The fact is that most consumers implicitly realize that buying a real, high quality down comforter is going to set them back several hundred dollars. The expensive part is the down fill, which comes from either farmed geese that need many months to raise, or wild geese that are difficult to find and need many hands to harvest.
Unlike what many people think, feathers that are visible on the outside of a goose are not the same material as down. Rather, the goose has a soft “plumule” material beneath the feathers which provides insulating warmth. The plumules are the main components of down. Some top feather is added for stiffening certain products such as cushions, hard pillows or feather-beds.
A little family of just four people means that three or more comforters will be required every night. Children also tend to wear down any sort of bedding, whether its the cheap pillows or the pricey comforters. The result is a lot of money goes into bedding. To save money, families might want to consider down alternatives.
The important qualities to capture in a down alternative are two fold. One, an alternative should have the same softness so the feel against a sleeper should be comfortable. Two, a down alternative should be very light and “lofty”. The former term means that it won’t weigh down on the sleeper. The latter term means that there is a lot of volume for a given weight, meaning that it traps air and is a great insulator.
However, one should remember just because a material is a down alternative doesn’t automatically mean its cheaper than goose down. For example, silk from the caterpillar is used as a hypoallergenic down alternative, but it’s very expensive because its harvesting is as difficult and labor intensive as down. There are even synthetic down alternatives that are very expensive, such as the patented Primaloft which is considered the king of fills.
Therefore, to save money one should choose a synthetic alternative that has high quality yet at a lower price point than the most premium synthetic brands. Virtually all synthetics are made of polyester. The differences between them depend on the ingenuity of the manufacturer, and whether they have developed a novel method for making a high loft and soft synthetic. A customer should try out the down alternative comforter by considering not only how soft and lofty it is, but also whether it doesn’t weigh down heavily on a sleeper.
Interested consumers are fortunate to have many choices when it comes to high quality alternative bedding. The Company Store and JC Penney are some fine examples of down alternative manufacturers.
The site talks about how to select down alternatives. The writings supplied for blanket down alternative will be useful to many.
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