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Comforter and Pillow Buying Guide from Cloud Nine Comforts
Goose down. Feather blends. Thread count. Fill power. Baffles. Choosing comforters and pillows can be, well, a little baffling. But as with any decision, a little information goes a long way. Here are some simple definitions that will help you choose the right product.
What's on the Inside
The soul of every comforter is what we call the fill. All Cloud Nine comforters and sleep pillows are filled with goose down or amazingly soft and down-like synthetics. Our decorator pillows and feather beds are filled with various blends of down, feathers and synthetic fibers. In every case our fills are of exceptional quality and purity.
Definitions
Down: the insulating fluff found under the chest feathers of waterfowl. Soft, nearly weightless clusters radiate in all directions from a central point and interlock to trap air. It's the air that keeps you warm.
Types of Down
Generally, the colder the climate and the longer the goose is allowed to mature, the larger and warmer the down clusters. Each of our down comforters and sleep pillows can be ordered in any of these down types.
White Goose Down: 550 fill power
Hungarian Goose Down: 650 fill power
Polish Goose Down (hypoallergenic): 750 fill power
Feathers: the outer plumage of waterfowl. Feather filaments radiate side-to-side from a tubular central quill for a flat, two-dimensional appearance, a firmer, springier texture and significantly less ability to trap air.
Fill weight: the ounces of fill in a comforter. This choice will depend on the size of the comforter, the style of construction, the fill power of the down, the preferred warmth and the desired look and price point.
Fill power: the standard that tells us the number of cubic inches filled by each ounce of down. The more space an ounce of down takes up (that is, the more air it entraps), the more warmth it offers per ounce.
Down and Feather Blends: a variety of blends for various purposes and budgets. Generally, the more down, the softer and fluffier the pillow; the more feathers, the firmer and springier the pillow.
Duck down/feathers and Goose down/feathers proportions are: 10/90, 25/75, and 50/50.
Synthetic Fibers
Ideal for customers who may be allergic to down. These innovative new synthetics are more like down than ever before.
Nirvana: the highest quality synthetic fill available today. It closely simulates the softness, fluidity and loft of down because the fiber is formed in small individual clusters that can be blown into a tick.
What's on the Outside
The quality of fabric and the engineering methods used to enclose a comforter or pillow can enhance or undermine its ability to loft, insulate, breathe and last.
Tick: the fabric sack that contains the fill of a comforter or pillow.
Ticking: the fabric the tick is made of. All Cloud Nine comforter and pillow ticks are made with down-proof natural fabrics of exceptional quality with a high thread count and luxurious hand.
Egyptian cotton: long-staple cotton fibers with exceptional strength and luster. Since it requires very fine, smoothly-spun threads to achieve a high thread count, Egyptian cotton is ideal for weaving ticking fabrics that are exceptionally lightweight, lustrous, down-proof and long-wearing.
Silk: a natural fiber known for its luster, strength and luxurious hand. We have blended silk with cotton for added comfort and elegance.
Thread count: the total number of threads per square inch. This includes both warp and weft threads. The higher the thread count, the more closely woven the fabric and the more down-proof the fabric.
Weave: the pattern formed by the warp threads crossing the weft threads.
Plain weave: a simple flat weave that is smooth to the touch, with no special
decorative effect.
Satin or sateen weave: a lustrous finish created by threads that float across the surface of the fabric.
Twill weave: a diagonal surface texture (like denim). Generally thicker and heavier than a plain weave, twill makes an ideal tick for feather fills.
Tick Construction
Open-flow construction lets you move the down around inside the tick, adjusting the warmth for different parts of the body and different seasons.
Baffled construction: the tick has interior walls (baffles) that keep the two layers of ticking lifted apart to allow for greater loft. Stitched-through construction: two layers of ticking are stitched directly together. Both baffled and stitched-through ticks can be made in open-flow or contained-flow styles.
The Baffle Box is a tick style with contained-flow baffled construction. It allows the highest possible loft while keeping the down evenly distributed.
Tick Sizes: our comforter ticks are cut to six generous American sizes. Unlike other manufacturers, we don't attempt to combine Full and Queen sizes into one size that doesn't fit either very well. We think you'll find all our sizes just right.
Comforter Sizes
Twin: 71 X 86
Full: 81 X 86
Queen: 90 X 94
King: 108 X 94
Super King: 110 X 115
Custom King: 120 X 120
Pillow Sizes
Standard: 20 X 26
Queen: 20 X 30
King: 20 X 36
European: 26 X 26
Boudoir: 12 X 16
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