Comforters Fill Materials Part 1

Comforters and bedspreads are all filled with various materials on the inside to give it the fluffy and comfortable feeling.

Since the fillings make up more than half of the entire piece, suffice to say the properties of comfort and warmth of the comforter or bedspread depends very much on them. Find out what fill materials are used and why.

Cotton

Cotton is the most commonly used material for fillings in comforters and bedspreads. It is very affordable, and at the same time, provides a decent level of comfort, making it an easy choice for those who are not willing to pay exorbitant prices for their beds.
Even among cotton filled comforters and bedspreads, there is a range of prices depending on the mix of cotton and polyester used. The best cotton pieces use 100% cotton for maximum breathability and comfort.

Polyester

Polyester used to be added into a mix of cotton, mostly as space filler rather than for any of its comfort qualities. Polyester is basically plastic, so you can imagine how it would be like to cover yourself with a whole piece of it. However, it is much cheaper than cotton, so they make cheaper comforters and bedspreads. But uncomfortable and hot polyester are very much a thing of the past.
Today’s new technology has made for polyesters that are very much more breathable, eliminating the complaint that many users had about polyesters in the past. While technology progressed, polyesters have remained the cheapest filling to date. But much like its price, the impression many people have on polyesters remain unchanged. Its cheap pricing continue to reinforce its position as a low quality filler.
Today polyesters are still rare used alone, but they are present in cotton mix in much larger percentages than before.

Down

Down is simply feathers used a filling for comforters and bedspreads. If feathers from geese are used, they are known as goose down. If feathers are eiders are used, they are known as eider down. Before synthetics materials came to be, down was the preferred fill material in Europe because down gave comforters and bedspreads loft and make them fluffy. They are also very light and have very good moisture absorbing qualities (look at how a goose goes into water and comes out wet but barely dripping).
But of course, feathers tend to stick out of comforters and bedspreads if the thread count is not high enough, making them prickly and uncomfortable instead. Some people are also allergic to down, so that also restricts their use in certain environments.
Washing down comforters can also be quite a bit of a chore when it comes to the drying part. Its good moisture absorption now makes it difficult to dry completely after getting wet through.

Continue reading more about fill materials at Comforter Fill Materials Part 2.