Posts Tagged ‘Goose Down Comforters’
Most goose down is from the Orient
Sixty-Five percent of the down produced in the world comes from Asia and most of the rest from Eastern Europe. Farmers generally will sell birds for meat and sell the down to brokers who sell the raw material to down and feather processors worldwide.
Processors prepare the raw material for the making of down feather pillows and comforters and other products. Supplies of the goose and duck down are usually greater around the time of the Chinese New Year because of higher consumption of the birds’ meat by consumers
Lightweight goose down is warmer
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 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.
The merits of down
Now that winter is fast approaching and when you crawl into bed your sheets are icy cold, the natural solution is to add more blankets and snuggle in. But then, in the middle of the night, you’re much too hot and you end up throwing off the blankets, and the air is freezing! This frustrating dance between hot and cold could all be avoided with a look into down comforters.
There is a variety of down for comforters: goose, duck, synthetics and others being fairly common. Goose down is considered by many to be the most comfortable as well as the most insulating. But it’s lightweight and breathable, so you’ll never be too hot. Goose down comes in bigger, thicker clumps than duck down, and it doesn’t have an unpleasant smell like other forms of down can have.
What Can You Learn from Fill Power?
The search for comfortable bedding can be arduous and frustrating, especially for someone who doesn’t know what to look for right off the bat. In an ideal world, a customer would be able to try out a comforter for a night before deciding whether or not to buy it. For sanitary and logistical reasons, that just isn’t possible. It’s therefore up to the consumer to become knowledgeable about what really lends a comforter its insulating power and soft feel.
The simple answer to that query can be summed up in two words: fill power. This measurement is much more than an arbitrary three-digit number; in fact, it corresponds to the goose down’s insulating capabilities. Testers apply pressure to the down for a given length of time, then release the pressure. The more the down expands, the higher fill power rating the goose down comforters will be given.