HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR DOWN DUVET

1. Make sure your duvet is filled with superior quality goose or duck down. Only the top grades of down will stay fluffy for many years. Poor quality or low-grade down will flatten and clump into tiny balls in a couple of years. The colour of the down is unimportant - the famous eiderdown duck (now an endangered species) has down that is almost black in colour.
2. How many ounces of down does your duvet contain? Do not buy a duvet without knowing this fact. Some manufacturers state the entire weight of the duvet, covering included, or include mostly feathers with the down.
3. Do not buy a duvet that contains a considerable amount of feathers. Feathers add weight only, not the fluffy warmth that you get from down. Feathers trap the down filaments so that they cannot expand to their maximum fullness. Keep in mind that all commercial grade down allows for a small amount of waterfowl feathers as it is impossible to separate absolutely all of the feathers from the down.
4. Make sure that the duvet covering is of superior quality. A down-proof 100% cotton ticking with 230 threads per inch is best. Some cheaper ticking has a low thread count disguised by smoothly pressed sizing or filler which soon disappears with use. The down will escape through this porous cotton. Some very high-thread-count ticking is too fine and wears through quickly.
5. Make sure that the sections of your duvet are not too narrow or too small and thus confining. Check and see if the inner walls (baffles) are high enough to allow the down to fluff up or 'loft' from 3" to 12". The warmth from down results from its ability to 'loft' and fill with air. The more air that is trapped, the better the insulation and breathability.
6. Be aware that duvets sewn in squares are not adjustable in any way. With squares, the down cannot be moved to one end during hot summer nights, for example. Also, the baffles around the squares will not be very high (often there is no height at all!), forcing the duvet flat. With long, high and wide tunnels, the down can circulate freely and breathe. If some centre squares flatten with extra use after a few years, they cannot be topped up with fresh down the way a duvet sewn with tunnels can.
7. Duvets with Karo step (randomly stitched through with an 'X' or tiny circle) are not satisfactory either. Over time, the down will shift to one area and the tacked spots act as obstacles when you try to redistribute the down.
8. Is your duvet fully washable and dryable in the dryer? Dry cleaning is not recommended.
9. Does the size of your duvet fit standard North American-size beds and duvet covers?
10. Be sure and buy from a trusted company that gives you a full guarantee. Be careful of very cheap, unbelievable sales. Superior-quality down is expensive , at least $50 per pound (16 oz). Some prices are too good to be true!
11. Remember that a duvet is an investment. Buy excellent quality and it will last many, many years.