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 down jackets →

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 jackets are really warm? How can you buy cheap and high-quality down jackets? Today, let's explain it to you~

01

One keyword to understand the new national standard for down jackets

At the beginning of this 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. 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 represent?

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

Down silk : The single silk that falls off the down, appearing as strands of silk, without any 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 makes the quality requirements of filling down more stringent and also raises the standard of down jackets. In the past, the "down content" required by the old national standard included both down and down silk, which gave some unscrupulous merchants an opportunity to fill a lot of down silk waste in down jackets and include it in the down content. On the surface, the label says "down content 90%" 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.

02

How to choose a down jacket correctly?

There are 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 purchasing down jackets, it is important to note that you should not confuse the "down content" in the old national standard with the "filling amount". The unit of measurement for "down content (old)" is percentage, while the unit of measurement for filling amount is weight, that is, grams . It should be noted that neither the old national standard nor the new national standard stipulates the minimum standard for filling amount. This also brings a problem when purchasing - many down jackets seem to be quite high if you only look at the "down content", which is over 90%, but because the filling amount 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 lightweight down jackets chosen in early winter is 40-90 grams; the filling volume of short down jackets of normal thickness is about 130 grams; the filling volume of medium thickness down jackets is about 180 grams; and the filling volume of down jackets suitable for outdoor wear in the north must be at least 180 grams."

Finally, there is fill power, which is defined as the ability of down to store air volume per unit. In layman's terms, the more air the down can store, the better its warmth retention performance .

At present, the 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. 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.

03

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 stronger its warmth retention 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 young geese. In addition, there is a kind of high-quality down that is more warm, rarer and more expensive - down duck down . It is known that the fluffiness of down duck down is 700, but its warmth retention effect is comparable to that of down with a fluffiness 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 value of fluffiness since the test is 1000.

2) Is white wool better than gray wool? —NO!

White down: Down produced by white waterfowl

Gray down: Down produced by variegated waterfowl.

The reason why white down is more expensive than gray down is mainly because of two reasons: one is the smell, and the other is the fabric adaptability. Generally speaking, the smell of gray duck down is heavier than that of white duck down, but the down needs to undergo strict process treatment and water washing and disinfection procedures before filling. The old national standard requires that the odor level is as small as possible (divided into 4 levels: 0, 1, 2, and 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 smell, there will be no smell, unless it is a down jacket of extremely poor quality . Moreover, in the new national standard, the assessment of the odor standard is directly changed to "qualified/unqualified", and the method of using smell to distinguish the quality of down is no longer applicable. As for the fabric adaptability, it is easier to understand. Because white down is light in color, there is no limit on the color of clothes that can be filled, while gray down is dark in color, and there is a risk of color penetration when filling light-colored clothes, so it is generally more matched with dark fabrics. White down is more expensive than gray down not because of its quality and warmth retention function, but purely because of 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.

04

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

1. Reduce the number of washing times 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.

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. Do not squeeze

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 put it away. It is worth mentioning that in the past, washing down jackets in a washing machine could cause a risk of explosion , but the new national standard stipulates that " all down jackets must be suitable for water washing, and it is especially recommended to use a drum washing machine for machine washing ."

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

Author: Zhong Yike

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