Some beginner bed questions

RubyOptics

RubyOptics

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Hi again all!

I'd like to ask a few questions about beds in motorhomes. These are probably very obvious to you guys, but I would love to hear what you have to say!

1 - So if you have a bed made up from cushions (either a temporary bed or in something like an autosleeper duetto) do you use a mattress topper on top of the cushions? Then a sheet? Just a sheet?! combined sheet/topper?! Arghh!! What do you do?!

2 - As per my first post, I'm looking at vans that are a LOT older, so to replace a mattress, would I need to have a custom memory foam one made up for me to the original shape?

3 - For you PVC peeps out there, how long (bearing in mind my sheet/topper etc question above!) does it take you to make up the bed each night? If you have something similar to the duetto (more 'campervan' than 'motorhome' i guess??) where do you keep your duvet / pillows when the bed isn't made up?

I'm sure I will have more as i carry on looking around, but would love to hear from any of you about these for now! Thank you as always in advance for your time!

Joe
 
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We have a pvc and use a double duvet as a bottom sheet/topper - very comfy. Takes about 5 minutes to put bed up, as you just pull the two sofas together, and the backs drop into the gap. Do have to be able to kneel on one of the beds to pull the other one tho - my only issue with my knee at the moment, but I’m managing! It’s a Warwick Duo by the way - very good layout, but only issue is the windows are athermic not double glazed so can be a bit chilly!
 
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Our first van, which was a new conversion, had the double bed made up from the front settee and single seat by the sliding door, I found it uncomfortable to be honest and we bought a topper for it. We had a proper bottom sheet and duvet/pillows. The topper, duvet and sheet went under the settee and the pillows were stuffed into the above cab storage space along with coats, jumpers etc.

Mark did the bed make up but it restricted the use of the front swivel seats as the bed butted right up to them, we swapped to our Ayers Rock with its fixed transverse bed at the back and dinette at the front, still a 5.4m van though.
 
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Please don't mention an Ayers Rock...it is currently my dream van, however I'm really not in the position to even consider one!! Very happy for you (although I will admit to being more than a tad jealous!) and I hope you have some amazing journeys.
With your previous van, with the bed made up was there any way to still use the front two seats if the other person wasn't quite ready for bed? Or was it a case of "it's bedtime" for both of you?!
 
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We use memory foam toppers inside a duvet cover, was great for the make up bed in the escape and continue to use on top of the over cab and overgarage beds in the present van.
Cant help with the storage as we have enough.
Just thought about the doblo wouldn't have space for a memory foam topper, but might try one of the self inflating mats I have use a sleeping bag there so no sheet needed not tried it in really warm weather though so will need something, I do put spare fleece blanket inside a pillowcase and other bits and pieces in cushion covers though.
P.S. it's a bit of bugbear changing the duvet covers, but making up the bed in the escape was down to under 3 minutes.

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scotzsue Many thanks for your feedback. We are currently still trying to think through how we would use a van. At the moment we are avid 'tent-ers', and so one channel of thinking is that a more camper-van like approach would be best for us. Being able to go anywhere we do in our 4x4 would be a huge draw to us, but until we try it we're not sure how well we would take to making up a bed each night and how comfy it would be! I know we wouldn't really want to use sleeping bags, one of the reasons for looking into vans is being able to have that bit of extra comfort etc. We do go camping in all seasons though, kids included, so are well practised at using blankets etc to maximise warmth and comfort, hopefully some of this knowledge will transfer over into a van, but i guess only time will tell!
 
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We use mattress toppers and extra wide sleeping bags, they just roll up when not in use, and unroll quickly to be used.

Takes me less than five minutes to have the beds ready to sleep in.
 
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We make a huge double bed from our two side sofas and find it very comfy. We use a mattress topper and sheet and duvet on top. It takes us just 2/3 minutes to get the bed ready. A lot depends on how good the cushions are but our van is now 12 years old and they're still fine...

Good luck.
 
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Sod will ensure that any gaps are where you want to press down, so some kind of topper is a good idea. But fussing about with sheets and stuff when you're tired and would rather just slip into bed is not such a good idea. Why not use sleeping bags?
 
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Hi there, we use a topper inside a duvet cover to roll out and lie on and then a duvet on top. Both roll up and store, one under each side settee when not in use, the pillows fit under the same side as the duvet. Use a Velcro strap to keep the topper rolled up as it’s bigger and less manageable than the duvet. We have a Wildax pvc and it takes less than 5 mins to get the bed ready. Makes a large and comfy double bed.

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Thanks for all the replies...really interesting to see how you all deal with this!! two I don't really want to use sleeping bags as we do still like a bit of a cuddle...purely innocent cuddles but cuddles nonetheless!!
At the moment, it seems like a topper is really recommended by a lot of you and that does kinda make sense. I do like the idea of having it inside a duvet cover to act as a sheet at the same time...thank you for that one!
I do wish I had the funds available for a Hymer/Wildax etc, however right now it isn't going to happen. Something to aim for in the future though! Right now I think that something like a 2001 onwards AutoSleeper Duetto may fit the bill nicely, the only problem being that they aren't available in LHD.
 
