Habitat Furnishings

October 20, 2008

So-Called “Organic Dry Cleaning” For Our Covers

Filed under: Bedding — marc @ 2:20 pm

All of our products feature removable and dry cleanable outer covers, and we constantly receive inquiries from customers as to where to take your cover for “organic” dry cleaning. Our natural latex mattress line has a zippered cotton and wool cover which cannot be machine washed. The wool vissle fabric layer underneath the cotton, which allows us to meet all Federal flammability standards without the use of such harsh chemicals as Boric Acid, (did you know that Boric Acid is also the main ingredient in many insecticides?) will shrink if machine washed. The quilted top on our Air Bed systems will also shrink if machine washed, and should be dry cleaned…many of our natural latex customers, concerned about toxic hydrocarbons used in dry cleaning, can find a dry cleaner who uses a non-solvent method of dry cleaning, so that you are not exposed to PERC, the hydrocarbon compound known as perchloroethylene. PERC is a highly toxic compound that has the typical dry cleaner smell, very volatile, and has been classified as a probable human cancer causing chemical by the EPA. Beware of so-called “Organic Dry Clean” services offered at your local dry cleaner. In our research, we found that many operations still use hydrocarbon chemicals in their process, and since hydrocarbon are a carbon based chemical, the term “organic”, which includes all carbon string compounds is very deceiving…Many dry cleaners are using DF-2000, the newest toxic version of dry cleaning solvent, considered safe only in comparison to what it hopes to replace…PERC. So, if your dry cleaner is offering “Organic” dry cleaning, you need to ask…are you using PERC or DF 2000?, because if they are, you are not receiving “all natural” or “organic” non-toxic dry cleaning at all. In fact, Organic Dry Cleaning technology in our country generally uses one system that really is safe. It takes extra time and skill on the part of your dry cleaner, and the use of special equipment, so expect to pay more.

The method uses liquid CO2 under high pressure, which acts the same way biodegradable soaps act, removing dirt and cleaning almost all fabrics more effectively than even solvent based dry cleaning. At the end of the process, the liquid CO2 converts back to a gas, leaving behind only clean, dry clothes. Clothes cleaned in this truly “organic” fashion, using the CO2 technology, are cool to the touch and have absolutely no odor. Better for the consumer and even those who have work in the dry cleaning environment. Added benefit: there’s no shortage of carbon dioxide in the world, and these machines operate at lower temperature, saving energy.

October 17, 2008

Top Secret Air Bed Under Development In Our Lab

Filed under: Air Bed — marc @ 6:08 pm

We admit it, our sleep lab and showroom always looks like a mad scientist’s underground lair. We’ve got hundreds of pieces of foam, quilted materials, dozens of pumps, hoses, and more remote controls than a teenager’s media room. We invent and re-invent dozens of configurations every month, and we even enlist customers who already have our Air Beds to try out new variations on their beds. And for that, they get a little bit of press from us, and some pillows! One of our customer recently asked us,”Can you guys build an Air Bed that automatically adjusts..without having to use a remote?” We replied, more or less, “Are you kidding?” You have to have a remote…how could you “drive the bed” without one? Well, as usual, we scratched our chins, and started sketching. This was six months ago, and I am ASTONISHED to tell you that we actually have a working production model of our top secret Aeroform Resistance Response Air Bed System in development. Highly classified, we can only tell you that we’re not likely to have a robust model in our online store for about 3 months, but it is truly a marvel of sleep engineering and so simplistic, and so cost effectively designed, that the pricepoint will be…well, we can’t tell you more..What we can tell you is that the Aeroform Air Bed System will respond instantly to body movements using resistance technology, with no pump system, and no remote controls. We realize that many Arise and Ascend Bed customers, who wouldn’t give up their remotes if you tried to pry them off their sleeping bodies, will consider this apalling, but many folks want an Air Bed, but want it to be an “autopilot” kind of bed…and that’s what we’re doing. At Habitat, we’re always thinking..tinkering, and scratching our chins…and we think we’re on to something extraordinarily comfortable, built using the same high quality control standards and with the same unbeatable factory warranty and trial period that we use in every bed we engineer. More to come! Send your emails if this intrigues you..to habitatsales@aol.com

