How To Choose a Down Comforter

Down comforters are a great choice when chosing a cover for your bed. They are natural and provide a level of warmth that is usually higher than that of a synthetic material. The questions you must ask yourself are: are you a cool sleeper or a warm sleeper? Do you prefer to stay snuggly and warm or do you often kick off the covers and perhaps use a fan to blow cool air at you at night?

A warm sleeper, or one who prefers to stay snuggly and warm, will benefit from a heavier down comforter. A cool sleeper will benefit from a lightweight or summer style comforter. Down comforters are made in a variety of styles and weights. No matter which type of sleeper that you are, there will be a down comfortor style choice available for you.

Fortunately, not only are weight choices available in down comforters, but there has been a resurgence of American made products to hit the market. Consumers are searching for organic products and they are buying bedding products made in California and Maine, products containing cotton from Texas that has been milled in South Carolina.

When choosing a down comforter select bedding by weight and your sleep style. There are five different options when choosing a comforter. Here are weight descriptions.

1. Down Blanket - equal to a medium weight blanket but it is cosier and loftier.
2. Summer Comforter - Usually very light yet ideal for warm rooms and warm sleepers.
3. Weight 1 - Great for fall and spring. Equivalent to two blankets without the weight.
4. Weight 2 - A winter comforter equivalent to three blankets and well suited for the cool sleeper.
5. Weight 3 - For a cool bedroom and the winter season. Warmer than weight 2.
6. Weight 4 - this is a comforter often used in unheated farmhouse bedrooms. More common to the European market.

Cuddledown, a down comforter company from Maine, also recommends choosing different fabric and down fillings based on your sleep preferences. Fabric choices are often damask, batiste, sateen and cambric. The batiste is the lightest choice.

Down fillings vary as well. You can choose from duck down or goose down. Fillings rate by numbers similar to thread count on sheets. From 400 to 1000 with 1000 being the finest and rarest down filling. The 400 to 1000 down filling rates on its fill power per cubic inches. The 400 down fill is a medium quality comforter. While searching online it is common to see a fill rating of 550 in standard down comforters.

The last type of down filling is very rare and it is called rare Eiderdown fill. This down filling comes from Iceland and Scandanavia. It is gathered by hand and prized throughout the world.