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Another vote for a mattress topper, Tesco sell them amongst others of course. Its basically just a thin quilt. On top we use fitted sheets made to measure by a company called Snuglux. These are elasticated and stay on all the time as our mattresses are in one piece. The first lot we had were 100% cotton but after five years we've replaced them with polycotton which are more practical.

We sleep under a duvet as it is much better than a sleeping bag. More freedom and the cover is easily washed, which is an issue with sleeping bags unless you use a liner - and can live with a liner! :) We have summer and winter weight duvets. In our Murvi PVC there is a big shelf over the cab and all the bedding including pillows lives in there during the day. Making up the bed is very quick.
 
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So long as you get two sleeping bags (the same) with full length zips, you can join them together when you want to be "friendly". Making-up the bed was a long time ago, for me, as we now have fixed beds designed for sleeping in. One day you might be there yourself. In the meantime, I rather like LindaPaulB's suggestion #10 (but no-one's mentioned Duvalay, yet, have they? = a possibility I have no experience of).
 
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Layers are the key! We used to have to make the bed up in our Autosleeper Topaz from various seat cushions. We got used to the gaps! Although a very large double bed when made up, we used single bedding. Start with an IJEA single mattress protector, then a bottom and top sheet made from either a single duvet cover or a double cut down. Open up down one side for ease of access! Keep the bottom sewn up so your feet are contained if they would otherwise stick out on to the van upholstery. This is hot weather bedding!
Next layer is a 4.5 tog feather and down duvet. This can be rolled up very small, you can almost see through it when held up to the light, but gives a lovely warmth. This becomes normal UK summer bedding.
For cold nights a good wool blanket or maybe throws that you use in the daytime, becomes a third layer in U.K. winter.

In the Autosleeper, we found it easiest to use the overcab for our clothes laid out side by side, and the wardrobe for the bedding.
I put each single roll of bedding in its own charity collection bin bag with handles. These could be easily lifted out of the wardrobe which had a small door for the space inside.
Having got too old for crawling around trying to make up the bed whilst on it !, we now have a larger Ducato with rear lounge and single beds and just keep each set of bedding rolled up in the appropriate overhead locker.

I couldn’t use a sleeping bag, not enough space inside and how can you get it washed and dried while away. I must have clean sheets!:xsmile:

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Same as above, use a topper with fitted sheets, store all up on over cab bed when grandkids not with us, all have separate bags , easy to store, have singers that folds down, also if having a rainy lazy day, leave the double bed set up, as have long side bench to both relax on.
 
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Singers! Should say dinnete ::bigsmile:

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Just saw the title and thought it was one of the ask Doris type bed sports thread!!!!!
 
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RubyOptics said:
Please don't mention an Ayers Rock...it is currently my dream van, however I'm really not in the position to even consider one!! Very happy for you (although I will admit to being more than a tad jealous!) and I hope you have some amazing journeys.
With your previous van, with the bed made up was there any way to still use the front two seats if the other person wasn't quite ready for bed? Or was it a case of "it's bedtime" for both of you?!
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The front seats could be used if the one who was staying up had the passenger seat positioned so that it faced the drivers door and then put their legs on the driver's seat - it was me who went to bed first and Mark who stayed up a bit longer, but it was then too bright for me to sleep.

I love this van, the only thing it doesn't have is an oven but if I had to choose between an oven or a fixed bed then the bed wins every time and there are work arounds for not having an oven. We had a few nights in France in September and have booked the ferry for 2 weeks in May/June next year and I have a lot more plans of places to go and things to see!

I think you'll have to see what works best for you, its a bit of trial and error but you'll get there in the end. Good luck!
 
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LindaPaulB said:
Hi there, we use a topper inside a duvet cover to roll out and lie on and then a duvet on top. Both roll up and store, one under each side settee when not in use, the pillows fit under the same side as the duvet. Use a Velcro strap to keep the topper rolled up as it’s bigger and less manageable than the duvet. We have a Wildax pvc and it takes less than 5 mins to get the bed ready. Makes a large and comfy double bed.
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We do the same..but carefully unpick the stitching at either end of opening side of the duvet cover as it makes it so much easier to get the topper into it.. then just unroll the duvet cover clad topper onto the bed pull the duvet cover tight and tuck it under on the side nearest to you..lob the pillows on and chuck the top duvet on..takes me no time at all as it's a blue job ? but only takes him 2 minutes..
 
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We have Nuevo bed made up by sliding two sofas together and dropping cushions into the gaps. Take 5 mins max to do. Hardest part is putting the topper (dunelm) and bottom sheet on as have to climb over bed to reach. About the same amount of time to strike the bed in the morning.

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Our last van, a Chausson had a fixed bed with a "real" mattress. We now have an Elddis with bed constructed from the sofas which we found much less comfortable. The solution we found was Duvalays. Can't recommend them enough, comfortable, warm and easily washed. They roll up and store away in the wardrobe during the day. Not really cheap but worth every penny.
 
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Even with a fixed bed and "proper" mattress we have a memory foam topper. I took the cover off the topper and used a craft knife to cut to to shape which made the 5 year guarantee invalid of course! 6 years on, after a lot of use, it needs to be replaced and I think I will get a thicker topper this time as my bones are getting older.
 
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