Thank you! Of the many things we are grateful for in this past year, we are happy to announce that Soaring Heart has met its goal to direct 1% of our gross revenues to charitable causes. 1% may sound like just another number. But for a small business like ours, this represents a huge commitment from our entire team to reduce expenses and volunteer time. We couldn't do it without the support of our amazing customers, suppliers and advocates.
Our biggest community endeavor is to build and donate more than 350 organic pillows. This year, our volunteers provided pillows for homeless vets at Seattle's Compass Housing, Eastside clients of Congregations for the Homeless, incoming students at Bastyr University and, just last week, a group of Stanford University graduate fellows.
Veteran's Day pillow build with United Way of King County
A big believer in the power of education, we proudly fund Soaring Heart scholarships at Bastyr University (natural sleep studies), the Pride Foundation (in mental health) and Seattle Central Community College (in support of their small business, sewing design and culinary programs). We also support the great work being done by non-profits like "Toxic-Free Future," El Centro de La Raza and the Seattle Good Business Network in their efforts to promote locally made products.
At Soaring Heart, we believe we all sleep better knowing we are part of healthy, vibrant communities. While we may not have the resources to help everyone, we are committed to doing our part to provide great sleep for many of those facing life challenges in the communities we serve. We know the comfort you feel surrounded by our hand-crafted bedding may not cure all aches and pains – but we certainly hope your heart will soar when you know every stitch surrounding you has been placed there by someone who cares.
We are grateful for your patronage – and we look forward to your next visit to our shop or website.
Mike Schaefer & the entire team at Soaring Heart
December 20, 2016
Congrats to the 50 United Way volunteers who helped us build pillows for donation to our local homeless shelter for veterans this morning. Our teams were jumping for joy when 80, all organic shredded latex pillows were complete. Each volunteer then hand delivered their pillows (complete with a hand written thank-you note) directly to the staff at Compass Housing for distribution.
Soaring Heart is committed to giving back with the belief that we all sleep knowing we're part of healthy, caring communities. Thank you for supporting our work - and be sure to check out our selection of new bed pillows for you and your loved ones today!
The holidays are just around the corner. This usually means a full schedule and a full house. We’re looking forward to having friends and family over, baking tasty treats and sharing fantastic meals. And we do everything we can to make sure our guests have a wonderful time while in our care, which brings us to this month’s topic: The dreaded sofa bed.
We’ve all been there. We’re either apologizing to our guests, or being apologized to, as the sofa cushions are removed and the worn-out sofa bed clunks into place. Often a mythical family member is referenced as having said how comfortably they slept here on their last visit (in 1998). Let’s be honest. We usually don’t think about the guest bed until it is too late. But not this year!
Imagine unfolding that sofa bed to reveal a handmade, certified organic Soaring Heart latex bed! “Well, good night guests…sweet dreams…and you’re welcome!” We’re thrilled to announce our first sofa bed mattress, the Willow. The Willow is a 4” latex mattress to upgrade the old, uncomfortable sleeper mattress that came with your sofa bed. It’s flexible enough to fold for storage, just like your current sleeper sofa mattress. And we’ve replaced those flimsy coils with organic rubber, so you and your guests will be comforted and supported by the best bedding material known to man. It’s science!
We’re sure you’ll find more uses for this ingenious mattress. Use it as an extra comfort layer on your mattress. Lay it out on the living floor for movie nights and kid’s sleepovers.
For the first time in history, you and your family may end up fighting over who gets the sofa bed. Who uses it is your decision; we’re just here to make the lucky winner as comfortable as possible. And for a little extra holiday cheer, we’re offering 10% off the Willow for the whole month of November. If you have any questions, give us a call or stop by the showroom. We’re happy to help!
Warm holiday wishes,
-Louis
Soaring Heart Sales Manager
For 35 years Soaring Heart has been committed to bringing you the best selection of all natural and organic beds and sleep products. Not only do we believe sleeping organic makes a difference in the quality of your comfort - we go the extra mile to make sure we can prove every one of our suppliers cares as much as we do!
