Down Quilts: Grades, Warmth And Sizing Explained

Bed Doonas And Camping Quilts Are Different Things

In Australia, a down quilt almost always means the doona on your bed, not the ultralight top quilt a bushwalker straps to a pack. The two share a filling and very little else. Bed quilts are sized to a bed and a duvet cover, and they're made to sit at full loft for years.

We make bedding, not camping gear, so we don't sell trail quilts. Quilt cleaning was our core business for 27 years, but it wound down after 2020 and is now less than 1% of our income. We import our own down, then fill and sew quilts, pillows and toppers in South Australia. We first opened for business on 1 August 2001.

Fill Power, Fill Weight And Warmth Ratings

The warmth of a quilt comes from three numbers working together, not one. Fill power measures the loft a given weight of down produces, so a higher figure gives more warmth from less filling and a lighter quilt over you. Fill weight is how much down actually goes in. Our blanket warmth rating is the number that tells you how the finished quilt sleeps.

That's why two quilts with identical fill power can feel nothing alike. Construction changes it again. Baffle boxed quilts hold the down in walled compartments so it stays at full height, while channel quilts let you shift filling along each channel to suit yourself.

Choose the warmth for the coldest room you'll use it in, then the grade your budget allows. A lower blanket rating suits a warm summer or a bedroom on air conditioning, and the higher ratings are for a cold winter. If one of you sleeps hot and the other is always cold, a His and Her quilt carries a different warmth on each side of the one quilt.

The Down Grades We Fill With

We import our own down and cases in containers, so every grade below is a real specification rather than a marketing name. Higher grades cost more because the larger, hand selected clusters cost us far more to buy, not because the quilt is cut differently.

From the most affordable filling to the rarest, this is the ladder:

• 90% White European duck down: Class 1, the most affordable filling we use. The value choice, and the reason a duck down quilt sits below goose on price.

• 90% and 95% White Polish goose down: 700 and 750 fill power, Class 1 at the 95% grade.

• 95% White Premium Polish goose down: Class 1, 850 fill power, a noticeably lighter quilt for the same warmth.

• 95% White Polish Mother Goose down: Class 1A, turbidity 1000, which means it does not get any cleaner. Available as a 900 fill power Mother Goose quilt.

• 98-99% White Polish Hand Select XXL Mother Goose down: Class 1A, 900 fill power, turbidity 1000, approximately less than 0.01% light brown down. Our Ultra Light Hand Select quilt is filled with this grade.

Mother Goose down is collected from the breast only and then sorted by hand, with only the largest downs individually selected. Our supplier Cedrob collects downs from each part of the goose individually so breast-area clusters aren't blended with other parts, and the Hand Select grade costs us over AU$800 per kilogram, not including customs and some freight costs. All of the down we source is a by-product of birds raised for meat.

Sizing, Delivery And Where Ours Are Made

Australian and American bed sizes aren't the same, so a US comforter will not reliably fit an Australian bed or cover, and vice versa. We make both, in Australian sizing and in genuine US sizes like our US Queen size comforters. Before you order, measure your bed and the duvet cover you already own, and check both against the size you're looking at.

Every quilt is filled and sewn at N2, 21 Beafield Road, Para Hills West, in South Australia. Delivery is free right across Australia, and free internationally to the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore, with no tariff for our US customers!

We're Australian owned and operated, and our quilts are handcrafted here. Under the ACCC's guidance on country of origin claims, a claim like "Australian Made" has to satisfy the safe harbour test, meaning the product was substantially transformed in Australia. What we can tell you plainly is where each part comes from: our down comes from Cedrob and our casing fabric from Weidmann in Germany, and the filling, sewing and finishing all happen in Para Hills West.

Labels, Fill Claims And Health Certificates

Every down quilt supplied in Australia has to carry adequate care instructions. That's the mandatory rule, set by the Consumer Goods (Care Labelling) Information Standard 2023 and enforced by the ACCC, and bedding including quilts and pillows is expressly covered. The instructions have to be given in accordance with AS/NZS 1957:1998 or ISO 3758:2012, which matters enormously with down, because the wrong wash or a rushed dry destroys loft.

