How to Select a Quality Feather Bed

Feather beds are luxuriously soft and comfortable.

There's nothing quite as decadent and luxurious as sleeping on a thick, fluffy feather bed. A feather bed is not a bed at all, but is actually a soft, cozy, removable mattress topper filled with feathers, down, or a combination of both. Feather beds differ in their materials, sizes and softness. Choosing a quality feather bed is actually quite easy, but requires a little research into the cover, filling, thickness and weight of the feather bed.

Instructions

1. Ask about and inspect the feather bed's covering. A quality feather bed has an outer shell, sometimes called "ticking" which is tightly woven to keep feathers from working their way out. When it comes to the outer shell, the higher thread count, the tighter the weave. Look for a shell with a thread count of at least 300 or higher. Another high-quality feature is two layers of ticking as opposed to just one.

2. Ask about the filling of the feather bed. Feather beds are filled with either goose or duck feathers mixed with down, all down or all feathers. The higher percentage of down inside a feather bed, the higher quality it is considered to be. This is because down feathers are the fluffiest, softest feathers available, and can be fluffed to the highest loft. Some people find a high ratio of feathers to be scratchy, lumpy and generally less comfortable. When it comes to judging the down itself, down from mature birds is considered higher quality, and down from geese is generally considered higher quality than down from ducks.

3. Check the baffling on the feather bed. Baffling is the word for the channels or boxes that are sewn onto the feather bed to divide it into sections. Sentiment is divided as to whether more or less baffling equals higher quality. Some feel that more baffling is preferable as it helps hold filling in place, while others point out that feather beds with less baffling can be fluffed up higher and more easily.

4. Find out about the feather bed's "fill power." This is a term coined by those in the bedding industry to describe the thickness and weight of a feather bed. The higher the fill power, the thicker and fuller the feather bed is, and the larger the down clusters filling the feather bed are. A higher fill power number translates to a higher quality feather bed.

5. Inspect the feather bed to see how it attaches to your mattress. Some feather beds simply sit on top of your mattress, and they may shift out of place. High-quality feather beds will have straps or gussets to properly hold the feather bed on top of the mattress.

References

• Down Mattress Topper: How to Choose a Featherbed to Sleep Like Royalty!
• Down and Feather Company: How to Choose Feather Beds
• A Happy Planet: Goose Down Feathers