With which blanket do I sleep best?
Discover the World’s Finest Wool – With which blanket do I sleep best?
Which blanket do you use for sleeping? Most people probably have blankets with down filling in their bedroom.
What are the alternatives, and how do they differ – what are their advantages and disadvantages?
Since we spend almost a third of our life under a blanket, it is very reasonable to get informed before you decide which blanket to buy.
After all, the right blanket is crucial for a good quality of sleep!
Why is the blanket so essential for a healthy sleep?
If the blanket is too thick and does not let enough air through, heat accumulates and the body sweats. If it gives off too much heat to the outside air, you freeze. If the comforter ensures a balanced microclimate, this is called thermal neutrality; the sleeper himself calls it comfort.
Simultaneously, the comforter must transport the moisture released by the body to the outside so that no moisture accumulation occurs under the bedding. This would be a wake-up stimulus that slows down restful sleep.
You know the feeling from vacations: 30°C outside temperature is excellent – but not after a thunderstorm when the air is “steamy.” It is similar under the comforter. The aim is to create a dry, pleasant microclimate.
Why must a comforter be selected individually?
We do not all belong under the same blanket, because every person has individual heat requirements to cover. Older people freeze faster than younger ones; men usually sweat more than women.
Besides the sex, the age and the room temperature, other individual characteristics affect the personal heat requirement, thicker people tend to sweat more than very slim ones, and people with chronic diseases often freeze at night more easily.
Also, the size of the comforters and their ability to transport moisture, their material and weight are components that must be taken into account.
Not everyone likes their comforter equally thick. Therefore, the following applies to restful sleep: Only the individual solution is the best solution!
One of the most important factors to consider is your new comforters thermal insulation - please think about the following aspects:
- What is your bedroom temperature
- You tend to sweat or freeze during sleep.
- Seasonal temperatures – No comforter is really suitable for both the cold winter and summer months.
- Choose a thinner comforter for the summer and a thicker comforter for the cold winter months.
- Or you can use a quilt in winter as an additional cover.
- What clothes do you wear at night while sleeping?
Comfort feeling: Do you like to sleep with a heavier blanket, or do you prefer one that is light and super soft? Do you tend to sleep with a flat blanket, or should it be as fluffy as possible? Here are some of your options:
Down
The fluffiest blankets. You feel as if you are wrapped in a gentle cocoon
- Down is a lightweight but delivers efficient warmth
- Down feathers have no keel.
- Thanks to their fluffy, voliminous shape, they envelop the body practically all around.
- Down is breathable, insulating and super light
Wool
Wool has the exceptional ability to quickly absorb and evaporate body moisture and excessive heat.
- Medium weight, slightly heavier than silk, with a more dense volume. More bulky than alpaca.
- The outside of the fibers is water-repellent, but the inside can absorb a large amount of moisture.
- antibacterial properties
Silk
The light, airy to feel of a silk blankets allows you to have a great night especially in the hot season.
- Silk is less puffy loft than down – it has a soft drape that contours to your body.
- slightly warmer than wool but not as warm as down
- Silk is repellent to dust mites and moths
- Hypoallergenic
Alpaca
Alpaca has excellent thermo-regulating properties and is lighter than silk or wool.
- Superior breathability and thermoregulation
- hypoallergenic because alpaca does not contain lanolin
- Alpaca has a beautiful natural sheen
- Very durable and stain-resistant
- Alpaca is very odor repellent
Under these high-quality comforters, there is certainly not a bad blanket. The blanket should meet your requirements, but also suit your personal taste. You will certainly never make a really bad choice with these natural variations – no matter if down, merino, silk or alpaca. Before you get too tensely searching, you should perhaps just follow your gut feelings. These natural breathable materials definitely promote a healthy sleep.
Down Comforters
Down Comforters are available in many different variations. They are filled with cheaper down feather mixtures up to exclusive pure white goose down.
The thermal heat or insulation value depends on the filling power class and the amount of down used to fill the comforter. Warmer down comforters usually have a thicker filling and a higher loft. Comforters are usually available with a filling thickness of fill-power: 500 to 800 – a higher value also means better thermal insulation.
Down comforters have excellent insulating properties. However, down releases excess heat and moisture more slowly than wool and silk. As a result, it is easier for heat to build up overnight than with woolen comforters.
People who freeze easily or need a lot of warmth during cold temperatures find down comforters very comfortable. In contrast, somebody who sweats a lot while sleeping has to regulate the temperature by covering and uncovering.
The outer fabric of the comforter can range from cotton or polyester to silk and satin. A high-quality down comforter should be filled with at least 70% real down.
- Down is the soft and warming lower plumage of geese or ducks. Comforters are stitched through both layers of fabric in a sewn-through box construction. This construction method is used in lightweight comforters and blankets since a sewn-through box will keep the down more evenly distributed.
- Down comforters have a higher volume and a higher heat storage capacity than silk or wool. They are the fluffiest of all natural comforters. Even with a high filling weight, down comforters still feel very light.
- If you are sensitive to mites and mold allergens, you should instead choose wool or silk comforters. Because down absorbs moisture longer than other natural fibers, general allergens more likely accumulate over time.
