Beatrix William's blog : How to choose a duvet? Tell the truth about duvet quality indicators!

An easy-to-understand explanation of how to choose a duvet

When buying a duvet, you may need clarification about how to choose a duvet, such as price and quality rank. And everyone wonders if it is possible to buy a duvet from a famous manufacturer such as Nishikawa at a bargain price.

Therefore, for those who are worried about choosing a duvet, a professional bedding shop owner with over 30 years of experience will explain in an easy-to-understand manner how to choose a duvet that will make your eyes fall.

A duvet's lightness, warmth, and thermoregulatory properties are like a harmony of down, fabric, and inner quilt structure.

These feathers, fabrics, and quilt structures each have quality indicators that distinguish good or bad duvets, and if you understand the meaning of these indicators, you can understand the basics of how to choose a duvet.

Therefore, to better understand the relationship between price and quality rank, I will teach you the apparent meaning of the indicators necessary for basic selection and the truth behind what can be called professional knowledge.

If you know the truth of the index, you can get the knowledge that you can choose the same duvet as the bedding speciality store.

To get started, look at the hangtag and accompanying label photos with the essential metrics information.

When choosing a duvet, many people should look for "Made in Japan" as a selection condition. However, there are many "Japanese-made duvets" that are sewn overseas from overseas fabrics, even if they are listed as made in Japan on the quality label.

I will explain the meaning of each index while including the information between the lines of such a quality label.

The down quality ranking is the most annoying thing about choosing a duvet.

· Check indicators when choosing a duvet

· How to choose feather quality rank

· How to choose the side material of the duvet

· Differences in duvet quilt construction

· How to choose a duvet in the manufacturing process

· summary

Check indicators when choosing a duvet

We have listed items you should always check when choosing a duvet—arranged from left to right in order of priority.

Based on manufacturer reliability

We will guide you through the recommended criteria for each indicator when choosing a duvet. The meaning of industry terms, such as the down rate will be explained later, so if you don't understand, skip it and read on.

1. Since the structure of the down varies depending on the type of bird, whether it is a goose or duck, it is essential to confirm the type of down bird. Goose and Mother Goose are recommended.

2. Down rate and down power related to heat retention, recommended 90%, 400dp or more, confirmation of down fill amount related to heat retention and weight of duvet!

3. Check the fabric material. Recommended super long cotton or synthetic fibre (synthetic fibre)! About half of the weight of a duvet is fabric.

Four. Confirmation of internal quilt structure.

Five. Japanese manufacturing process? Domestic sewing and domestic fabrics are recommended as much as possible!

6. The size of the futon (enough length and width to cover the body)!

7. Is there a manufacturer's name listed? It is essential to check the reliability of bedding manufacturers! We recommend long-established manufacturers such as Nishikawa Co., Ltd. and Yamajin Bussan Co., Ltd.

The manufacturer shows the quality.

Quality indicators and standards for duvets are based on the reliability of bedding manufacturers.

Please choose a duvet on the premise that it is basically designed for "winter". In autumn and spring, use a matching quilt and choose a quilt with different heat retention depending on the season.

You may be concerned about the price, but first of all, understand the relationship between the price and quality of a duvet and then decide your budget.

How to choose feather quality rank

First, what are feathers? I will start by explaining the structure and the mechanism of storing heat.

What is Feather

Feathers are also called down and include a down ball with three-dimensionally spread branches called barbs, as shown in the left photo and small flat feathers (small feathers), as shown in the right photo.

Down balls are simply called down or feathers.

Down ball structure and mechanism to store heat

The feathers' heat retention and temperature control function are proportional to the size and density of the down ball.

The downfall has barbs radiating from the central nucleus. These barbs have branches called tiny barbs.

Next, I will explain how feathers store heat.

The barbs open and close between the barbs in response to heat. Please understand that when it gets cold, the barbs are tightly closed to keep the heat in by letting in warm air.

Movement of air inside the duvet

The duvet is warm because each feather closes the gap between the barbs and "blocks" heat transfer. Down is not a heat storage material but an insulation material that blocks heat transfer.

The difference between the heat retention and temperature control functions of duvets is also due to the difference in the performance of the down that regulates the movement of warm air (heat) inside the duvet.

The quality of feather performance is judged by the size of the down ball, the density of the barbs and tiny barbs, and the fluffy feeling.

Index for ranking feathers

The indicators for classifying feathers are the type of waterfowl collected, breeding period, down rate, down power, fill amount, place of origin, cleanliness, etc.

The type of waterfowl, down rate, down power, and filling amount are essential indicators for determining the quality rank of feathers.

Types of bird feathers and differences between duck, goose, and mother goose down

There are two types of waterfowl from which feathers are collected: goose and duck. Goose includes a mother goose that has been kept for more than one year.

In order of duck, goose, and mother goose, the down balls are more extensive, the barbs are longer, the number of barbs is more prominent, and the degree of denseness is higher.

What is down power

Down power is an index that expresses the volume of down and measures heat retention. A duvet with high down power is basically recommended.

In the image below, feathers of the same weight with different down power are placed in transparent containers, and the volume of the feathers is shown like a bar graph. The volume of down feathers represents the heat retention capacity.

Down power is an index that indicates the size of the down ball, and it is possible to estimate the proportion of immature down and fiberized barbs. In that sense, the down power value is an index that compensates for the shortcomings of the down rate.

How to measure down power

Down power is measured by putting 30g of down in a cylinder and weighing it to calculate the volume per gram, and the unit is up.

A 1g volume of 440dp down weighs 440ml. According to the Japan Textile Product Quality Technology Center QTEC, the maximum value is rarely 500dp.

The IDFB (International Down Feather Bureau) uses a slightly different method of measuring feather bulk, and the unit is expressed as fill power. Learn more about the difference between down power and fill power here.

Down power truth

The barbed shaft of duck down is thicker than goose and has a higher tension, so it does not collapse even under heavy load, so the down power is high. Furthermore, the density of the small barbs in the centre of the duck down is low, resulting in poor heat retention.

Therefore, down power cannot be compared across goose and duck bird species as an indicator of heat retention. The density of barbs cannot be accurately determined from down power alone.

How to restore a duvet by pressing it with your hands

When selecting a 15 tog king size duvet by touching it, a duck is better than a goose because it expands and restores quickly by holding down the duvet. Therefore, a fast-puffing duvet is not necessarily better.

The goose has better heat retention when comparing goose and duck duvets with the same down power.

For more information, visit the DownPower site here.

Eider duck down entwined.

Some duvets do not display down power. The ultimate eider duck down only has the down ratio, filling amount and country of origin.

The reason for this is the intertwining properties of down called sticky down, represented by eider duck down. Therefore, it is difficult to get bulky, and there is no point in listing down power.

Down power is related to heat retention performance up to a particular value, but beyond that, it is an index that expresses the functionality of temperature control.

Feathers with a high value are warm and comfortable even with a small amount of filling because it makes it easy to expand the barbs for heat dissipation or to close them for heat storage.

If this value is low, the filling will be increased to ensure heat retention. Still, if the value is increased, it will be challenging to move the hands and feet in a crowded train, making it difficult to open and close the barbs, and the temperature control function will decrease. By the way, the thickness of the futon increases during heat dissipation, and the thickness of the futon decreases slightly during heat storage.

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