How to Choose Goose Down & Feather Pillows
Feather Pillow or Hungarian Goose Down Pillow?
by David Smith
Last Updated: 11/18/2022
About our Feather Pillows
Feather pillows like our Classic feather pillow are 75% feather and only 25% down. Feather pillows are heavier than down pillows and love to be scrunched up or folded into the perfect sleeping position either under your head, between your knees or behind your back. Since feather pillows contain feathers it is not uncommon for a feather or two to sneak their way out during all the scrunching and folding. Some say it's good luck when a feather pokes its way through and that you should make a wish.
The D&FCo. Original Feather Pillow is 100% feather and filled with Hungarian white goose feathers. Covered in the Original blue and white shell just like the one at grandma's house. With over 100 years of pillow making experience we added our Down & Feather Co. woven sash assuring you it's the Original Feather Pillow.
What Is A Goose Down Pillow?
Goose down filled pillows are made using down clusters which are much lighter, softer and last longer than feather pillows. Our all Hungarian goose down pillows have had the large feathers separated out during the sorting process and contain few if any feathers that would normally poke through a feather pillow. The best down pillow quality is determined by the fill power of the down clusters used to make the pillow.
Our all down filled pillows come in your choice of 650 fill power, 750 fill power or 850 fill power Hungarian goose down and your choice of either soft, medium, firm or extra firm feather pillows.
Snuggle Soft™, Natural Nights® or Original Feather Pillow?
What are Snuggle Soft™ Pillows?
Snuggle Soft™ is our collection of the finest luxury down pillows and feather pillows available. They are hypoallergenic, like all our down products, but made with a luxurious 330 thread count all white Egyptian cotton shell.
| Classic Feather Pillow |
|---|
| Finest Quality Feathers |
| (75%) Feather (25%) Down blend |
| $159 - $224 |
| White Goose Down Pillows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Great Quality Fill | Excellent Quality Fill | Finest Quality Fill |
| 100% 650 fill power | 100% 750 fill power | 100% 850 fill power |
| $324 - $486 | $349 - $536 | $371 - $583 |
What are Natural Nights® Pillows?
Natural Nights® is our All Natural Certified Organic Collection of eco-friendly pillows for those with skin sensitivities. The 312 thread count Egyptian cotton shells are all natural in color after all the dyes, chemicals and fire retardants have been removed leaving an all natural cotton fabric for those who may be sensitive to cotton or have skin sensitivities.
| Classic Feather Pillow |
|---|
| Finest Quality Feathers |
| (75%) Feather (25%) Down blend |
| $159 - $224 |
| White Goose Down Pillow | ||
|---|---|---|
| Great Quality Fill | Excellent Quality Fill | Finest Quality Fill |
| 650 fill power | 750 fill power | 850 fill power |
| $324 - $486 | $349 - $536 | $371 - $583 |
What is the Original Feather Pillow?
What is the Original Feather Pillow?
D&FCo.™ Original Feather is back. Just like the one at Grandma's house this blue and white striped all feather pillow started it all. Great side sleeper pillow, back sleeper or stomach sleeper pillows in your choice of densities. Filled with premium quality Hungarian goose feather. Our Down & Feather Co. corner sash is your assurance it's from us.
| Soft | Medium | Firm | Extra Firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Hungarian Goose Feathers | All Hungarian Goose Feathers | All Hungarian Goose Feathers | All Hungarian Goose Feathers |
| Back And Stomach Sleepers | Back And Side Sleepers | Side Sleepers | Side Sleepers |
| $97 | $103 | $108 | $113 |
Pillows sleep thicker as the fill weight increases.
Something that is critical to helping you choose the correct density pillow; soft, medium, firm and extra firm is understanding that to make a pillow thicker we add more 'material' i.e. increase the number of ounces, Net Fill Weight [NFW], to make the pillow thicker.
