Pop top Mattress

VANILLA GETS A BEDROOM UPGRADE

The Play Dirty Pop-Top Mattress — Less faff. More sleep. More adventure.

There are campervan upgrades you buy because they look good.

There are upgrades you buy because they’re clever.

And then there are those wonderfully simple upgrades that make you think:

“Why didn’t I do this ages ago?”

The latest potential upgrade for Vanilla falls firmly into that last category.

After using a big, comfortable self-inflating mattress downstairs, I started wondering whether I could leave it permanently in the Skyline pop-top.

The answer was basically: not unless I fancied using the roof as an industrial mattress compressor.

So the hunt began for something better.

And I found the Play Dirty Campervan Pop Top Roof Mattress.

⸻

🛏️ THE MISSION: MAKE THE POP-TOP ACTUALLY EASY

The whole point of Vanilla is freedom.

Arrive somewhere beautiful. Park up. Pop the roof. Get the kettle on — or retrieve something colder from the fridge — and relax.

What I don’t want is a nightly wrestling match involving rolled-up mattresses, bags, pumps, straps and half the contents of the van.

The ideal setup is beautifully simple:

PARK → ROOF UP → BED READY

And that’s exactly what attracted me to the Play Dirty mattress.

⸻

30MM. THAT’S THE CLEVER BIT.

This isn’t a huge inflatable mattress squeezed into a space it was never designed for.

The Play Dirty mattress is purpose-made for VW Transporter pop-top beds.

It’s just 30mm thick, uses high-density foam and measures 1770 × 1100mm. Most importantly for Vanilla, Play Dirty specifically lists Skyline among the compatible pop-top systems.

And here’s the killer feature:

IT CAN STAY UP THERE.

Play Dirty says the mattress is designed to remain inside compatible pop-top roofs when the roof is closed.

That’s the bit that sold the idea to me.

No rolling.

No deflating.

No finding somewhere downstairs to store a massive mattress while travelling.

No moving it from the bed to the passenger seat, then onto the driver’s seat, then back onto the bed in the traditional campervan game of “Where the hell do I put this now?”

It simply lives upstairs.

⸻

🚐 VANILLA GAINS A PERMANENT BEDROOM

This could fundamentally change how I use the pop-top.

At the moment, setting up a proper comfortable sleeping area involves another piece of camping equipment.

With the Play Dirty fitted, the pop-top effectively becomes a permanent bedroom hidden inside Vanilla’s roof.

Pull up after a long drive.

Handbrake on.

Roof up.

Mattress already there.

Done.

That’s exactly the sort of campervan upgrade I like: nothing unnecessarily complicated, nothing electronic to go wrong and nothing else requiring its own storage bag.

⸻

🇬🇧 DESIGNED AND MADE IN BRITAIN

There’s another nice touch.

Play Dirty says its mattresses are designed and manufactured in the UK, using experience from campervan builder Wildworx. The mattress also gets a removable, washable cover — rather useful for something that’s going to spend its life travelling around in a campervan.

Simple.

Practical.

Made for the job.

⸻

SKYLINE + PLAY DIRTY + VANILLA

This is the combination that really interests me.

Vanilla already has the Skyline pop-top. The roof gives me standing room, another sleeping area and that brilliant feeling of opening the van up when I’ve arrived somewhere for the night.

But there’s always been a slight compromise.

Comfort versus convenience.

A thick mattress is comfortable but a pain to store.

A wafer-thin mattress stores beautifully but isn’t necessarily where you’d choose to spend eight hours.

The Play Dirty appears to be aiming directly at the sweet spot between the two: 30mm of high-density foam while remaining thin enough to stay inside a compatible closed roof.

That’s clever design rather than simply throwing more foam at the problem.

⸻

THE NIX VERDICT

This isn’t going to be the most dramatic modification Vanilla has ever had.

Nobody is going to walk across a campsite and say:

“Mate! IS THAT A 30MM HIGH-DENSITY FOAM MATTRESS?!”

😂

But that’s missing the point.

The best campervan modifications aren’t always the ones people notice.

They’re the ones you notice every single time you use the van.

A mattress permanently waiting in the pop-top means quicker setup, less clutter downstairs and one less bulky piece of kit to carry around.

And perhaps most importantly…

When I arrive somewhere spectacular after a long day’s driving, there’s one less job standing between me and putting my feet up.

⸻

NIX · ROAD

VANILLA

VW Transporter T6.1 · Skyline Pop-Top

PLAY DIRTY POP-TOP MATTRESS

30mm high-density foam 1770 × 1100mm Removable washable cover UK designed & manufactured Skyline listed as compatible Designed to remain in the roof while travelling

ONE SMALL UPGRADE. ONE LESS JOB. A LOT MORE ADVENTURE.

Play Dirty — Campervan Pop Top Roof Mattress⁠

NIX · ROAD Built to wander. 🚐