If there are no words like these on your down jacket, don’t buy it no matter how cheap it is! A very practical guide to choosing a down jacket

The weather is getting colder, and it is time to wear down jackets. However, the down jackets on the market are dazzling from price to style.

What kind of down jacket is really warm? How can you buy a cheap and high-quality down jacket? Today, let's explain it to you~

Image source: Pixabay

One keyword to understand the new national standard for down jackets

At the beginning of last year, China issued the GB/T14272-2021 "Down Clothing" standard (hereinafter referred to as the "new national standard"), which was officially implemented on April 1, 2022. Among them, the biggest highlight of the new national standard is the change of "down content" to "down content".

What is the difference between "down content" and "down content"? What does this change mean?

Down: A general term for down, immature down, similar down and damaged down. It is shaped like a dandelion umbrella and is relatively fluffy. It is the best quality part of a down.

· Down filaments: The single filaments that fall off the down are in the form of individual threads and have no fluffy feeling.

It can be seen that although both the new and old national standards stipulate that "50% of the indicated amount is qualified", the change from "down content" to "down content" undoubtedly has stricter requirements on the quality of filling down and has also raised the standards of down jackets.

In the past, the "down content" required by the old national standard included both down and down fibers, which gave some unscrupulous merchants an opportunity to fill a lot of down fiber waste in down jackets and include it in the down content. On the surface, the label says "90% down content" and the price is also hyped up very high, but when you buy it back, you will find that the so-called high-quality down jacket is not warm at all.

Because from a scientific point of view, it is the "down" that actually plays a role in keeping warm in down jackets. The biggest difference made by the implementation of the new national standard is that the waste down silk that has no warming effect is no longer included in the down content . Instead, only the down content is considered. Only down jackets with a down content of more than 50% can be considered qualified.

How to choose a down jacket correctly?

Three factors that affect the warmth of down jackets: down content, filling amount and fluffiness.

The down content has been explained, and the next thing is the filling amount, which is the total weight of all the down filled in a down jacket.

When buying down jackets, it is important to note that you should not confuse the "down content" in the old national standard with the "down filling amount". The measurement unit of "down content (old)" is percentage, while the measurement unit of down filling amount is weight, that is, grams.

It should be noted that neither the old national standard nor the new national standard stipulates a minimum standard for the amount of filling.

This also brings up a problem when purchasing - many down jackets, if you only look at the "down content", seem to be quite high, over 90%, but because the filling volume is too low, they are actually not cold-resistant.

If you really don't know how to choose the filling amount, you can refer to the recommended standards of Zhu Wei, Director of the Information Department of the China Down Industry Association:

"Generally, the filling volume of a thin down jacket in early winter is 40-90 grams; the filling volume of a short down jacket of normal thickness is about 130 grams; the filling volume of a medium-thick down jacket is about 180 grams; the filling volume of a down jacket suitable for outdoor wear in the north should be more than 180 grams." The last is the fluffiness, which is defined as the ability of each unit of down to store air volume. In layman's terms, the more air the down can store, the better the warmth retention performance .

At present, down jacket labels in my country do not need to indicate the fill power. However, in the US standard, as long as the fill power is greater than 800, it can be considered high-quality down.

Image source: Pixabay

To sum it up briefly:

1. Check whether the implementation standard on the down jacket certificate is the new national standard GB/T 14272-2021;

2. Look at the down content. The higher the down content, the better. The highest is 95%;

3. Look at the filling amount. The larger the filling weight, the warmer it is (but too much filling weight may make it too heavy to wear);

4. If available, you can look at the fill power. A fill power greater than 800 is considered high quality down, and the current maximum is 1000.

When buying down jackets, avoid these misunderstandings

1

Is goose down better than duck down in terms of warmth retention? —NO!

This statement is too absolute.

The longer the growth cycle of ducks and geese, the more mature their down is, and the warmer it is. Under the same species, the more mature the birds are, the better the quality of their down is; under the same maturity, the quality of goose down is mostly better than duck down , but it is worth mentioning that the down of older ducks is better than that of younger geese.

In addition, there is a higher quality down that is warmer, rarer and more expensive - duck down .