OMI - OrganicPedic Duo OMI - OrganicPedic 81-Zoned Comfort
This month we're announcing a new partnership with OMI - Organicpedics. Based in northern California, we believe OMI's "Purity Guarantee" offers you a certified range of assurances that only a large scale manufacturing factory can provide. Their owner, Walt Bader, wrote the book on toxins in the bedroom and we're happy to be the only retailer in the northwest bringing you OMI certified products.
Consumer beware – every day we see claims from suppliers and retailers about their natural and organic products. Given the levels of greenwashing in the market place, and the lack of truly enforceable global standards, consumers have little choice but to do extensive homework. Our hope is companies like ours, who go the extra mile and truly want to earn and keep your trust, stand apart in your shopping experience. We believe certifications (like GOTS and GOLS) make a big difference - and competitors who can’t get certified will say all sorts of things to confuse their shoppers.
Bottom line: at Soaring Heart we care how you sleep. We know comfort is the number one concern of mattress shoppers. And we’re working hard to educate our customers on the importance and benefits of comfortable, certified organic bedding. While we may not be the biggest mattress store in town, we are committed to offering you the best selection, the best value and the best service. With 35 years of customer testimonials, we're confident you won't be disappointed curling up in one of our beds! Stop by or call us today.
Ever wonder what the story is behind these new adjustable bed frames? No, they're not hospital beds or massage tables - but it sure is nice to have some simple options for improving our sleep positions, reducing snoring and having fun with dual remote controls!
We've been busy hunting around to find what we believe is the simplest, most reliable adjustable frame we can find. And Reverie, with an assembly plant in rural Eden, NY is hands-down our favorite choice.
This week we visited their plant and learned lots about their products and customer services. First, would you believe there are 22 patents covering all the components of their bed frame mechanisms? Plus - there's a 26 point quality checklist every unit must pass before shipping to your door. Yes, mechanical components are manufactured in Taiwan, but all the assembly and quality control is done right here in the US. All customer service calls are handled in Eden (a town of 7800 along the east shore of Lake Erie).
Comfort seekers beware - these new adjustable frames will change your life (often without requiring you to replace your existing mattress!). Adjustable units can be ordered to fit within your existing wooden bed frame - and we will haul away your current box spring or wooden platform/slats for free.
Got a snorer in your life? The customized snore button on each remote gently lifts a sleepers head and effortlessly opens air passageways. While it's not foolproof for everyone - years of customer testimonials sure rave about this feature.
Next time you're tossing or turning in bed, check out our website or shoot us an email for more information about our Reverie adjustable bed frames - you won't regret it!
Quality sleep is important for kids. But the benefits are never more apparent than during those first few weeks of the new school year.
Whether they’re walking into a classroom for the first time, making the intimidating transition from middle school to high school or preparing to graduate, back to school can be a stressful time for children. And good, quality sleep can have a huge impact; affecting overall mood, behavior, perceived self-image, school performance and mental development. In fact, the University of Houston recently conducted a study in which, after just two nights of poor sleep, children derived less pleasure from positive things, were less reactive to them and less likely to recall details about these positive experiences later. Candice Alfano, a clinical psychologist and associate psychology professor at the University of Houston says healthy sleep is critical for children's psychological well-being. “Parents, therefore, need to think about sleep as an essential component of overall health in the same way they do nutrition, dental hygiene and physical activity. If your child has problems waking up in the morning or is sleepy during the day, then their nighttime sleep is probably inadequate. This can result for several reasons, such as a bedtime that is too late, non-restful sleep during the night or an inconsistent sleep schedule."
So what can you do to encourage healthy, restful sleep for your children? And how can Soaring Heart help? It boils down to two key points. First, give them enough time for sleep. We can’t really do much to help you on that one. Second, create a healthful, restful environment for sleep. Now that’s our sweet spot.