Fill and purity are a separate matter. AS 2479-2007, published by Standards Australia and now listed as withdrawn, specifies requirements for the purity, composition, classification and labelling of down and feather filling material in filled products including continental quilts and pillows. Our own downs are classified Class 1 and Class 1A.

Content claims themselves are policed as representations. The ACCC has taken enforcement action against quilt suppliers whose products did not match their labelled down percentage, which is why our products name the actual percentage.

For our own paperwork, we always provide our Veterinary Health Certificates for imported down, including the March 2024 and April 2025 certificates shown on our site. They show the downs are free from avian flu along with other known diseases, and sterilised to strict Australian standards. As far as we know, we're the only Australian business that openly provides them.

Choosing Yours In Five Steps

1. Set the warmth first: think of the coldest room the quilt will live in, then pick a blanket rating for it.

2. Confirm the size: measure the bed and the cover, then check them against the Australian, US or European sizing on the product page.

3. Choose the construction: baffle boxed for even, fixed loft, channel if you like to move the filling, or a two-sided quilt if you and your partner disagree about warmth.

4. Then choose the down grade: prices sit on each product page, because they change with size, warmth and grade. Every Australian purchase includes GST and delivery is free, so the price you read is the price you pay.

5. Ask before you buy: if anything is unclear for your bed, contact us through the Contact Us page rather than guess.

Pillows And Mattress Toppers That Match

Pillow density is determined by the amount of filling used, not the type of filling, so a higher fill power needs less down to reach the same feel. We make Australian standard, USA standard, King and European 65cm squared sizes, in Soft, Soft-Medium, Medium, Medium-Firm and Firm. Choose the size, then the density, then the down quality that suits your budget, in that order.

Our most popular pillow is the 95% Premium Polish Mother Goose down pillow at 900 fill power, cased in German Batiste TE270, a 380 thread count cotton we call Magic Touch. A Mother Goose down mattress topper puts the same kind of down underneath you instead of over you.

Lifespan, Care And Cost Per Year

A premium European goose down quilt will comfortably last between 10 and 15 years with basic maintenance, which is the figure to divide the purchase price by when you're weighing one quilt against another. Loft, not age, is the signal: when it stops recovering after a shake, it needs attention.

We recommend washing quilts and mattress toppers every three to five years, and pillows every six to twelve months. Follow the care label on your own quilt, air it regularly, and shake it out to redistribute the clusters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Higher Fill Power Always Mean A Warmer Quilt?

No. Fill power tells you how much loft each gram of down gives, so a higher figure buys you the same warmth in a lighter quilt. The blanket warmth rating is what tells you how warm it sleeps.

Is Down A Problem For Asthma Or Dust Mite Allergy?

We can't give medical advice, and if bedding sets you off, your GP is the right person to ask. Sterilisation of our imported down addresses disease and cleanliness, not allergy response, so we don't present it as an allergy claim. What we can tell you is the casing: our German Batiste TE270 is a 380 thread count cotton, a much finer weave than a coarse fabric.

Why Is Down Escaping From My Old Quilt?

Fine clusters work their way through a loose weave or a tired seam, and a lower thread count casing gives them more room to do it. It's a fabric question rather than a filling question, and all of our casing fabric now comes from Weidmann in Germany.

Can I Wash One At Home?

A down-filled quilt needs a gentle machine, and one big enough that the quilt can move freely, which for a larger quilt often means more than a domestic machine can manage. The care label on your quilt governs the method. Drying is the part people underestimate, because the clusters only recover once they are completely dry.

Will A USA Comforter Fit An Australian Bed?

Usually not well, because the two size systems are dimensioned differently. Check your bed and cover measurements against both ranges, and contact us if you're unsure which one to order.