BEDDING — Inside the Home

Down Featherbed

How to Find the Feather Bed of Your Dreams

Every human being has one thing in common: We desire a good night's sleep. No one likes to spend the night tossing and turning, dreading the moment when the first sliver of sun starts to appear in the blue-gray sky, realizing you'll have to complete a whole day of work on maybe five minutes of sleep.

I've been there. I realized I had a bedding problem when I started to envy my dog's plush mattress. He sleeps curled in complete comfort while I roll around like I'm on a cruise ship.

It was time to stop drinking coffee by the gallon and start to rethink my bedding options. So with bloodshot eyes, I started out in search of the perfect feather bed. I was looking for something plush and cloud-like, easy-to-clean, and luxurious. This is what I learned through my odyssey to find the perfect feather bed.

How do you know if a feather bed is right for you?
In Europe, featherbeds are sometimes used instead of mattresses. But in the U.S, the featherbed goes on top of the regular mattress, beneath a fitted sheet for that extra-layer of cushion. A featherbed is ideal if your mattress just isn't doing it anymore or lacking support.

Don't forget that featherbeds add an extra layer of insulation, so you might want to choose a light cotton comforter or breezy blanket instead of a full down comforter. Also, putting a feathered over a mattress adds extra inches, so if you have a pillbox only add the feather bed if you want to sleep like the Princess and the Pea.

Choosing a Featherbed
There's no one-size-fits-all feather bed. There are many different types, including bag style, baffle channel, bafflebox, and down-topped. These aren't just special names created for selling purposes, they actually mean something.

Baffle box - A baffle box featherbed is designed to keep the fill inside from moving around. It keeps the cushion under your tush, so you don't wake up feeling like you're sleeping on brick. Baffle box featherbeds are ideal for those who like to rock and roll in their sleep.

Bag Style - On the other hand, there's the bag style featherbed. Hence the name, it has no boxes or channels to keep the down in place and is somewhat less supportive than its baffle box cousin. It's great if you've always dreamt of sleeping on a bag of feathers. Not so great if you thrash around in your sleep.

Baffle Channel Construction - Featherbeds with baffle channel construction allow for maximum adjustability and a firm feel. They're similar to the baffle box, but instead of the boxes, they have long lines of fill.

Down-topped - A down-topped featherbed is about as cushy as you can get. It features a pillow top filled with down and gives you that sinking into bed feeling.

Now that you know the different types of featherbeds available, let me tell you another thing I learned on the perfect featherbed journey. Look closely at your featherbed's label. Is it down-feather or feather-down? Is it goose down or duck down? There are differences between those terms as well!

Feather Wars
Down-Feather vs. Feather-Down - What came first, the feather or the down? It actually matters which ways those words are ordered! Down-feather blends have more down and feather-down blends have more feathers. Some companies will list the percentage of feather or down - the label will look like this: down-feather: 80/20.

Goose-Down vs. Duck-Down - When selecting a featherbed, consider the type of feathers you're after. In general, most people prefer goose-down because the featherbed is thicker and provides more support. Duck-down feather beds have their own merits - for one thing, they're considerable lighter and easier to fluff.

Cleaning your Featherbed
Congrats! You found your perfect feather bed. But when you bring it home, you'll have to take care of it. Otherwise, your bed could become a feather fortress for dust mites and other unwanted visitors. However, it's recommended that you not clean your feather bed too often. Washing it way more than you're supposed to could damage the down. Get a feather bed protector and you'll

Contrary to popular belief, you don't necessarily have to dry clean your feather bed - although dropping it off at the cleaners is a heck of a lot easier than washing and drying it at home. Read the special instructions. If it says, "Dry Clean Only," don't jam it in the washer and hope for the best.

You'll need a large capacity washer and dryer if you're going to do it yourself. Washing and drying a featherbed takes hours. Select cold-wash and use liquid detergent. When it's done washing, tumble dry low in a large-capacity dryer, with tennis balls or shoes to keep the fill even.

Be sure it's completely dry before putting it back on the bed - wet feathers can rot and if that happens, your goose is cooked.

About the Author

Amanda Halm is a writer from Seattle, WA. She writes for Pacific Coast Feather Company, a leading purveyor of featherbeds and goose down pillows.

Down Featherbed won't stay put on bed...?

I recently received a featherbed for my dying mattress...Although I love my bed being so comfortable now im having problems with the featherbed...It keeps sliding down to the bottom of the bed when I sleep so that I have to either pull it back up in the morning or just before I go to bed at night... I'm not that bad of a sleeper...I will admit that I do roll across both sides of the bed a lot...Is there any way to keep the featherbed on the bed without me having to adjust it on a daily basis?

Have you ever heard of sheet suspenders? they clip on to the corners of your sheet/featherbed, and cross under your mattress.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under bedding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.