Of Baskets and Comforters

The Pottery Barn is a nationwide chain store specializing in stylish, solid quality goods for the home. Examples of their products include accent tables, baskets, candleholders, and light furniture. The Pottery Barn also sells a very limited selection of bedding goods, one of which is a down comforter, and the other its down alternative counterpart.

In fact, it's a bit hard to distinguish the two given that fall under the same design specifications. The only difference between the two seems to be the internal fill.

Hypoallergenic Down

A few words about their down alternative comforters: the Pottery Barn says its a hypoallergenic down, which means industrial processes have presumably minimized the allergens or have provided construction of a cover material that prevents against accumulation of allergens from dust mites and other external sources. In fact, Pottery Barn claims that the cleaning process is both exclusive to their store and will continue to be used in production of the hypoallergenic products Some buyers may wish to experience with a hypoallergenic material. Given the unclear scientific basis for allergies, it may be worth a try.

Synthetic High-loft Fiberfill

The Pottery Barn down alternative comforters is claimed to contain a high-loft fiber fill. Our testers found the comforter to warm. It's cover shows that it's designed with some sort of sewn-box design. On the company site it's called "Euro-box", which may be a twist on the sewn box design that compartmentalizes the interior so as to isolate the fill and prevent it from shifting over the lifetime of the product. A zipper keeps the 230 thread count cotton case on and makes it easily removeable should it need to be washed separately. The Pottery Barn also claims that the cover as well as the fill is treated with antimicrobial and anti-dust-mite treatment to protect against such threats.

Warm and Washable

We have picked up the comforter and noted that it's of average weight even thought it's quite warm, signaling that the Pottery Barn's synthetic fill is not substandard. Fortunately, the down alternative comforter can be machine washed. According to other testers, washing didn't ruin the appearance of the comforter but seemed to shrink it by just a small bit. The high quality cover fabric was free of pilling under abrasion and stress. What is pilling? Pilling is a phenomenon whereby the fibers of a fabric start to unravel, and little bits roll up on the surface. Synthetic fibers tend to pill the most, whereas natural ones pill a bit but shed the worn-down fibers during the washing process. For some reason synthetics have worse aesthetics due to pilling after washing.

Where to Find It

These down alternative comforters can be found in the giant catalog at Amazon, but recent attempts to locate it at the time of investiation showed that it wasn't in stock. At Pottery Barn Kids, a kid-sized version is also available. The store notes that the synthetic fill is a trademarked "Quallowarm II". The kids version is smaller, featured with a sewn-box to maintain eveness in material.