The Truth About Fluffy Down Duvets / Quilts

One of the most common requests that we get is for a super fluffy quilt….that’s not too warm.

People will often reference photos of ultra puffy, giant cloud, marshmallow quilts. "I want a luxurious poof, a very fluffy quilt that won’t overheat me. It’s gotta be cool".

We’re here with some sad news. This is not really possible to achieve. And most of those images are feature quilts artificially overstuffed for the photo 😦

Super fluffy and full looking quilts contain more fill. The more fill a quilt contains, the fuller it will look and the warmer it will be. There’s a trade-off between fluffiness and warmth level, unfortunately. We’re here to give it to you straight, and to help you make an educated choice.

Let’s start with the nature of down quilts. Down is a very light, airy and delicate material. It’s also an incredible insulator. In fact, it’s the best insulator of any material – natural or manmade! Just a small amount of down creates a lot of warmth. All down quilts are quite light – even the fullest and warmest versions. High loft quilts are lighter still, as the higher the loft, the more exceptional the insulating properties.
Down does make for fluffy, cloud-like quilts, but they’re gently fluffy and they breathe and compress naturally. They’re not robustly full like overstuffed polyester quilts.
The hallmark of a high quality down quilt is lightweight warmth!

It’s also important to note that quilts made with higher loft down are not fluffier. Loft is a measure of the fluffiness of the down itself, but not an indicator of the fluffiness of the quilt.
Higher loft quilts contain fluffier down, but less down overall, because the down is so warm.
Lower loft quilts contain smaller down clusters, but more down overall.
So it evens out!

There are down quilts that are not overly warm, but they’re quite thin.
Our down quilts come in 4 warmth levels:

• Summer Weight is a thinner-style, light quilt designed for room temperatures of about 22°C and above.
• Regular Weight is a bit fuller, suitable for moderate room temperatures of 19-21°C.
• All Season Weight is fairly fluffy and quite warm – best for room temps of 16-18°C.
• Winter Weight is quite fluffy, but way too hot for most people. It generally works well for 15°C and below.

So what to do? We strongly recommend prioritizing function and opting for the most suitable warmth level for your needs. If you’re investing in a high performance, luxury product, you need it to be usable.

Some options:

1. Try a Regular Weight down quilt as a happy medium. It’s not overly warm, but it may be too warm for the hottest nights. It’s not overly fluffy, but more so than a Summer Weight. It gets you halfway to what you need, but won’t fulfill your needs perfectly.
2. Put your quilt in a smaller duvet cover. If your quilt insert is oversized relative to the cover, it will look fuller. Don’t push it too far, as you’ll notice bunching and buckling.
3. Opt for a different fill type, like feather or microfiber. Feather and microfiber don’t have the same insulating properties as down. Duvets can be more generously filled with these materials without creating too much additional warmth. While these quilts will be fuller and puffier than down quilts, you may still want to avoid the fullest versions. Very puffy and weighty feather and microfiber quilts will be very warm!
4. Go for the Summer Weight and compromise on your dream cloud-bed. Honestly, even Summer Weight quilts give a lovely, luxurious look, albeit a bit more understated.

And don’t worry – you can change your mind! If you decide you want fill added or removed to your quilt, we can do that 😊

Have any other ideas? If you have any tricks to get the ultra fluffy appearance without overheating, let us know in the comments!