October 13, 2008

Using The Remote Controls On Our Air Bed Systems

Filed under: Air Bed — marc @ 8:54 am

Our Ascend and Arise Air Bed systems both offer a state of the art, hard wired digital readout remote, along with our medical grade pump unit, built by American National Manufacturing, an established bedding company which has designed and built intensive care unit beds, burn unit beds, and OSHA rated air bed systems for years. The remotes are easy to read, and operate. Many customers comment that they enjoy the large digital readout display, but have  a little trouble with programming the remotes with the memory setting…here’s a quick tutorial: First, when you get your bed assembled, fill the air chambers completely full, until the air pump stops filling. Don’t worry, you can’t bust an air chamber, since the pump has a limiting feature, or governor, which only allows the pump to fill to a pre-determined pressure, then stopping. Once you are lying quietly on the bed, hit the “soft” button on the remote, and allow air to escape until the bed reaches your desired level of comfort. Then, press and hold the memory button (there are 2 buttons, allowing for 2 different settings) for 10 seconds. This locks in that pressure setting as your memory setting..at any time, you can get back in bed and hit the memory button and the pump will atuomatically fill or empty to reach the pre-determined setting. It’s that easy!

Certified Organic Cover In The Works

Filed under: Bedding — marc @ 8:38 am

Many of our customers who are interested in our natural latex mattress program are becoming increasingly concerned about buying a bed that consists of eco-friendly, “green”, and non-hazardous materials. Certainly, a natural latex mattress that contains only 100% botanical latex, such as our lineup, is a huge leap in that direction. The trend in the bedding industry to use terms like “natural” and “organic” is very confusing, first of all, because no one really knows what that means..Does it mean that your bed is completely free of nasty chemicals that can cause me harm? Does it mean that my bed is edible? The fact is, there are many stores where you can buy a mattress that may have some natural materials in it, such as botanical latex, wool, cotton, etc., but you will also find other, non-natural, noxious compounds such as formaldehyde adhesives used in the construction of the mattress. More and more, customers are asking for a completely “green” bed. Is that possible? The answer, we think, is yes…if you can get a certified organic cover. The concept of certified organic material is universes apart from a so-called “natural” cover. A certified organic cover contains materials that can be proven to be free of pesticides, herbicides, fire retarding chemicals such as boric acid, formaldehyde compounds, and other hazardous materials. With such documentation, a botanical latex mattress with a certified organic cover (ours will be organic cotton, perhaps some bamboo fiber, and a thin layer of wool vissle as we currently use, would be truly a “green” bed. Watch our video on the green, sustainable qualities of natural latex, by the way… very helpful. How close are we? Well, our current covering on our natural latex mattress has organic cotton in the covering, but the wool and other materials are not certified-documentable, in other words. But soon, within a few months, our new cover program will be all certified organic.. and we are very excited about this. Best part is, it will not affect the price of our factory direct program, so you will save money buying a truly eco-friendly, all natural latex mattress, a truly healthy bed.

October 8, 2008

Natural Latex Mattress Or Air Bed…Which One?

