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Goose down comforters are already a luxury, but for true connoisseurs nothing will ever beat an eiderdown comforter. The ultimate in lightness and luxury, eiderdown is so rare that a king sized comforter can cost over $10000. Do not expect to find a quality eiderdown down comforter for less than $2000 for a twin comforter.
If you want to know just how warm and light eiderdown feels, the closest approximation I can give you is to imagine the warmth and lightness of the very best quality white goose down with 800+ fill power. It’s like sleeping in a weightless cloud of spun silk in front of a cozy fireplace during the winter. I did have a chance to sleep under an eiderdown comforter once when I stayed in Japan, and texture and feel of the comforter was unimaginable. The price of eiderdown seems exorbitant, but it is worth it.
Today we will look at two eiderdown comforters available in the US for under $10000. Daniadown’s eiderdown comforter and Bedding by Eve’s eiderdown European batiste down comforter are both made by companies specializing in eiderdown bedding with over 40 years of experience. Unlike regular goose down which comes from geese farmed for meat, eiderdown is harvested by hand from abandoned Eider duck nests in the wild. As eiderdown is never plucked from live birds it is truly cruelty free. If you care about animal welfare but love the feeling of down, an eiderdown comforter will be worth the high price.
The most expensive down in the world, eiderdown is gossamer light. So airy and soft that you will only feel weightless warmth when you’re surrounded by eiderdown. Unlike regular down, eiderdown sticks together like velcro. These interlocking feathers create a filling that is lighter than goose down while trapping more heat.
Compared to domesticated geese, eider ducks only exist in the wild. Eiderdown is harvested and sorted by hand from the abandoned nests of the eider duck. It takes over 9 hours of labor and processing for each piece of eiderdown to get from a wild nest to your comforter.
Each year there’s only enough eiderdown harvested to fill a thousand or so comforters. It takes more than 60 abandoned nests to fill just one queen sized comforter. Currently only Iceland, a handful of Northern Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Canada produce eiderdown for export. There is some eiderdown from Russia, but most of that is kept for the domestic Russian market.
While there are millions of goose down comforters made every year, each eiderdown comforter is truly rare and a luxurious indulgence. There are only a handful of small family owned bedding companies that make eiderdown bedding.
These factors together with the increasing demand for eiderdown is the cause for the extremely high price of eiderdown.
Always use a cover – no exceptions! Spot clean to blot out stains and never wash your eiderdown comforter in your washer. Washing an eiderdown comforter at home or at an inexperienced dry cleaner can damage the eiderdown. Soaps and hot water can dry out the eiderdown and make it brittle. Your once airy eiderdown comforter would become flat and heavy.
A properly covered eiderdown comforter should last a lifetime.
– You should never have to clean your comforter more than once every five years.
– I like to air my comforters out annually by hanging it out in the sun once every summer.
– You should fluff your comforter and rotate it every couple of days to redistribute the down.
If you must have your comforter laundered or have any loose stitching or tears, take your comforter to a French laundry that specializes in down bedding. They will know how to mend any tears. Some will even replace the thinning fabric completely and create a new comforter for you using your original eiderdown stuffing.
I know several French laundries in California, Kansas, New York, and the UK that have an excellent reputation with down comforter repairs. You may need to ship your comforter to them by mail if you don’t live nearby. Send me an email if you would like their contact information.
A good eiderdown comforter should last a lifetime so make sure you know what you want and what to look for before you buy.
The best eiderdown comforter I found for less than $10000 is the Daniadown Eiderdown Comforter.
Made by Daniadown Quilts, a family run bedding company, their eiderdown comforter is made in Canada with 100% pure Icelandic eiderdown and Swiss cotton.
Daniadown’s eiderdown comforter has true baffle boxes which allow the eiderdown inside to expand to 2+” of height. The edge area is double stitched on all four sides of the comforter. This way the down will stay in the center of the comforter and won’t shift and clump together at the edges and corners.
The company offers a 30 day money-back guarantee and a 10 year product warranty.
Excellent Service as a first time user Customer Service agent was so helpful and the item came so fast and it was exactly what I wanted. THANK YOU SO MUCH Christine from Anaheim, CA on wayfair.com
I love visiting Daniadown just so that I can touch the soft bedding. The sales people are very nice about it. They have some gorgeous stuff. If you want 600 thread count sheets come here. They also carry duvets, towels, and other stuff for the home. http://www.yelp.ca/biz/daniadown-home-vancouver
Average Price: $2,700-$4,805*
If you are looking for a quality eiderdown comforter that you can use all year round, then you should get Daniadown’s eiderdown comforter. At under $5000 for a king size comforter, it is one of the best deals I’ve found for American customers.
Need an extra light or extra warm eiderdown comforter? The European Batiste comforter comes in over 4 different levels of warmth so hot and cold sleepers can find their perfect comforter.
While I think the Daniadown comforter is the best overall choice, the lack of choice in warmth levels did drive me to find another choice. Some people want a lighter eiderdown blanket for spring or summer or even an extra warm eiderdown comforter for Arctic winters. If this applies to you then the European Batiste Eiderdown is the comforter that you’ve been looking for.
While the prices for the warmest king size go over our $10,000 budget, there is a very good reason for this. A standard all-seasons (medium warmth) king size eiderdown comforter will contain around 34 oz. of down filling. The European Batiste comforter stands out as there’s over 45 oz. of eiderdown filling for the “level 3” and 60 oz. of filling for the “level 4” models.
This means that the most expensive “level 3” and “level 4” comforters have double the amount of eiderdown filling and are really only appropriate for the coldest Arctic winters.
On the other end of the spectrum, this comforter also comes in lighter warmths for the warmer months. If you need a gossamer light eiderdown throw to keep away the chill of your air conditioner, then the “blanket”, “throw”, and “level 1” models of the Eiderdown European Batiste Comforter are what you need.
Average Price: $2,399-$13,560*
Bedding by Eve’s eiderdown comforter comes in 4 levels of warmth so you can find the perfect comforter to fit your needs. While the lighter warmth comforters do not have real baffle boxes, the choice of eiderdown comforters is limited for American customers. Unless you want to import your comforter from Europe, this is a minor trade-off. The level 3 and 4 comforters do have baffle boxes and the extra warmth is perfect for very cold winter nights.
Daniadown’s eiderdown comforter is the best all-around choice. It is the perfect warmth for all but the most extreme winter temperatures and the sub $5000 price point is unheard of especially for a a product that’s made in Canadian with all European materials.
The comforter comes with a 10 year warranty from the manufacturer and a 30 day exchange/refund policy from the retailer. Unless you relish the idea of dealing with borders and customs and importing a more expensive eiderdown comforter from Europe, you should get the Daniadown eiderdown comforter.
*at the time of publication