Can You Buy an All Down Pillow?

As it turns out, all-down pillows technically don’t exist. That doesn’t mean that a pillow not described as “all-down” isn’t as luxurious as it sounds, but you should know what’s inside your pillow! We’ll go through the process of how our down pillows are made so you know exactly what is inside your down pillow.

A little background on down: down is a natural material that comes from a duck or a goose. It’s that soft, three-dimensional fluff that is found on the torso of the bird. By contrast, feathers are two-dimensional and tend to be more rigid. They are found on the back and wings of the bird. Want to learn more about our involvement in responsibly sourced down - read about RDS Down.

At the very beginning of the pillow making process, farmers collect both the down and the feathers and send them to a location to be sterilized prior to being shipped to the United States. When the material arrives at DOWNLITE, it is washed again several times with special soaps that remove organic matter, dirt, dust, and other things you wouldn’t want in your pillow.

After the washing process, the material is sent to a series of vertical chambers that blow the materials through a series of gates that help to sort the down and feathers by density. The lightest and softest material (down) will be blown to the very top of the chamber and the heavy material (feathers) will end up at the bottom. This helps us make pillows that are as close to being all-down as possible.

Truth be told, there is no such thing as a 100% all down pillow. When selling a down pillow, we are required to include 75% or more down clusters in the pillow. Since the feathers and down arrive together and the process of separation is not completely perfect, there will always be some smaller feathers or fibers that slip in to an all-down pillow. Want to know what makes up the other 75%? check out our other blog post on the 75% down topic.

That being said, down pillows are still considered to be more luxurious than their feather-heavy counterparts. Feather pillows are typically dense, heavy, and contain quills that can poke and sound noisy. Stomach or back sleepers tend to prefer a down pillow because they are softer, but pillows can be filled to the preference of any type of sleeper.

Down pillows can sell in the range of $75-$250, while their feathery counterparts sell in the $5-$50 range. In this case, the price is representative of material quality combined with supply and demand.

We know that purchasing the right pillow can be a challenge, especially online! We are here to help. Simply send us an email we will happily work with you to find the right pillow for you.