Taking down from home quilt?

**justinae** · 08-07-2020, 00:38

My folks gave me their king sized down quilt. I have no idea how quality the down is but they tend to get decent stuff. I was thinking of extracting it but have visions of myself all red faced and covered in down. Anyone got any tips on doing this without too big of a mess? Is it even worth it without knowing the quality of the down?

**dscotthep** · 08-07-2020, 06:21

Is there a label still attached to the quilt? The "down" quilt my wife bought several years ago has a label that says "95% feathers, 5% down". But you can tell without looking at the label because the quilt is HEAVY!

**mando** · 08-07-2020, 06:34

^ Yep. Check the tag which almost always has the feather to down ratio. Most of the "down" bedding comforters I have seen are 90-95% feathers with very little down. Same with pillows. Actual down bedding is certainly out there but definitely check the tag first to see if it's worth your time to rip it apart.

**justinae** · 08-07-2020, 12:31

oh good to know! Is the biggest difference just the warmth to weight ratio or are feathers inferior in some other way as well?

**FLTurtle** · 08-08-2020, 08:10

Down traps air better than feathers. Feathers have quills, and with the the lightweight and thin fabrics used in hammock quilts will probably push through. Do a google image search on 'feather vs down' to get an idea. The few times I've seen 'down' coming out of my quilt, it's typically a small feather.

**dscotthep** · 08-08-2020, 14:52

Originally Posted by justinae

Is the biggest difference just the warmth to weight ratio or are feathers inferior in some other way as well?

Yes, it's not one of those new-fangled "weighted blankets", but it could be! (and what FLTurtle mentioned about the quills). And my wife and I don't use our quilt any more because it was WAY too warm. We'd wake up sweating profusely every single night!

**LooseGooseDownSupply** · 08-10-2020, 09:32

As others have mentioned, you want down with as few "feathers" as possible in the down for quilts. The high end down that gear manufacturers use is typically 90/10 down to feather ratio since it is nearly impossible to remove all the feathers, but the few that remain are very small. The higher down to feather ratio also boosts the fill power rating since the down clusters are much lighter. If you have any more questions about down, just let us know.

**justinae** · 08-10-2020, 17:41

Turns out no tags on the quilt. I thread ripped a small section and pulled some out. Definitely has some feathers. Is this identifiable?

**justinae** · 08-10-2020, 17:42

close up pic

**slugbait** · 08-11-2020, 10:05

If you're looking to make your first top quilt or underquilt, I think you should use this down. You'll end up with something you can use and you'll soon be planning the next one using better materials. When transferring down I remove towels, rugs etc. from the bathroom, bring in the quilt shell and down item to the bathtub (a large shower enclosure would also work) and close curtain or door. Work in slow motion- you should be left with a not-so-big mess and a new quilt. I move the down handful by handful.