Down Comforter Sets

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A down comforter is a form of bedding that consists of a bag which is used to cover beds. It will often be filled with natural materials such as feathers. A down comforter could be described as a soft, thick blanket that is placed on a bed to make it more warm and comfortable. The down is the fine feathers that can be found under the harder feathers of birds. Down is an excellent insulator, and has a number of thermal attributes. The down will capture batches of air, and this air will be used as thermal cover. While it is excellent when it is kept dry, it will lose many of its properties when it becomes wet.

All down is not created equal. Goose down is better than duck down. Down from mature geese that live in cold climates produce larger down clusters that trap more body heat keeping you warmer as well as lofting up to produce a comforter that is puffy without weight. Fill-power is the measurement of a down cluster’s ability to loft up after compression. 650 fill-power and up is considered luxury quality. The higher the fill-power the greater the thermal properties and the puffier the comforter. There is also cluster count to consider. This is the percentage of whole down clusters as opposed to pieces of broken down known as “fly”. Canadian White Goose Down is  considered to be the finest in the world.  Siberian Hungarian and Polish white goose downs are premium qualities and the very rare Eiderdown the ultimate in softness and warmth without weight
is the best down in the world.

The down will keep the body warm. A single down group will be composed of thousands of fibers, and these down groups will not have a quill shaft. Lofting is the process in which air is trapped, and this will allow the body to stay warm. At the same time, moisture is released while heat is contained. Because of these properties, down comforters provide a superior level of comfort that is not seen with standard comforters. Down comforters are much more expensive than other forms of bedding, and can cost as much as $600 for a Queen sized bed. Many down comforters will also be made with silk. A number of advanced models have even been designed to fight bacteria, and are hypo-allergenic as well.

Down will eventually “leak” out of anything other than a cotton cambric downproof fabric. What makes the long staple Egyptian cotton fabric downproof is not just a high threadcount but callendering. This is a natural process of compressing the fabric between giant steel rollers to fill in spaces invisible to the eye. The best cambric cotton downproof fabric comes from Germany or Switzerland. Many of the cambrics are made with a sateen finish. They are very soft durable and breathable. Threadcounts over 300 are best and will remain downproof for 10-15 years.