While both down and down-alternative comforters serve for better sleep of their users at night, they vary in many aspects, rooted from the difference in the material of their fillings.
Down comforters, on the one hand, are filled with natural down found beneath the feathers of geese and ducks. Down alternative comforters, however, are made with synthetic materials varying from polyester to rayon, depended on the brands.
All the differences are in necessity to be well considered before choosing between the two kinds of comforters. Priority should get clear in the first place, which is the different features that matter most to different consumers.
So personally, what do you care about most? Check if your answer can be found from the information below.
Fillings of Down Comforters
One advantage of down is that it is mostly eco-friendly, considering that down and feather has always been a byproduct of the global food industry.
According to a report released by International Down and Feather Bureau (IDFB), back to 2009 and the following four years, there have been about 653 million geese and 2.7 billion ducks raised for meat on average, but no single farm raising fouls merely for the harvest of down and feather. In addition, down and feathers can also be regarded as a waste product of the global food industry, as the wastes get reused in bedding, clothing, and other gears after being collected, cleaned, and sanitized.
As the demand for down products is on a raise, whether down and feather remains a pure byproduct is undergoing a review. Still, they exceed in the environmental protection during production.
Besides, as a natural material, down has an innate advantage of being degradable due to the protein it contains. It is naturally occurring and compostable, and so are all by-products from down processing, thereby enabling it the lowest carbon footprint of all insulating materials. And the industry of down recycle has grown mature, making bonus points to the greenness of down products.
The fluffiness, AKA the fill power, or the loft, is another merit of the down comforters. This term uses standard measurement to measure the volume-filled-per-unit weight of the fillings. The comparatively high fill power of down comforters results from the superior thermal insulation of down. The waterfowls, always needing insulation from the cold water where they live, have feathers and down perfect for warm-keeping. Because their habits of flying, the feather and down plucked from them is also lightweight. In short, down comforters are a combination of superior warmth and extreme lightweight.
Some, however, might doubt the allergy issues caused by down. In fact, high-quality downs need a strict process of cleaning with special treatments to make sure they are hypoallergenic. Therefore true allergies to down and feather are not common. Usually people are allergic to not down and feather, but the dust mites contained in the down and feather products. Needless to say that keep them cleaning is very crucial.
Fillings of Down Alternative Comforters
Unlike down fillings, the down alternative itself is not so superior in environmental impacts except for some which use recycled polyester made from recycled plastic bottles. Very often the production process of them will consume a lot of energy, even end up in a certain degree of producing pollutions.
However, it still has advantages when being taken into consideration by people with allergies and asthma. Compared with down, the fillings of down alternative comforters are usually synthetic fibers, thus being hypoallergenic in most cases. This makes down alternative comforters a bit cheaper thereby becoming many people’s choice. Plus, they help users to achieve nighttime allergy relief, thereby improving people's sleeping experiences.
Puredown Products
If you have concerns about the environment, Puredown provides products that are all produced under strict control with pollution treatment and discharge. The high-quality down comforters are all made in an eco-friendly way, while hypoallergenic down alternative comforters are also provided. No matter it's the environment disruption, individual health care, or nighttime allergies that troubles you, Puredown can always work some magic and give you a good night sleep.