Does a baffle box feather bed topper have a fill power?

Feathers don't have fill power, down does, and there is very little down in a feather bed (<%5). This small amount is only left because it is not able to be sorted from the feathers. Since feather beds are only filled with feathers, they do not have a fill power rating. I've seen some retailers give their feather comforters a fill power rating, which is inaccurate.

Down is the small, soft clusters underneath a bird’s feathers that provide superior insulation. Fill power is the amount of cubic inches occupied by 1 ounce of down. Down id used in comforters because it is extremely light and offers superior insulation. But it's also very expensive and, if used in a feather bed, would only compress and do the same job as feathers, wasting its precious value.

Perhaps you’ve been mislead by a company advertising a feather bed with a fill power rating? I’ve not seen any companies doing this, but I’m sure it’s just a mistake if they are.

I have seen some feather beds with a small layer of down on top of the feather layer. Retailers could claim a fill power for this layer and that would be accurate, but not useful information. The fill power of down is only useful when the down is allowed to expand and insulate, as in a down comforter. When the down is underneath you, as in a feather bed, it is compressed, making the fill power rating irrelevant.

Having said that, it would make sense to have a thin down top layer on a feather bed. Down is softer than feathers, and would softer to the touch. The same thing could be achieved with a mattress pad that you would put on over the feather bed. The mattress pad has a thin layer of fiberfill that would also be softer to the touch than the surface of the feather bed.

Using a mattress pad over a featherbed is a good reason because it:

1. is less expensive than down
2. won’t shed little down clusters to float around the room
3. is easily removable for washing

Feather beds are large and need to be taken to a professional cleaner when dirty. If you have a penetrating spill, the entire feather bed has to go to a cleaner. But by using a mattress pad, you could prevent spills, dirt, body moisture / oils from penetrating the topper, greatly reducing the need and frequency of cleaning.