If it's one of our down pillows we ONLY add more ounces of the same quality down to increase its thickness. If it's one of our Classic feather and down pillows then we ONLY add more of the same ratio of feather and down to increase its thickness.
So extra firm pillows sleep the thickest because we used more ounces to create that given density level; soft, medium, firm or extra firm.
Pillow Density Chart
How to Choose a Down Pillow Based on How You Sleep
Pick the perfect pillow for your sleep position.
How you sleep determines your perfect pillow. In fact, you could say that how you sleep determines the personality of the pillow you should choose. The pillow you sleep on cradles your head through the night. It holds your head in the same relation to your shoulders and spine as if you were standing with perfect posture. So ask yourself, "How do I sleep?"
Side sleepers have some interesting challenges when choosing a pillow. Things to consider are how soft or firm is your bed? How narrow or broad are your shoulders? The firmer your bed the firmer your pillow should. The broader your shoulders the firmer the pillow should be. Remember that the role of a pillow is to keep your spine angle 'straight' while you sleep AS IF you were standing upright with perfect posture. For side sleepers it's to fill the area between the crown of your shoulder, your outer shoulder, and your ear. We like to call that area the 'Comfort Gap', and the area changes depending on your shoulder width and the firmness of your bed.
A soft pillow for a stomach sleeper provides both support for your head while you sleep but also helps maintain a comfortable spine angle. Something else to consider is the firmness of your bed. The softer your bed the softer your pillow should be. If you sleep on a softer bed, perhaps a pillow top; quilted or have one of our made-to-order feather beds on top of your bed this implies that you will 'sink' or sleep lower in your bed in which case you may look for a soft or medium pillow to maintain your spine angle while you sleep.
Again the idea of a pillow is to maintain you spine angle while you sleep so that your neck and back muscles can relax so back sleepers may need to consider other issues like where you rest your head while it's on the pillow. For example do you sleep with more of the pillow down your back so that you have more support directly under your neck and spine while sleeping OR is your pillow closer to the top of your head pushing your chin into your chest more? Go with a medium firmness if you keep the pillow more directly under your neck and at the base of your spine, and a softer pillow if you keep the pillow closer to the top of your head so your chin isn't touching your chest. Don't forget about the firmness of your bed and how it's firmness may impact your spine and neck while you sleep on your medium firmness pillow.More about our Pillow Fills
Choose between a blend of Goose Down and Goose Feather or only Hungarian Goose Down.
A blend of goose down and goose feather is more old-school. It's the classic pillow that we all probably grew up with as a kid, if we didn't sleep on a wool pillow, or the same pillows that our parents slept on. We all know this pillow's personality. It starts out the night fluffy (assuming we fluffed it) and by the time we wake up it's flat and it stays flat until we fluff it again. We call it our "Classic" because it represents our namesake and, well, it's still a great classic pillow.
A goose down filled pillow is more resilient and comes in varying levels of quality. It's more resilient because the goose down clusters will naturally want to return to their normal fluffy selves after you have slept on them. While quality is determined by the fill power (650, 750, 850) of the goose down. The higher the fill power (650, 750, 850) the better the quality of the goose down. But quality in this case means longevity. It's a little counter intuitive but here's the way it works. The higher the fill power, the larger the down cluster, a larger down cluster is more resilient and will last longer. Very important given the 'beating' a pillow takes. So a higher fill power means a larger cluster and will be more durable and of finer quality. Seems a little counterintuitive, but worth understanding when a standard SnuggleSoft 850 fill power Hungarian goose down pillow starts at $370. Continue reading more about our down vs feather pillows to help you decide between down fill, feathers, or both.
Natural Night Shells
NaturalNights® Feather and Goose Down Pillows are designed for those with allergies or skin sensitivities. The NaturalNights® Collection of feather and down pillows has the same fine quality Hungarian goose down you have come to expect from Down & Feather Company, now wrapped in an eco-friendly, chemical free, all natural and unbleached Egyptian cotton that won't irritate your skin or cause allergies.