Goose Down Vs. Down Alternative Fiberbeds For Allergy Control
A high quality mattress as well as a fine comforter are needed for getting restful sleep. But some have found that adding one more layer over the mattress can make the bed even more comfortable, as well as warmer, for the occupant. During the winter months additional layers help save energy by reducing the heating costs.
The extra layer is served by something called a fiberbed. Appearance-wise, it resembles something between a portable mattress and a comforter. Like a comforter, it’s very soft and filled with insulating material. However, like a mattress, it’s inserted beneath a sleeper. The fill has a higher top feather content than a regular comforter for added stiffness.
While quite a lot of people want to try out the fiberbed, the problem is that these people are allergic to irritants in the fill. The irritants can come from the water fowl which are the source of the down undercoat, or from dust-mites which coexist with people. Dust-mites have been established as a leading producer of allergens that accumulate in bedding.
The solution to such issues lies in the use of down alternative fiberbeds. Down fill actually has a surprising number of substitutes or similar substances. Good down alternatives must have three of the unique properties of down: great insulating power, light-weight, and high loft (or softness). In the case of synthetic fills, polyester is the favored material. In the case of natural fills, silk is likely to be the favorite. A famous example of a synthetic is Primaloft, which comes quite close to down in terms of its weight-to-loft ratio.
In addition to decreasing the amount of irritants, fiberbeds made with down alternative fills are also cheaper. This is due to the fact that synthetics can be manufactured and scaled up in a way that down cannot be. For example, extracting down from farmed geese requires a long lead time to grow the geese. Attempting to circumvent this by hunting for wild geese is even harder as it requires a lot of people searching for geese. Although down alternatives are cheaper, one should keep in mind that there is a big range in prices also.
An important point for buyers is that down alternative fiberbeds are made with different kinds of stitch patterns. Certain stitching patterns like the baffle-box help corral the interior fill to well-defined cells. This prevents the down alternative fills from shifting around over time. Some effort made with airing and shaking the fiberbed a few times a month will also help keep the internal contents even.
The last point to keep in mind when trying to choose between down alternatives and traditional down fiberbeds is that maintenance is much easier in the case of synthetics. Household detergents and appliances will suffice. Dry cleaning is a permissible alternative but not absolutely required.
Additional resources provided for down alternative can be located here. The writings provided for hypoallergenic down will be useful to many.
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