- Down comforters should be used with an additional cover so that the comforter needs to be washed less often. However, almost all down comforters are machine washable, so that cleaning the comforter is easily and conveniently done at home.
Silk Comforters
It is believed that silk products first appeared in China and only later began to spread worldwide. Silk fabrics were long considered very expensive, so that only wealthy people could afford silk.
In general, the situation has not changed today; high-quality silk fabrics still have their price. But they also offer an almost unsurpassed aesthetic and have many positive aspects in their usage.
Silk blankets still feel a touch cool in hot weather. Depending on the temperature, silk blankets either draw the heat from the body or store it. In winter, the fibers in silk comforters reduce the body’s heat loss, but in summer, the silk fleece releases excess heat by removing moisture from the body – keeping you pleasantly cool.
With silk, it should be noted that there are very different qualities. It is starting with the quite affordable Tussah silk. This type is obtained from silkworms that live in the wild and eat a variety of leaves.
The highest quality of silk is mulberry silk. It is produced by silkworm cultures that eat only the leaves of the mulberry tree. The mulberry silk thread is pure pearly white, soft but also exceptionally strong.
- Silk blankets consist of several layers of silk fleece, which are wrapped with silk or cotton. The price range of silk blankets is huge. Whereby the very cheap blankets are mostly counterfeits and can in no way be compared to products made of high-quality mulberry silk.
- Silk contains 18 different amino acids, of which 11 are necessary for human skin. It is often reported that silk is especially good for sensitive skin and is also helpful in the case of sunburn and itching.
- Silk comforters can be machine washed at home at 30°C. Wash in a gentle cycle, or hand wash with a very mild soap or a special silk detergent. If you treat high-quality silk products gently, they are very long-lasting.
- Silk is hypoallergenic, it is naturally resistant to house dust mites, fungus and mold.
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Wool Comforters
Wool comforters consist of layers of fluffy wool wadding covered with cotton. The blankets are quilted with the various patterns.
Wool has an extraordinary ability to absorb and evaporate body moisture and excess heat quickly. Wool stores heat and releases some of it consistently and evenly, so you feel neither too hot nor too cold during the night. The amount of fleece used in a woolen blanket is a benchmark for determining thermal insulation.
Sheep wool is obtained in an animal-friendly way and is a very sustainable natural product. Also, the wool of sheep grows back every year. Wool retains its high-quality properties for a very long time and can be 100% biodegradable.
Besides fleece wool, many blankets are also made of merino wool. Merino sheep belong to a breed that produces a very fine wool coat. The fine structure of the merino wool enables an exceptionally soft and pleasant sleeping experience.
- The wool fibers never get too damp, are water-repellent and improve the room climate enormously. Therefore they are often used for clothing and textiles for babies, children and adults.
- Wool comforters are very easy to clean. Just shake them out and tap them because the dirt is usually only on the surface.
- The wool wax (lanolin) ensures that wool is self-cleaning, repels bacteria and repels dirt. Pure wool makes your bed an unpopular settlement area for house dust mites.
- Water repellent compared to cotton and a high evaporation rate
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Alpaca Comforters
Like wool, alpaca regulates thermal heat perfectly. But alpaca fibers are silkier and lighter than wool.
The alpaca lives in the Andes of South America, about 4000 meters above sea level. Alpacas are small camels exposed to very extreme weather conditions and therefore have very fine and durable wool fibers. Alpaca is used for woolen blankets/ bedspreads and children’s sweaters, baby articles, and clothing in the luxury segment.
A wool blanket made of alpaca wool, who wouldn’t like to afford it? Alpaca wool fibers are very soft and, according to information, similar to cashmere pattern structure.
By nature, alpaca blankets do not contain lanolin and are an ideal alternative for allergy sufferers. They are available as bedspreads, comforters or cuddle blankets. A wool bedspread made of alpaca is a wonderfully soft and cuddly experience.
- Alpaca comforters have outstanding thermo-regulating properties are durable, dirt-repellent and breathable, yet relatively light.
- Alpaca fibers are one of the greenest and most sustainable fabrics on the planet – even the alpacas themselves leave almost no ecological footprint.
- Blankets made of alpaca are not odor-binding. Even if you sweat a lot, the smell of sweat does not remain because the molecules of alpaca wool neutralise the odor.
- Since Alpaca blankets do not contain any lanolin they are the first choice for allergy sufferers.
If you decide to have an additional cover, alpaca is of course the first choice. Similarly excellent quality as cashmere with its unique shimmer, alpaca gives your bedroom a very special touch.
Here we have gathered a small selection for comparison:
![Authentic Alpaca Throw Blanket - Coziness Guaranteed by Alpaca’s Best Natural Thermal Management [Never Too Warm or Too Cold ] - Premium Quality [...](https://www.worlds-finest-wool.com/wp-content/plugins/aawp/public/image.php?url=aHR0cHM6Ly9tLm1lZGlhLWFtYXpvbi5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL0kvNDFPbDg3V2gwb0wuX1NMMTYwXy5qcGc)
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Which blanket do you prefer for sleeping overnight? Where do you see the advantages or disadvantages? Leave us a comment, we are looking forward to reading from you.
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