Percentage Down vs. Feather, Fiber, or Other

When shopping for a goose down comforter, it’s important to take into consideration the percentage of feather and down. The percentage is listed on the law label.  In the US, a comforter can be called “down” if it has at least 75% down.
 
What is in the remaining 25% ? It includes:
  • Feather - can be one or a combination of goose, duck, or some land fowl (usually chicken)
  • Fiber - small bits of either feather or down that has broken away
  • Residue - Feathers and down come from real birds, with dirt and whatever kind of stuff on them. Whatever is not washed off, is included in your comforter.
No comforter has 100% down. It’s impossible to sort out absolutely every bit of feather, fiber, or residue. But many manufacturers have excellent procedures and techniques in place for producing very high %, high quality down. Better comforters will be 85%, 90%, or 95% down fill.
 
So when you assess a down product, look at 2 things:
  1. Percentage down on the law label or on the product packaging – higher quality downs will have a higher % of down vs. feathers or other stuff.
  2. Cleanliness / Turbidity – If a comforter is Hypoallergenic, then you know that it has only a small amount of residue. It’s impossible to get rid of 100% of the residue, but the cleanest comforters will be less than  1/100th part residue.

High Percentage Down is Lighter, Fluffier, and Warmer.

Loft refers to the ability of down to expand. Loft is the characteristic of down that makes it such a great insulator. As down expands to fill the space inside a comforter, it traps and holds your body heat while still allowing moisture to pass through.
 
Feathers, fiber, and residue add weight to the down, prevent it from expanding to its full capacity, and decrease down’s ability to loft. So high percent down lofts better and insulates better. This makes a lighter, fluffier comforter.