It is known that the fill power of duck down is 700, but its warmth retention effect is comparable to down with a fill power of 1000. According to the data given on the official website of DOWN MARK (a globally recognized quality mark issued by the Canadian Down Association), the highest fill power value since the test is 1000.

2

Is white velvet of higher quality than gray velvet? ——NO!

· White down: Down produced by white waterfowl ·Gray down: Down produced by variegated waterfowl

The reason why white velvet is more expensive than gray velvet is mainly due to two aspects: one is the smell, and the other is the adaptability of the fabric.

Generally speaking, the smell of grey duck down is heavier than that of white duck down, but down must go through strict process treatment and water washing and disinfection procedures before filling. The old national standard requires that the odor level should be as small as possible (divided into 4 levels: 0, 1, 2, 3), and as long as it is ≤2, it can pass the standard. So there is no need to worry about this point. Basically, as long as the down jacket can pass the odor, it will not have any smell, unless it is a very low-quality down jacket.

Moreover, in the new national standard, the odor standard assessment has been directly changed to "qualified/unqualified", and the method of using smell to distinguish the quality of down is no longer applicable.

As for fabric adaptability, it is easier to understand.

Because white velvet is light in color, there is no limit to the color of clothes it can be filled with. However, because gray velvet is dark in color, it has the risk of color seeping through when filled with light-colored clothes, so it is generally more suitable for dark-colored fabrics. White velvet is more expensive than gray velvet not because of its quality and warmth retention function, but purely because of the color matching and "possible smell".

Moreover, the new national standard stipulates that down types are only divided into goose down and duck down, and no longer gray down and white down. In other words, "white" and "gray" will no longer be marked on clothing labels.

How to maintain your down jacket so it can keep you warm?

1

Reduce the number of washings and use neutral laundry detergent

Many friends may find that down jackets become less warm after washing once, so try to reduce the washing of down jackets. If there is a dirty part, you can use a neutral laundry detergent and wipe it with a hot towel.

Image source: Pixabay

2

Avoid exposure to the sun

Protein fibers hate being exposed to the sun. In order to avoid aging of the fabric and down, simply place the washed down jacket in a ventilated place to dry.

3

Not suitable for squeezing

When storing down jackets, do not fold them to avoid squeezing the down into clumps. It is best to hang the down jackets for storage.

4

Moisture and mildew proof

When storing down jackets during the season change, it is best to put a breathable storage bag on the outside of the down jacket and then put it in a ventilated and dry place. Be sure to check it on rainy days to prevent moisture. If you find that the down jacket is damp and has mold spots, you can wipe it with a cotton ball dipped in alcohol, then wipe it clean with a clean wet towel and dry it.

It is worth mentioning that washing down jackets in a washing machine previously could result in explosions , but the new national standard stipulates that "all down jackets must be suitable for washing in water, and washing in a drum washing machine is especially recommended."

I hope everyone can buy a down jacket that is nice and comfortable to wear~

References

[1] China | National Standard GB/T 14272-2021 “Down Clothing” (effective April 1, 2022)

[2] China | National Standard GB/T 14272-2011 “Down Clothing” (abolished)

[3] China | National Standard GB/T 17685-2016 “Down and Feathers”

[4] China | Group Standard T/CFDIA 002-2018 “Test Method for Net Down Content and Number of Down”

[5] Administrative Penalty Decision of Shanghai Huangpu District Market Supervision Administration (Shanghai Huangpu District Market Supervision Administration [2021] 012021000172)

[6] China National Radio’s “World Finance” column “New national standards implemented. This year, when buying down, don’t look at the “down content” but the “down content””

[7] China Women’s News. “Down jackets are not always warmer the thicker they are”, 2021-12-09

[8] Jiangnan Evening News. "Is white down better than gray down? Is warmth retention related to the origin? The misunderstandings about buying down jackets, explained to you all at once", 2021-12-09

[9] Wei Yonghui. Composition analysis of down feathers in down clothing and calculation method of down content and down content. Textile Industry and Technology, 2014

[10]Down Mark (a globally recognized quality mark issued by the Canadian Down Association) official website fill power test data

Planning and production

Source: Science Popularization China

Author: Zhong Yike, a popular science writer

Review丨Zhang Jie, Chief Engineer of China Textile Construction Planning Institute

Editor: Zhong Yanping