Archive for May, 2011

Fitting a replacement waterbed mattress

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Read along side our youtube video Link

1. Apologies for the poor quality of this video, but we have created this video to help our customers to fit a replacement waterbed mattress.

2. This is a particularly good example of a waterbed mattress that needs to be replaced. It is about ten years old and has not had conditioner added regularly. As a result the PVC has become very brittle and actually cracked. The brittling effect of the PVC causes the mattress to tighten up and shrink. This puts a tension in the surface of the waterbed mattress reducing the comfort and support. It is rare that a  mattress would get this bad because most people would have replaced it before it got to this condition as it is no longer giving the superb comfort and support that it did when it was new

3. Having established that the customer needs a replacement waterbed mattress we will need to empty the old one. First thing to do is unplug or disconnect the waterbed heater.
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Cheap single & twin electric adjustable beds Manufactured in Hampshire

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

CHEAP ADJUSTABLE BEDS

I will begin with a little warning about the expression ‘You get what you pay for’. This is quite often the case. Example, a cheap 500 piece socket set made in China for £5.00 and twenty litres of diesel. What did you expect when the ratchet slipped on the first nut you tried to undo? However, there are unscrupulous firms that have literally cashed in on this expression. By over inflating their prices to the public and some impressive marketing, customers are led to believe that the more they spend the better the product. An example which is totally unrelated to adjustable beds which hopefully means I am less likely to get in trouble again. Stella beer, the marketing is great, the slogan ‘reassuringly expensive’

But ask any of the lads what pint they really fancy, and it will be one of the normal cheap beers. Sorry, none of the beers are cheep anymore.  The one that will order the Stella is the one trying to impress his mates that he is a connoisseur even if he hates the taste Back to the adjustable beds.
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High & Dry Waterbeds & the internet, A UK manufacturer in Hampshire

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

High & Dry Waterbeds set up in business in 1988 during the reign of Margaret Thatcher, we only intended to sell to established waterbed shops. There were a lot of retailers selling through magazines like Exchange and Mart and other local free magazines. High & Dry made the decision that we would not supply these retailers because we did not want to upset the high street shops and at that time there were quite a few. The British Waterbed association set the requirements for membership. For a short time John Boyton-Salts, director of High & Dry Waterbeds was on the committee.

High & Dry Manufacturing Ltd decided to lease a huge shop to sell directly to the public and double as our trade showroom. By showing a full range of mattresses in a range of hardside and softside waterbeds. We were now both a retailer and manufacturer of waterbeds.

Every waterbed retailer advertised with Yellow Pages. Everybody resented the fact that Yellow pages could charge what they wanted, and did. Since the evolution of the internet I would compare Yellow Pages and Yell to a school bully that has just got beaten up the school geek. (more…)

Cheap adjustable beds

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Cheap adjustable beds on the internet are exactly what they say except they don’t mention cheap quality. It is possible for an manufacturer to cut out the wholesaler to reduce the price. Retailers are not in the same position, and I won’t say “fortunate position”. Adjustable bed manufacturers supply retailers and work on very small profit margins only to be told that they will not buy from them  if the manufacturer sells direct to the public. The reason is simple, after adding the retail profit margin and accounting for the colossal overheads of a retail shop, there is no way that a retailer can afford to compete with the adjustable bed manufacturer.

So how does a retailer reduce their selling price? Simple, reduce the buying price of the adjustable bed mattress and base. The manufacturer is already supplying at a low profit margin in order to compete, so to reduce the price he must reduce the quality. Something has to give, you can’t get something for nothing. (more…)

Question and Answer for waterbed mattresses

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Question and Answer for waterbed mattresses

Found you on the web. Can you help?

I have a waterbed with softside support for the mattress.  It has thinner foam at the top of the mattress level and thicker at the bottom.  So the waterbed mattress has a larger rectangular area on the top where we lay, and smaller where the waterbed heater goes. It also has maximum restriction or stability, so no waves, so we do not disturb each other.

The waterbed mattress is 10 years old and I need a replacement . Can you supply / make one for that?  It is about 5’3″ wide on the top surface, maybe 4’11” at heater level.

Thanks Customers name Removed
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supplying waterbed mattresses

Friday, May 6th, 2011

High & Dry Waterbeds have been supplying waterbed mattresses to trade and retail customers in the UK since 1988, twenty three years so far. Specialist retailers were our main source of revenue but the internet seems to be changing that. Nearly everyone has access to the internet now days and with a little common sense and a little research consumers are able to cut out the middle man. What we are finding is that trade customers that had a waterbed shop years ago found that profit margins have become far lower than those of conventional pocket spring mattresses. As a specialist shop will only sell enough waterbeds to break even at best, many have opted to quit their shops and set up an online retail business trading from home. And who is to blame them? Here is the problem. Because one retailers photograph of a waterbed mattress is much the same as anyone else’s photograph, the retailer that gets the order is generaly the one with the lowest price.

So how can they sell a waterbed mattress at such a low price? Simple, just sell a cheaper quality.  When they had their shop and relied on customer feedback, they would never have dreamed of selling low cost waterbed mattresses because they relied on customer recommendation. The internet is a fantastic tool, but without doubt it has cheapened many products, not just waterbeds. On the other hand, retailers that charge extortionately high prices simply because they can due to lack of competition and perceived exclusivity will soon be found out.

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Every waterbed will have a safety liner.

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Safety liners for waterbeds

As the name suggests, a PVC membrane between the waterbed mattress and the waterbed heater. On average the mattress contains almost half a metric tonne of water. If as a result of age, a manufacturing fault or accidental damage the mattress were to leak. Imagine the damage that amount of water would cause. That is the reason that regardless of which type of waterbed you have, it will always have a safety liner.

There are two basic types of waterbed. Hardside and softside . In the early days, every waterbed had a solid frame which contained the mattress. Showing my age now but I remember installing waterbeds in California in 1986 (Year of the Mexico world cup) and having to nail a plastic extrusion all around the top edge of the hardside frame. Then tuck the vinyl sheet safety liner into the flap in the extrusion. This was ingeniously named the ‘tuck-a-liner’. The disadvantage of this type of hardside safety liner was that it was very time consuming to install. Over a period of time the plastic extrusion would become brittle and crack, nails would work loose, this not ideal when in contact with a waterbed mattress. Since those carefree days of being a bum, I have grown up (a little) and safety liners have improved. The safety liner is welded to incorporate a stiff cardboard edge which stands vertically up to the height of the top of the waterbed mattress. Again ingeniously named the ‘Stand up safety liner’

As you can see from the picture,

Hardside Waterbed safety Liner

Hardside Waterbed safety Liner

the stand up safety liner is generously cut to ensure the welded corners fit snug in to the corners of the waterbed frame. (more…)