Popular Science | The "little secret" of choosing down jackets

It is another cold winter, how to keep warm in winter is a topic that can never be avoided. Winter down jackets have become a hot-selling product, and there are all kinds of down jackets on the market.

How should we choose a good quality down jacket? Today, the editor asked an expert to explain it to you.

The "little secret" of choosing down jackets▼

Check the tag and washing mark

The tags and care labels of down clothing will include information such as down content, fabric composition, filling amount, and type of down.

1. Down content

At present, the mainstream of down jackets in the Chinese market is down content of 90% or more. For the same volume of down, the higher the down content, the lighter the weight, the more still air can be fixed, and the better the thermal insulation effect.

2 Filling amount

Filling capacity refers to the weight of down in a down jacket.

The higher the filling volume, the more down is filled, the more still air can be contained, and the stronger the warmth retention. If the filling volume is too high, the down jacket will look bloated and affect the overall appearance. The filling volume of thin waist-length down jackets, early winter down jackets and thick down jackets for adults is generally 80g, 120g, and 160g.

3 types of down

Left: Goose down Right: Duck down

Down is mostly collected from geese and ducks, which can be divided into white duck down, gray duck down and white goose down, gray goose down.

Gray duck down＜white duck down＜white goose down

Generally speaking, goose down has a higher warmth-to-weight ratio and packs down to a smaller volume. As a result, goose down is usually more expensive.

But it is not absolute. For example, high-quality duck down has better warmth retention than low-quality goose down. Therefore, when choosing a down jacket, you cannot just look at the type of down.

4 Fabric

Down and feather fibers in down can escape from the gaps between fabric fibers, so down jacket fabrics should be fine and wear-resistant. Down jackets worn in late autumn or early winter are generally made of nylon fabrics, which are both durable and lightweight, and the filling volume is lower than that of ordinary down jackets. They are light, comfortable, and easy to store. Down jacket fabrics will be more effective if they are waterproof or water-repellent, so as to avoid the humidity of the down increasing in rainy and snowy weather, which will affect the thermal insulation effect.

Feeling Identification

The down in down jackets is wrapped in the fabric, so consumers cannot see it directly, but they can identify the quality of the filling by feel, smell, etc.

Note: Lay the down jacket flat, press it lightly and let it recover naturally to see if it bounces back to its original shape quickly. If it bounces back quickly, it means the down jacket has good fluffiness. Better fluffiness can allow the down to retain more static air and have a better thermal insulation effect. If it does not bounce back or bounces back very slowly, it means the filling is of poor quality. If it has no rebound elasticity at all, the filling is likely to be chicken feathers or other long-haired pieces of crushed hair rather than down.

Touch: Use your hands to touch and pinch the down jacket to test its softness and whether there are too large and thick long hair pieces, feather stems, etc. If it feels soft but has poor resilience, it means that the filling is softened hair pieces rather than down; if it feels soft but has short, thick and hard feather shafts, it is crushed hair, and this kind of down products are worthless.

Pat: Pat the down jacket vigorously to see if there is any dust spilling out. If there is no dust spilling out, it is a good product; if there is dust spilling out, it is a product made of inferior filling materials such as crushed wool. The spilled dust is easy to cause disease and is generally not suitable for use.

Rub: Rub the down garment with both hands to see if there is any down coming out. If there is, it means the fabric used is not anti-down.

Smell: Natural down has a slight smell of duck down. Before filling down jackets, it needs to go through multiple processes of sterilization, washing, and deodorization. Put your nose close to the down jacket and take a few deep breaths. Then compare it with ordinary fabrics to see if there is any peculiar smell or bad smell. No smell is best. If there is a clear smell, it is not suitable to use.

Well, that’s all the “little secrets” of choosing down jackets today. Let’s go and try it out!

Editor-in-charge: Liu Dan