Redneck Waterbed

I’ve had a lot of people asking “What is a redneck waterbed?!”.  I found the idea on another blog http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/    Here is how we did it and what I’d do differently.

You need:

• Plastic sheeting (clear tarp) a minimum of 4 mil.
• Duct tape
• Water hose
• Dish soap

1. Fold the tarp in half and duct tape all but about one foot of the edges.
2. Turn it inside out and duct tape again. Make sure it is well sealed.

       3.  Fill with water then duct tape the opening shut really well.

        4.  Pour water and dish soap on top and have fun!

        5.  After awhile we sliced it open and made it into a slip n slide. It was a huge success!

What I would do differently:

• I recommend 7 mil since ours broke after about 10 minutes of use. It held up for another 15 minutes or so even with the hole, until we cut it open.
• Add lots of food coloring. The blog where I found this did this and it looked really neat. We did add some blue to ours and it was cool to about 1/3 of the way full then it seemed to just disappear. Next time I will add a lot more. Just be sure you are wearing clothes that can get stained.
• I would buy a bigger piece of plastic. We bought 12 x 9 and bigger would’ve been more fun.
• No slip n sliding on the waterbed!  That is what broke ours and it doesn’t work to well anyways.  When you try to slide hard on it the water gets pushed in front of you and so ends up becoming a wall that stops you.

Have fun and be safe!