Down in Duvets and Pillows: Feathers, Origin, and Care

Down or Feathers: What's the Difference?

The quill. Down has no quill and no shaft; it is softer and lighter than feathers and, according to Stiftung Warentest, provides better insulation. Feathers give a filling structure: According to Öko-Test, pure down flattens very quickly, while a blend of down and feathers offers more resistance.

The label tells you what’s in the filling. According to the DIN EN 12934 standard, it lists the proportions as percentages, such as 90/10 or 15/85: 90/10 means 90% down and 10% feathers. According to EN standards, a filling can be called a down product if it contains at least 60% down. Here’s how the four products in the shop are filled, according to their product pages:

• Rubin Down Comforter: Goose down, 100% according to the brief description. The page does not specify the composition according to the standard, nor does it mention a specific grade or fill weight.
• Rubin Pillow: 85% duck down and 15% duck feathers in three chambers—the outer chambers filled with down, the inner chamber with feathers and air-cell rods.
• Jade Pillow: 15% down and 85% duck feathers. With such a low down content, it is not classified as a down product according to EN standards; the product page refers to it as a feather pillow in one place and a down pillow in another.
• Plume Organic Down Pillow: 90% German organic goose down and 10% feathers; as a three-chamber pillow, the interior consists of 80% feathers and 20% down, depending on the model.

What a test found: In some of the ten down comforters tested by Stiftung Warentest in 2020, the filling did not match the information listed on the product.

Building Power: What Does It Tell Us About Heat?

It measures how much space down fills: According to the EN 12130 standard, where it is referred to as “fill power,” 30 g is used for this measurement. Compare two values only if they were measured in the same way, because, according to the IDFL testing laboratory, units can only be converted approximately, and types of pretreatment cannot be converted at all.

More down, more loft: In a test conducted by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, down comforters with a higher down content generally had greater fill power and provided more warmth. According to Öko-Test, how warm a comforter keeps you depends primarily on the air it traps—whether between feathers, wool, or polyester—and no one material is fundamentally superior to another.

For the Rubin down comforter, the product page does not list the fill power or fill weight, but instead specifies the warmth class as “normal” and a recommended bedroom temperature range of 16 to 18 °C. According to Stiftung Warentest, warmth classes are not uniformly defined. A new down comforter may provide even better warmth after two or three nights: heat and moisture cause the compressed down to fluff up again.

Here’s what the measurements show: Of the 18 blankets tested at the Hohenstein Institute, the two heaviest down blankets—weighing 1.75 and 1.77 kg—provided the best insulation in the temperature range the institute classifies as “winter.” A lightweight down comforter with 90% down, weighing 1.18 kg, provided less insulation than a polyester comforter weighing 1.32 kg. The weights include the cover.

Where does the down come from, and are geese plucked while they're still alive?

It cannot be ruled out entirely. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the only pain-free method for live geese is combing out mature feathers during molting. Under current commercial conditions, however, it cannot be ruled out that feathers are also plucked, causing pain and bleeding. The RDS and Downpass labels prohibit any harvesting of down and feathers from live animals, as well as stuffing.

In Switzerland, the Animal Welfare Ordinance prohibits the live plucking or force-feeding of domestic poultry. However, down for bedding is imported: According to *Kassensturz*, 500 metric tons of down and feathers entered Switzerland in 2016, almost all of it for bedding, mostly from Poland, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, and France. Therefore, look for a certified source, such as RDS. What the labels mean:

• Responsible Down Standard (RDS): Collecting down during the molting season is also prohibited. Independent auditors monitor every stage, from the farm to the finished product.
• Downpass: The chain is traceable all the way back to the breeding stage. According to the 2017 report, the label does not require husbandry practices that go beyond legal requirements.
• “From dead animals”: This statement alone does not rule out the possibility that the geese were plucked alive multiple times beforehand or came from force-feeding operations. In the Stiftung Warentest study, only three out of ten suppliers could trace the origin of their down all the way back to the farm.

None of the four product pages in the store mention RDS or Downpass. Here's what they say about the origin:

• Rubin Pillow: No down or feathers from live animals are used.
• Jade Pillow: Made exclusively from duck feathers and down that were not harvested from live animals.
• Plume Organic Down Pillow: German organic goose down; the pillow is GOTS-certified.
• Rubin Down Comforter: The product page does not specify the origin of the down.

If you want to sleep without any animal fibers at all, you'll find two products with fiber filling under "Down Alternatives."

Washing Down Comforters and Pillows: How Do You Do It?

Be patient when drying. According to their product pages, the Rubin down comforter and the three pillows are washable at 60 °C and suitable for the dryer; follow the care label instructions. Here’s how Öko-Test recommends washing and drying them:

Wash infrequently: According to the Hong Kong Consumer Council, frequent washing can damage a down comforter; in a test, one shrank by about 7% in width after five washes. In a test by Stiftung Warentest, a comforter had shrunk by up to 20 cm after three washes, and down feathers had poked through the cover. In between, airing it out is enough: Shake out your down bedding daily and air it out thoroughly, but not in direct sunlight, otherwise the feathers will become brittle. Wash your pillows about every three months.

Down and Dust Mites: Is That Okay If You Have Allergies?

According to Öko-Test, yes—but down pillows aren’t actually mite-free. Dust mites feed on skin flakes, not down, and the covers of down pillows are woven so tightly that hardly any mites can get through. If you want to be sure, look for the NOMITE label. What studies found:

• The Cover: In the lab, no live mites penetrated the fabric cover of a feather pillow within 48 hours; they all penetrated a simple synthetic cover within 24 hours, while a newer synthetic cover kept them out as well.
• The Allergen: After one year, feather pillows contained fewer mite allergens than synthetic pillows.
• Mites: Mites were found in 64% of the samples taken from the dust of goose-down pillows in 45 apartments—less frequently than in wool pillows, but not never.

The aha! Allergy Center Switzerland recommends dust-mite-proof covers for mattresses, pillows, and comforters and advises washing pillows and comforters at least once a month at a minimum temperature of 60 °C. According to their website, all four down products in the store are washable at 60 °C; however, frequent washing can damage a down comforter. Their product pages state that the covers for the Rubin and Jade pillows have been awarded a seal by the Wessling testing institute—the Rubin cover is labeled “Dust Mite Barrier & Cotton,” and the Jade cover is labeled “Dust Mite Barrier”; none of the four pages mention NOMITE.

If you have to wash it often, that usually isn't a problem for fiber-filled pillows, according to Öko-Test: A fiber pillow is listed under "down alternatives."

Down Alternatives: What's the Best Option If You Sweat Under Down?

A filling that wicks away moisture more effectively and a blanket that provides less insulation. According to Öko-Test, down and feathers are poor at wicking away moisture: People who sweat a lot should opt for alternatives, such as wool, which absorbs and wicks away moisture well; camel hair blankets also wick away moisture very effectively. According to Stiftung Warentest, people who sweat easily are better off with a blanket that provides less insulation, and those who want to ensure that no animal suffered for the blanket should choose a synthetic blanket. Two products with fiber filling from the store—an all-season blanket and a pillow—are listed at the end of this section.

But a camel hair blanket can also be warm: At the Hohenstein Institute, a 1.98 kg blanket provided nearly as much insulation as the two heavy down blankets. Mara Vital offers camel hair blankets as all-season or winter blankets, and alpaca blankets in fill weights ranging from 190 to 500 g per square meter. The three side by side:

Read more in the guide

Camel Hair: Properties, Warmth, and Care

How warm it is next to sheep's wool, whether camels are sheared, and how to care for your blanket and pillow.

Other Fillings