Filed under: Air Bed, Air Mattress, Natural Latex Mattresses — marc @ 11:13 am

If you’ve studied our beds deeply, you know that we use natural latex in one of our Air Bed models as well as well as in our 100% natural latex bed program. Many folks who come onto our site looking for natural latex mattresses, get onto our Air Bed page, and after much deliberation and several phone calls to our expert bedding sales staff, go with our Air Bed instead of Natural Latex…the most commonly asked question, in a nutshell? Why would I buy an Air Bed over a Natural Latex mattress?..or vicey versey, so to speak…First of all, Air Bed wise, many of you already have done the leading brand’s Sleep Number bed, didn’t like it, want a really good quality Air Bed system, and buy either our Arise or Ascend Air Bed System. You’re going to get major bang for your buck, and you’re getting a bed that is built from the ground up using individually sourced components, engineered to our ridiculously picky and annoying standards (we drive our manufacturers crazy, squeezing them to find the best components on the planet, but at the right price). So if you’re set on an Air Bed, the discussion is over there. What if you like the concept of an Air Bed, and it’s independent adjustability  with our dual remote control system, but you also like the all natural, eco-friendly, greener design and extreme comfort factor offered by one of our Natural Latex beds? Answer: Since we build in the natural latex layer into our Ascend model, you’re getting the wonderfully elastic, yet giving and yielding qualities of latex…but also with the tweakability factor to customize your bed with our air chamber system, but you may find the bed less bouncy and springy, or responsive, as our Natural latex, since the natural latex is immersed a bit deeper under the quilted top. You get “nestling in” qualities in our Air Beds, with the 2″ natural latex layer working in concert with other support foam layers including our memory foam layer in the Ascend model, but it provides more muted elasticity, so motion transfer is a bit more controlled, an important issue for some. Also, our Air Bed is made from some man-made, though quite sophisticated materials…so if all botanical product is an issue, you need to consider our Natural Latex program. With both of our Natural Latex mattress models, you are in close proximity with 100% pure latex rubber and the end result is a mattress that offers up a whole lot of effervescent personality. Our natural latex mattress also has more of a “drifting on calm waters” floating, buoyant feel, as one customer described it, but offers no way to change or adjust one side from the other. So…if there are two of you and one likes firm, and the other like plush and softer, go with our Air Bed. If there are two of you and you can share similar qualities in a mattress, but you insist on a more lively, bouncier, springier feel, without the pillowtop “nestle factor”, and you like the green, eco-friendly design, our Natural Latex mattress is totally up your alley. If you’re still confused, give us a call and we can sort of “diagnose” your specific needs. Remember, we offer 2 models in our Natural Latex program, our firmer 6″ model, and our slightly softer, cushier 8″ model.

More And More People Are Discovering Our Natural Latex Beds

Filed under: Natural Latex Mattresses — marc @ 10:52 am

It’s been a huge year for us here at Habitat Furnishings. About 2 years ago, we began developing our natural latex program, and although it took some time and a lot of research and patience to design our 2 models, customer response to our product has been, well, stratospheric. Our 8″ model, which has a separate layer of slightly softer 2″ natural latex up top, is our biggest seller…thousands of customers have ordered their Habitat Natural Latex Mattress, and waited in great anticipation for their mattress to arrive. We get responses every day, both via email and phone, from folks who cannot believe how much their sleep hygiene has improved, back or neck pain has been eliminated, and how the flotation style feel allows them to move effortlessly, without feeling hot or trapped inside their mattress. Many customers who have owned memory foam mattresses and have had bad luck with them, have made the jump to natural, and say “they will never go back”.  We hear horror stories every day about people who have purchased as many as 6 mattresses in the last year, none of which solved their problems, desperate and even skeptical when they call….a woman called us not long ago, who claimed that she and her husband have been sleeping on the floor after their $5,000 high end big name brand innerspring pillowtop mattress developed a deep rut in the middle of the bed after 2 months..quite upset. She went out on a limb to order one of our 8″ Natural latex mattresses, and called 2 weeks later to tell me that their new bed feels “unlike anything they have ever tried”, and because they are both athletes, they have found great therapeutic value because of the extreme elasticity and give of the natural latex. Resilient, yet soft and cushy, natural latex is rapidly bubbling up to the top in the bedding marketplace as the most comfortable, durable, and cost effective alternative when making a long term mattress investment…and at the same time, steering away from petroleum distillate foam materials, fire barrier chemicals (our covering on our natural latex mattresses have NO fire barrier chemicals sprayed on them) by purchasing an eco-friendly, more green bedding solution. Try one…we give you a 180 day no questions asked trial….hard to believe, but true. Read our 5 Check Shopping.Com third party reviews, the link is at the top of our home page, and see what our customers say about our product and services.

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