an airing .. turn it and give it a good vacuum .. To our horror .,.. when we lifted it it had rotted on the bottom, about 1 mt square of the cover was totally rotten and smelled of mildew .. what a mess.. we just looked at each other in amazement and then felt gutted... what had caused the dampness.. Well, I don't know, all I can assume is it's our body moisture condensing on the cold plywood base.. no other explanation.. :Sad:

Today, I pulled it out and stripped off the rotten fabric and the inner padding and went to a local fabric store, bought new padding and a piece of bed material.. replaced and using spray glue fixed the material to the mattress.. Good as new.. and we are much wiser, from now on it will be lifted regularly and aired.. I was also thinking on laying polystyrene sheet on the base to combat the cold surface ..

So be aware .. if you have bed on a plywood base... check it now.. !

 

[lady jann]

have you mentioned this to lizzie and phillip ??







regards rayval

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

So be aware .. if you have bed on a plywood base... check it now.. !

Hi,

Put some rubber underlay on the base and then polythene sheet, you need to insulate the mattress from the bed, you may find the underlay will get wet as well.

I put a towel under the boats mattress, which is foam but light to lift up and the towel gets wet after a few days si I just lift up one side to let the air get at it.

There is something about to put under mattresses to cure this problem.

Peter

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[DESCO]

Don't know if this is any good , never had to use it

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Dave

 

[MicknPat]

Bed mattresses normally rest on wooden or metal slats. If a wooden base board is used then you will find that it contains numerous holes to allow the mattress to breath.

The mind boggles as to what you two get up to in Her Majesty's bed.:smalllove::hug::smalllove:

 

[scotjimland]

Bed mattresses normally rest on wooden or metal slats. If a wooden base board is used then you will find that it contains numerous holes to allow the mattress to breath.

The mind boggles as to what you two get up to in Her Majesty's bed.:smalllove::hug::smalllove:

Unfortunately ..it's on top of the engine bay .. .. so no way to put holes .. but it does throb nicely going along the road ..... according to Jan

I think one of the breathable underlays is the answer.. but a bit pricey .,.. I'll try polystyrene and see how it performs..

cheers

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[lesleyjean]

There is something about to put under mattresses to cure this problem.

Peter

Is that where you keep your money Peter, hee hee

Lesley

 

[Braunston]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your problems, have you looked at Ikea they sell the slats which will keep the mattress up off of the plywood and hopefully some air can pass underneath which may help with the problem

Hope the link works

IKEA | Search result

 

[scotjimland]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your problems, have you looked at Ikea they sell the slats which will keep the mattress up off of the plywood and hopefully some air can pass underneath which may help with the problem

Hope the link works

IKEA | Search result

Hi

Thanks for the idea, :thumb:

I'll DIY

cheers

jim

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[Caztur]

Poles apart, I know, but this is a common problem with Combi Camp trailer tents. On mine I got some of the carpet underlay which is like thick squiggly rubber topped with a sewn on layer of papery stuff. It worked a treat, allowed air to circulate during the day and provided insulation.

 

[RuthRv]

thanks for the warning Jim, sending my daughter to Ikea to get me two, glad you got yours sorted out,:thumb:

 

[Braunston]

Hi,

Just a bit more info, on my Bessacarr we have the slats and they have extended a small pipe from the warm air duct to blow a very small amount of warm air into the void around the slats and i have never found any dampness hope that helps especially if you have warm air heating, its such a small amount that it doesn't heat the mattress.

hope that helps

Braunston

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[shifter]

hya JIM
get a few lengths of 2"-2" par cut to width of matress and set them at 6" apart, do the same for the length. that will give you a 4" air gap.
a good cheap fix.

IAN

 

[scotjimland]

thanks for the warning Jim, sending my daughter to Ikea to get me two, glad you got yours sorted out,:thumb:

Hi

I was really surprised, I've seen moisture under foam beds but never imagined it would be a problem with a pocket sprung mattress.. Good idea the iKea slats but the nearest one to us is at Lakeside so I'll just buy some similar sized timber and screw it directly to the base..

Hi,

Just a bit more info, on my Bessacarr we have the slats and they have extended a small pipe from the warm air duct to blow a very small amount of warm air into the void around the slats and i have never found any dampness hope that helps especially if you have warm air heating, its such a small amount that it doesn't heat the mattress.

hope that helps

Braunston

Hi

That is a good idea and worth looking at, we had that in our Karmann in the luton bed..
Cheers

hya JIM
get a few lengths of 2"-2" par cut to width of matress and set them at 6" apart, do the same for the length. that will give you a 4" air gap.
a good cheap fix.

IAN

Hi Ian

That's my plan .. or very similar

Cheers

 

[Jim]

You had me checking ours yesterday, but we have storage under the bed so it does not get cold. Is the engine and the weather directly under your bed?

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[scotjimland]

You had me checking ours yesterday, but we have storage under the bed so it does not get cold. Is the engine and the weather directly under your bed?

Hi Jim

Yes it is, it is hinged to allow access to the engine, the underside and surrounding box is lined with some sort of fire resistant board, but it must get cold for moisture to form.. and as we use it full time it hasn't a chance of drying out..

The odd thing is, when we bought it, the old mattress showed no signs of damp, so there was no reason to think this would happen with the new one.. but it was a lot thinner so maybe it let the moisture escape.. who knows, but it was nearly a disaster.. left much longer it would have rotted the fabric pockets for the springs.

Off to Wickes today for some bed slats.. :thumb:

 

[zaskar]

When we first went Fulltime, we had an overcab bed Elddis autostratus which suffered terribly with this problem.
Cure in the end was wonderfully cheap and effective.
Lye a couple of grass/reed beech mats under the mattress, worked a treat for us.

 

[Henryhymer]

Thank you James for your posting. One was not amused to hear of your troubles. One had assumed the damp patch had been due to one of the corgis. (As one is probably aware one does not allow one's husband in the royal boudoir - it may be acceptable for Helen Mirren but one finds his snoring unacceptable). One is grateful of the advice and having read the postings one will be sending Philip out on a little shopping excursion to purchase one of said mats.

Yours Lizzie R

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[scotjimland]

Job done.

I bought 14 pieces of 1500 x 75 x 20mm planed timber and screwed them onto the base with 75mm gap between slats .. will keep an eye on it and report back if it was successful or not ..
cost £30

thanks for all the useful ideas and suggestions.. it's a great forum for help :thumb:

Jim

 

[656]

We had this same problem albeit didnt get as bad as yours. We went ti IKEA and got slats as in this thread. Works a treat


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[Losos]

what had caused the dampness.. Well, I don't know, all I can assume is it's our body moisture condensing on the cold plywood base.. no other explanation.. :Sad:

Not your 'body moisture' to blame but your 'breathing'

The exhelation of from the lungs is heavy in moisture and for this reason many things in a small unventilated room can suffer, wooden furniture will expand, windows mist up, and in a workshop cast iron machines will rust.

Simple answer 'tho Jim........................stop breathing (well stop the 'heavy' breathing at least )

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[scotjimland]

Not your 'body moisture' to blame but your 'breathing'

Yes we lose moisture breathing, but I don't breath under the duvet.. well, not for long periods ..

From a bed manufacturer ..

we lose over a pint and a half of body moisture every night while sleeping, most of it directly into our beds. Unfortunately most mattresses absorb moisture, which plays a significant part in the break down and deterioration of internal fillings and springs.