Down 101: Cozy Comforters from Scandia

Cozy, high-quality down products are the foundation for a beautiful bed (and a restful night's sleep!). But purchasing down products can feel overwhelming. With so many options, weights and types of comforters, how do you decide which one?

Here's our "Down 101" primer on finding the perfect down comforter.

Why Scandia?

One of the first steps when choosing a comforter is finding the right brand. Scandia has a long heritage of creating the best luxury down comforters, down pillows and foundations in the world.

Hand-filled and crafted in Wisconsin from the finest imported materials, each Scandia down-filled product is accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity and Scandia Down Limited Warranty.

• Responsible Down Standard
  All Scandia products adhere to the Responsible Down Standard, which enforces strict requirements on food and water qualities, housing, outdoor access, animal health, hygiene.
• Baffle-Box style
  Each of Scandia's comforters are created in the "baffle-box" style of stitching, which keeps down from shifting and creating cold spots. Baffle-box construction allows the down to loft more fully, resulting in more trapped air between down clusters. This air provides insulation, holding in the warmth generated by your body heat. Cozy!

What's fill power?

Does a higher fill power mean a warmer/heavier comforter? Not necessarily. 

"Fill power" is a fancy way of saying how many cubic inches one ounce of of down fills. A higher fill power will give you a loftier, more fluffy comforter for a given warmth level. And most of Scandia's comforters come in several different weights depending how warm you like to sleep.

Down comforter lifespan

Just like all bedding, down comforters will eventually wear out.

Typically, a high-quality down comforter should last between eight and 12 years, but there are many factors that influence the life and wear of a comforter, including:

• Type of sleeper: If you're a restless sleeper who tosses and turns, your comforter may begin to lose its loft sooner than someone who sleeps completely still.
• Area of comforter: The areas of the comforter closest to your shoulders/armpits are the most likely to lose their down first.

Check to see if it's time to replace your comforter

You can hold your comforter up to the window or a light to see if any of your down compartments have started to lose their down. A worn-out comforter may have compartments that don't contain any down at all.

Our picks

Scandia's new Chamonix is an 800-850 fill power baffle-box comforter named for its historic namesake in the valley beneath Mont Blanc. The Chamonix comforter merges lighter-than-air comfort with optimal thermal performance, delivering the pinnacle of pure luxury for down bedding. Siberian white goose down clusters provide ideal loft for warmth and volume, while the 100% cotton Austrian nano-sateen shell ensures a soft, silky touch and the weight of a whisper.

It comes in four weights: Ultra-light, Light, Medium & Ultra. 

Scandia's Copenhagen is a great basic comforter, even for those who haven't purchased high-end down products before. Ideal for starter homes, guest rooms and children's rooms, Copenhagen comforters are 600 fill-power wrapped in soft cotton cambric ticking. It comes in three weights: light, medium and ultra.

Scandia's Lucerne features a silky-soft cotton Damask stripe ticking that holds 650 fill-power Hungarian white goose down. The sateen piping around the edges is double-stitched for durability and it's certified hypoallergenic.

Stop by the store to speak to our knowledgeable associates and find out which down comforter is right for you.