need help solving an argument

[TheArmadillo]

Me and dh have a really uncomfortable bed. We've never particularly had a comfortable bed as we've always inherited them rather than bought.

We've been debating replacing it but obviously cost puts us off. However the argument centres around the fact it is a divan.

Dh reckons we could just replace the mattress to save money. However I was taught to believe that you cannot under any circumstances replace a mattress on a divan. It has to be the entire bed or nothing. I don't know why though - it was just one of the accepted facts of life like 'the grass is green', 'swans kill small children', 'you can't replace the mattress on a divan'

Dh points out that many of my family's accepted facts of life are just crazy and this almost definately falls into the crazy category.

So AIBU to say you can't replace the mattress on a divan?

Yes Pumpkin - yummy water! With those nourishing pieces of decomposing pigeon in it too. Nomnomnom!

at decomposing pigeon!

I never thought it was weird until one day DH got me my a drink of water from the bathroom because the kitchen sink had stuff in it and I freaked out! He claimed never to have heard anything so ridiculous, but I'm glad I'm not the only one!

DH just told me that if your bathroom is supplied from a header tank, the water could be very old and have things growing in it. And possibly a dead rat floating about.

Whereas the kitchen taps are, by law, supplied from the mains.

I knew there was something in it!

What do you believe will happen if you replace the mattress on a divan? (I'm imagining something similar to Johnny Depp's untimely demise in Nightmare on Elm Street)

The don't drink form the bathroom tap thing is true if your bathroom water comes from a tank in your loft, as it can get full of all sorts of crap (dead mice etc.)

It gets worse! This applies to any house built before the early 1970s. The bathroom water supply did not have to come from the mains, and header tanks were the norm.

See, Kurri knows. Although quite why her header tank has mice in while ours has to have a bloody rat may have more to do with my scare-mongering DH.

I knew about the dead rat in the water thing. I still drink from the bathroom tap. Its so refreshing though...

You can, of course, buy a new mattress for your divan. You can get a much nicer, comfier mattress that way.

I was told (by bed salesman so probably ) that if the base and mattress are elderly and a bit knackered, then putting a lovely new mattress on your clapped out base will shorten the life of your lovely new mattress (and mean that it won't be quite so fabulously comfy as it would on a new base).

I took it to mean that having a new mattress on an old base was still better than having an old mattress and old base.

A good quality mattress is luuurvley! Enjoy

What a hoot this thread is!

It wasn't until I was about 30 and staying with a friend that she told me I didn't HAVE to go to the loo just before turning the lights out for bed. What a liberation that was.

how did you think of your name bonkers?

A new mattress is such a treat.

FW we have no rats because I have a 14yr old toothless Jack Russell highly training ratting terrier to keep them at bay.

I'd just get a new bed-ATM in IKEA theres a plain metal bed frame (but you need to buy slats) down from £40 to 99p

So all in all with a new mattress it would be well cheap

And it would match

IKEA mattresses get really bad reviews BTW.

With IKEA mattresses you've got 3 months to bring it back if you dont like it and a 25 yr guarantee

Haha how sad am i

You are dead right. And the moon is made of green cheese.

Get a new mattress, and enjoy it for sleep and for all the other purposes for which it is designed . . .

I always assumed you needed to replace the whole divan bed not just the matress. This is very good news to me. We have had our divan bed for over 13 years and I would love a new matress.

Excellent!

Just took delivery of two single mattresses for the guest room (soooo excited - never had a guest room before). I can wholeheartedly recommend Bedlum Beds (google them). V reasonable prices and good advice about avoiding spending more than you need to.

Our mattress was okay we ended up chucking it as the buttons started to come away. We replaced the mattress and its sooo much better and alot cheap than buying a whole new bed.

Most companies offer to take your old one, saves a trip to the dump as well.