WARMER THAN DOWN synthetic insulation?!?!

[Dill Pickle]

Come one, come all, my fellow Diy-ers of the woods!
A synthetic insulation that boasts 1.5 times more warmth than down? These folks can't be serious, right? The miracle insulation is indeed called, Quilter's Dream Puff batting. It comes in many different sizes, ranging from the wee small crib size to the benevolent boastrious king size. Here's a link if you are interested,
https://www.fabric.com/buy/0361602/q...122-x-122-king . After reading the "warmer than down" statement I had to give em a call and get the low down on the down low. Come to find out, this stuff is said to be warmer, "by weight" which is also confusing because it comes in at 3.5-4 oz/yd^2 with only 1/3"-1/2" of loft. I asked the wonderful lady what down fill power was used to test against this fill and she didn't know, but she said the test was conducted 10 years ago by an independent testing facility. My question for you all is, have any of you tried this "miracle" insulation in any of your projects? If so, what did you think? If not, comment anyways on your thoughts.

[Dochartaigh]

It's most definitely compared to like 500 down or something like that – especially if it's a 10+ year old technology.

[brianb]

Please let us know if you end up testing. I'm sure the DIY community would sing your praise.

[BanjoPicker]

Not sure if it helps, but I found this:

"Fibers [of Dream Puff] are Carded, Crosslapped & Thermally Bonded*"

"*Thermal Bonding is a process that interlocks the fibers through the use of heat energy. For Dream Wool and Dream Puff, we use a special fine denier polyester for the thermal bonding. Thermal bonding is an environmentally (absent of chemical resin binders) favorable technology.

The heat in the thermal bonding process softens the surface of the fiber. At the melting point, fibers in contact with each other will form strong bonds, which holds the batting together. When this is cooled the bonding points solidify and ensure the strength and performance of the batting."

source: http://www.wholesalequiltbatting.com...sers_guide.htm

[Caminante]

Polyester batting? I'll pass, let us know if you try it. But I do wish this had panned out:
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...r-DIY-Project!

[Dill Pickle]

I wish downlite panned out too! I reckon someone could create an account and take orders for fellow HF members, but that could get messy. I may end up trying the Dream Puff, it looks promising but I'd like to know it's temperature rating. However, I am always on the lookout for new materials and fabrics for the diy folks, and I did come across the company Seattle Fabrics and they have a quilted synthetic insulation that is on a taffeta lining which would only require an outer shell to make a top quilt or underquilt. It's like $13 a yard and it comes in 60 inch width. I believe it is an 8 ounce per square yard batting. Anyone ever try this out before? I may need to start a new thread, but just wondering.

[Gqgeek81]

Sooner or later we'll end up with a synthetic that's comparable to 1000FP or better. Its inevitable IMO but its pretty impressive Birds have something we still haven't figured out how to beat.

[Foresight]

Birds have a better design engineer.

[Dill Pickle]

Birds have a better design engineer.

I agree^^^

[mophead]

Sooner or later we'll end up with a synthetic that's comparable to 1000FP or better. Its inevitable IMO but its pretty impressive Birds have something we still haven't figured out how to beat.

If cost wasn't a factor we could probably do it now. Although, it makes me wonder since we cant seem to even match lower FP's of down. The best synthetic fibers seem to offer 650fp and MAYBE approach 700fp. But whoever pulls it off will have to find a way to do it cheaper than someone harvesting it from a bird.