To Start on Your Heavenly Bed – What You Need to Know When Shopping for Down ComfortersThere’ s nothing in the world like a good night sleep when you feel you’ re wrapped under a down comforter that makes you feel like you’ re sleeping under a warm, fluffy, heavenly cloud.
Down comforters aren’ t just for Nanook of the North and down bedding products are available in a variety of weights, qualities, and colors for a cool night sleep or to warm you from the bitter cold. Because down is so lightweight, it's one of the most comfortable and sought after fills for a blanket or comforter.
So what do you need to know to get one step closer to that floating on a cloud feeling? Let’ s get started with some FAQ’ s about down, fill, thread count and baffling and then go into how to get the comforter that’ s “ just right” .
What’ s Up With Down?
Down refers to the feathers from a goose's chest, which are soft, light, and slightly curled to be breathable. They keep the bird warm in winter and cool in the summer. Keep in mind that advertisers are allowed to call a product 'down' even if they bulk up the product with up to 30% feathers. This is easy to spot, though if you squeeze a handful of a down comforter you shouldn't feel any hard, sharp pokes from quills.
More Power to Fill Power – What is Fill Power?
Fill power or loft refers to the volume of one cubic inch of down basically, it refers to how fluffy a comforter is. Down with a higher fill power will take up more space and trap more air, meaning that it insulates better and keeps you warmer. Often comforters are marked with the 'fill weight' which refers to how much down was needed to fill the comforter but not the quality of the down. Feathers, as opposed to down, decrease the fill power since feathers are meant to shed water and aide flight, and not to keep the goose warm.
So a comforter advertised as 550 Fill Power means that each ounce of down fills 550 cubic inches of space.
What is Thread Count?
Thread count refers to the number of threads woven per inch used to weave the fabric covering of the comforter. To measure thread count, you would count the number of threads contained in one square inch of fabric. The finer the threads, the higher the count will be. Thread counts usually start at 200 threads per inch and go up. Generally, the higher the tread count, the lighter and more breathable the fabric becomes, and the smoother it is to the touch. A higher thread count will help a comforter survive a trip through the wash, too. But note that higher thread counts can also come with a heftier price tag.
Don’ t Be Baffled By Baffles
A baffle is a strip of fabric sewn between the 'top' and the 'bottom' of the down comforter to allow the down to keep its loft and to keep the down evenly distributed inside the comforter. Many of the most expensive and higher quality comforters are made with baffles. You will be able to identify baffled comforters in advertisements by looking for wording such as "baffled boxes" or "baffle construction". If you do not see wording in a comforter ad that specifically includes the word "baffle" in some form, chances are 99.9% it's not a baffled comforter.
So if it's not a baffled comforter, what is it? Most likely a sewn through comforter. The majority of comforters are sewn throughs. Unlike a baffle, there is not a vertical wall of fabric joining the upper and lower portions of the shell in a sewn through comforter. Obviously, sewn through is a less expensive way to produce comforters and such comforters normally cost less than their baffled counterparts. Sewn through comforters can be quite good and will serve their purpose. You'll just be missing out on the down expanding to its fullest loft. But you won’ t be breaking the bank being baffled by baffles.
Now that we’ ve covered some of the more technical basics associated with down comforters and you have a solid foundation on what to look for when your looking at down comforters you’ re well on your way to move on to how to find the down comforter that’ s right for you.
