From High Tech Beds to Comforters

The Sleep Number company is famous for inventing or at least greatly popularizing a bed with adjustable hardness. Not only was the hardness adjustable, each side could separately be controlled to produce differing hardness. This was so as to fit the individual tastes of two people who might share the bed. Since then, Sleep Number

has expanded out and started producing other types of bedding products such as pillows, comforters and down alternative comforters.

True Silver (with Real Silver)

The sole down alternative comforter produced by Sleep Number is under the name "True Silver". It's marketed as a material with antibacterial treatment and antiodor treatment for reducing both. Why is it called "True Silver"? The company says that the interior fill as well as the cover is "enhanced" with pure silver that will do two things: one, help regulate your body temperature during sleep and two, provide added protection against microorganisms and odors. The claim is reinforced by a trade-marked and certainly patent-protected "SilverFill", which is a mixture of 95% polyester microfiber, and 5% silver fiber. To complicate things, the silver fiber is called "X-STATIC" silver fiber, and the silver-laced cover is branded as "SilverWeave". X-STATIC is licensed from yet another company Noble Industries.

Scientifically Proven

We at DownAlternatives.org were greatly surprised to find out about silver-bonded fabrics. It turns out that such fibers have been around for a while. In one study from 1988 we looked up, a Penn State (Pennsylvania State University) group examined the bacteria-killing properties of the fiber. The results were quite surprising, showing that fiber mixed with some solution (to mimic sweat) was effective at killing 4 different kinds of common bacterial. The antibacterial effect increased as the amount of silver was increased. The hypothesis was that silver ions (tiny atoms of silver) were stripped from the fiber into the solution, and in turn came into contact with bacteria, somehow killing them.

A 10 Year Warranty

The True Silver down alternative comforter can be machine washed for your convenience. The Sleep Number has also generously supplied a 10 year limited warranty on this product, showing their commitment and high standards for quality. A quick test showed us that the comforter is quite comfortable and warm. Some shrinkage is expected upon machine-washing. One note for buyers is that although the manufacturer label is Sleep Number, the product is available through the vendor Select Comfort. There's really no shortage of names to confuse us on this comforter. We would recommend to them to reduce the confusion for consumers by branding it more strongly with a single name.

On Sale

The listed price is $199 to $329 depending on the size. However, as of the time of the research for this article, we found that there were sale prices that started from $149 up to $247. Whether the sale prices will endure a long time we can't tell, but a bargain hunter might be tempted to wait until comforters become out-of-season so he or she can snatch it at a discount.