Posts Tagged ‘feathers’
A baffle box makes for an even feather distribution.
A baffle box is a term in bedding referring to three-dimensional boxes of fabric wall that create a maximum thickness that is evenly distributed on the inside of Pacific Coast feather beds. A second attribute from the baffle box design is comfort, as the feathers are kept from shifting and leaving gaps and clumps.
Feather beds should be covered as you would any mattress, preventing direct contact of the body. It is important to protect the feather bed so that washing can be kept to a minimum to extend the life and the cover can be washed often.
What kind of feather bed warranty should I look for?
When shopping for a feather bed make sure to compare guarantees and warranties. A good feather bed should have at least a 30-day comfort guarantee so that you can try it out, with your money back if it is not right for you.
A good warranty is 10-years against workmanship and material defects, but you must register the product soon after the purchase. Because your feather bed is made of feathers you should look for an allergy-free warranty, which should be for the first 30-days.
Good quality feather beds don’t need fluffing
problem that is experienced with feather beds is that feathers shift under the weight of a body, resulting in ineffectiveness. The bed must be re-fluffed occasionally to restore fluffiness and ensuring uniformity of comfort.
The design of Pacific Coast feather beds allow for maximum fluff and less feather shifting so that uniform comfort is realized night after night. A proper design allows your body to be cushioned and supported in the proper places for maximum relaxation of muscles and improved circulation.
Why is down soft and lofty?
Ducks and geese have soft insulating down clusters on their breasts. Down is a plume, which means that it has no hard elements such as a quill like feathers have. Down clusters contain many thousands of soft filaments that radiate out like a dandelion and form the spherical plume.
Down has a structure that is three-dimensional that gives it superior lofting and fill power. A goose down pillow is incredibly soft and luxurious because of the loft of down.
Raw down needs to be washed clean
When down and feathers are purchased from farmers they are raw, which means they are unwashed. The processor will wash the down before a goose down pillow or comforter manufacturer can use it.
Many consumers are allergic to dust mites, or bacteria that are found in down and feathers in their raw state. Some manufacturers warrant their down against allergy causing organisms, which warranty will result in higher price.
When a schoolday ends work is just beginning
When the kids get home from school they have a snack before they change into their work clothes and the girls help their mother do chores in the house. The boy helps his father do chores outside.
The family has an assortment of farm animals including; cows, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, and guinea hens. There are also dogs and cats. The ducks and geese have down under their feathers that provide the material for making down comforters.
A bird of a different feather
Every bird was created with some feathers and down, but the down and feathers of geese and ducks are the only birds whose down we harvest. One reason that down is harvested from a goose is that it will have bigger down clusters, generally.
White goose down with 525 to 650 fill power is used to construct Pacific Coast down comforters. Fill power can range from about 175 to around 900, but fill powers of over 700 are rare. Large percentages of down clusters and large average down cluster sizes are associated with the higher fill powers.
What’s in a pillow besides feathers?
Feathers and down are different because feathers have quills and down does not. Feathers are two dimensional whereas down is three dimensional. For the purposes of bedding, smaller feathers are used for products like featherbeds and blends of feathers and down pillows.
Feathers are the outside covering of most birds and have a range of less than 1 inch up to several feet in length. Waterfowl feathers are rigid and can range from two inches to five or more inches in length, with the shorter lengths used for bedding.
Separate feathers and down
Down has a quality that makes it ideal when compared with all other natural and synthetic materials used to make bed covers. Down has a remarkable ability to breathe, a quality that actually can lift perspiration away from the body, something that synthetic materials cannot do.
Feathers provide some of the same qualities as down such as insulation, but are different in that they are used to give support. Featherbeds are a common usage for feathers, which is something I will write about more in future posts to this blog.
Why is down so lightweight?
To get a better understanding of what down is and what its properties are we need to better understand how ducks, geese, and other migratory birds were designed by God. Down is a light fluffy coating that protects waterfowl from warm and cold elements of nature such as air and water. Most of the light fluffy coating is found clustered under the feathers on the underside of the bird to keep it warm in cold water.
Down are three dimensional clusters containing many tiny fibers but with no quill; it is warm yet lightweight and lofty. By making a comparison, one down comforter could keep you as warm as fourteen times the weight in woolen blankets.