Everything we do is designed to provide you with great sleep. Each mattress, mattress topper, comforter, pillow and pad we make is handcrafted with care from the finest organic and all natural ingredients we can find. Our experts can walk you through the options and help you choose the perfect bed and bedding combination to promote the best possible night’s sleep for your little ones. Visit our website for more information on our materials and the related health benefits. Better yet, bring your kids to the showroom. Make them part of the process, trying different mattresses, toppers and pillows for themselves. Let them help create their perfect sleep space.
We’re in Fremont and Bellevue and we’re here to help!
Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivores Dilemma) came up with 7 food related rules to follow to facilitate a healthier lifestyle. We, at Soaring Heart, believe two of those rules also apply to healthier sleep;
1st, don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. “When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can’t pronounce, ask yourself, “What are those things doing there?”
2nd, don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
This is great advice when shopping for groceries, as well as mattresses. Most folks don’t know that every mattress on display in a mattress shop is supposed to have two labels attached. For those of you who remember the old Serta commercial with the sheep getting sent to prison for ripping the tags off of the mattress, that’s what we’re talking about! One tag details the contents of the mattress, similar to the nutritional labels on the side of the cereal box in your pantry. The second specifies that the mattress has actually been tested in accordance with the 1633 federal flame regulations. Below are a few examples of tags we’ve collected as part of our mattress recycling program that detail the “ingredients” of other beds out there.
The tag on the left comes from a very expensive, luxury, European mattress that we hauled away for a nice family that replaced it with a Linden. This specific mattress retails for what used to cover a down payment on a house in Seattle and the tag notes all of its non-organic ingredients. The tag on the right is a Soaring Heart Organic Latex mattress and details the organic materials found in all of our collections.
This brings us to our modification of Michael Pollan’s first rule.
If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as something you could sleep on, you probably shouldn’t sleep on it.
We took a poll of Soaring Heart grandmas to see if any of them knew what polyester and urethane were. Most knew polyester for clothing but not bedding. And none knew urethane.
Next we have a tag from a 2 year old mattress we hauled away for a family that bought an Aspen, on the left. They were put off when they realized they were sleeping on something called an “Enduralator Pad” and called us to find a healthier innerspring mattress option. While this mattress came in at a desirable price point, it’s an example of a mattress that breaks our modification of Pollan’s second rule; don’t sleep on anything made of 5 or more ingredients. Having 5 or more ingredients in a mattress can prove problematic. As the mattresses ages, different materials have different break down rates.
As the saying goes;
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Which is why our organic innerspring mattress, above on the right, only has three ingredients; organic cotton, organic wool and the innerspring.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things you can learn about a mattress by investigating its law tag. Another important detail; where the mattress was actually made. A customer came in after doing a lot of research on crib mattresses for her 3 month old. We made her son a bassinet to sleep in for the first 3 months. She decided to go with another company on the crib mattress, only to realize their claim of “made in America” wasn’t represented on the law tag, shown on the left.
Additionally, because the 100% organic cotton case isn’t listed on the tag, she couldn’t even verify its materials. According to the law tag, it’s just a shell made in China and filled in Canada with a Polyester fiber pad. After more trouble than it was worth for a new mom, she was able to get a refund and purchased a crib mattress from Soaring Heart. That tag is shown on the right.
The intention of this post is to empower folks to ask questions about the “ingredients” in their mattress the same way they ask what's in their Wheaties. If a claim seems too good to be true, check the tag and remember the rules;
If your grandmother wouldn't recognize the ingredients or it has 5 or more ingredients, don't sleep on it!
Feel free to stop by our Fremont or Bellevue showrooms anytime for more tips on navigating your way to healthy, natural sleep. We've been educating folks on the ins and outs of mattress buying since 1982. And here’s the best part. You get to try out the merchandise. Take a test rest! We encourage it!
