I thought I would share this with everyone. My husband and I are shopping for a new bed. A friend of ours recommended this site when he was shopping for a new bed recently.

http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/

I would read through carefully and follow the instructions/tips. We saw every trick in the book.

Here are my recommendations in addition to “whatsthebest-mattress.com”:

1. Without a doubt, you MUST know what you are looking for in terms of the type of bed you are looking for. In the store is not the time to try to figure out if you want a pillow top, foam, plush, etc. If you wait to do this in the store, you will be pushed into buying something that is not right for you. My husband and I knew this before we walked in…we wanted queen, no pillow top, and as firm as possible (concrete would be good), and that we were not spending 2k on a bed and frame.

2. Do not waist your time in stores that DO NOT specialize in beds or mattresses. The likely hood of you speaking to someone who actually knows what he or she is talking about is slim to nil. These are also the type of stores (Sears, Raymore and Flannigan, Carolina Furniture) are where you are likely to find the most expensive beds or mattresses.


3. In the case for my husband and myself, we found that these stores (the not specialized stores) did not carry the type of mattresses we were looking for. We were looking for a coil count of 980-ish. Repeatedly we were shown counts of 500 or 600. In the land of Mattresses, the higher the count, the more firm the bed. We had one sales lady (I won’t tell you the name of store, but “two names say it all”) tell use that coil count should not dictate our comfort and that we should consider rethinking how we are approaching this. Basically telling us we were wrong.


4. Watch out for those extras (delivery fees, assembly, slip covers, warranty charges, etc). The industry standard is 10 years for a warrenty. If a store tells you anything else, leave. If they try to have you pay for a warranty, leave. Delivery is free at all stores, but if you do not ask that will give them license to charge you huge fee. The first thing out of your mouth when you are greeted is “what is your stores policy on delivery?” The other extras you do not need and can easily pick up at Bed Bath and Beyond or Target for a fraction of the price.

In exploration for ways to diminish out impact on the planet, we find out that many suggestions turn out to be sales pitches for items that are well beyond our budget. Plus, some ideas about how to green up our life are almost impractical to understand, let alone implement.

One concept that is neve touched on....the use of Chem Lawn.

If you really want to be Green, stop using something on your lawn that contributes to cancer, birth defects, leaches into the drinking water, and soil. So what if you have clover and dandy lions in your lawn. Is having a perfect lawn worth the possible damage done to the environment?

Yet, these are the same people we see shopping in Wegman’s’ or Tops buying organic products and resin free plastic bottles. These are the same people we see driving Hybrid cars and shopping with reusable bags. is it the idea of being Green what they like? Are they just following the latest fad? Or are they doing it for show for all of public to see? “look at me, I’m green”. I'm truely stunned at the number residents in my neighborhood that do this.

Think about this, pesticide application rates for farmers are 2.7 pounds per acre, while homeowners (and lawn care companies) slather on 3.2 to 9.8 pounds per acre. According to a recent Virginia Tech study, homeowners use up to 10 times as much chemicals as farmers. These chemicals get tracked into our houses on our shoes and pets. An Environmental Protection Agency study found outdoor pesticide loads build up in carpets and can remain there for years, where they do not degrade from exposure to sunlight or rain. (I found the information for this at the following Link.)

www.refusetousechemlawn.org/home