Saving Money With Down Substitute Comforters
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The majority of people realize that to get a hold of a real quality down comforter, one might have to spend hundreds of dollars. Down is not an easily harvested material. It requires raising geese until maturity which can take months or years. If farmed geese are not available, then a lot of labor must go into finding a source of wild geese to supply the down.
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.
A good down alternative should be able to mimic at least two properties of down. It should be soft, and it should provide high “loft”. Loft is an indicator of volume to weight. For down, just an ounce can fill 1000 cubic inches. The high volume and low weight is a good indicator of how much air is in the spaces, which in turn is a good indicator of insulating power.
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.
For a family to save money on down alternatives, it becomes quite important to understand that it will most certainly have to be a man-made synthetic. In addition, the family should test out the material of several companies to get an understanding of variations in each companies’ polyester synthetic. This will involve trying to ascertain its softness, picking it up to test how heavy it is, and checking to see if its got the right insulating power or not.
There are a number of companies and brands of companies that represent excellent down alternative comforters. For example, The Pottery Barn and Cuddledown both make well-regarded products.
Additional topics and articles on alternative down comforter can be found at the site. The site discusses how to select allergen-free pillows.
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