Down jacket is a comfortable, warm and necessary thing in the wardrobe. It would seem that the name itself implies the presence of down in clothes. However, manufacturers offer as a warming "filling" down jackets and other alternative materials. Each of them has its pros and cons.
Pooh warms even astronauts
Jackets, perhaps, are the most common and most favorite jackets in Russia. They became particularly popular in the difficult nineties. Almost a third of Russians were dressed in cheap and monotonous green-lilac clothes of dubious quality. Today, down jackets of this style and quality can not be found. Now, in addition to performing the function of warm clothing, they are in line with fashion trends, combining showiness and convenience.
Pooh for sewing warm clothing first began to use the peoples of northern latitudes. And the first guessed to use down for sewing warm clothes - the Norwegians. Back in the 15th century, quilted down trousers and jackets perfectly rescued the inhabitants of the cold seaside from piercing wind and severe frosts. The most warm is considered fluff northern bird eider. No wonder it is used in the manufacture of spacesuits for astronauts.
Despite the invention of new, alternative to down materials, down still holds its position and remains the most sought-after material used for the production of warm clothing.
Down jackets with eider down are considered the best. Their significant drawback is the high price. Duck or goose down filler can be a good alternative. Often manufacturers add fluff to a feather. This ratio is usually 70 and 30 percent. The lower the percentage of feather, the jacket is warmer and lighter. Therefore, when buying it is worth paying special attention. On the label of the presence of a pen in the product says the prefix feather to the word down. It will be appropriate to warn: buying a down jacket, carefully inspect it. No feathers or feathers should stick out of the seams. Otherwise, this product is of poor quality - it will not last long.
Try to feel carefully the sleeve or fragment at the bottom line of the jacket. If the heater has a lot of feathers, you will immediately feel them by touch. Such a down jacket should not be taken: one day these feathers will crawl out.
If the winter is harsh for you, buy a jacket marked 3 CLO. It will be comfortable even in forty degrees of frost. Marking 1 KLO - for a mild winter, if the frost does not exceed -15 degrees.
The great advantages of a down filler are that the jacket is “breathing”. In it you will not sweat in the store or the subway.
It is worth paying attention to the Fill Power sign on the down jacket tag. It means the indicator of the elasticity of the down jacket, ie, its ability to take the original form after compression. For good down jackets, this indicator starts with 500 units. And it comes to famous brands to 900.
Modern technologies allow to produce very high-quality down-padded jackets with down-feather filling. With proper care, such clothing can last for fifteen to twenty years. For washing down jacket is better to contact dry cleaning. If you decide to wash it yourself - know that this is not such an easy task as it seems at first glance. Washing and drying products with down require a special approach. Therefore, before taking up the laundry, read the advice of practitioners on the Internet.
High-quality warm down jackets of various styles mainly come to us from China and Canada.If you are not limited in means and style and fashionable appearance is important to you, then you should look for models that are made in Finland, Sweden or France.
Sintepon - the younger brother of fluff
It is difficult to find a person who would never have in his wardrobe clothes with padding polyester. Invented in the 70s of the last century, this synthetic material today competes with down.
Products from a synthetic winterizer well keep heat and are easily erased. And if the heat-insulating qualities in a down jacket are influenced by the ratio of feather and down, the down jacket on the padding polyester is thicker, the warmer. Manufacturers can hem one, two or even three layers of a synthetic winterizer. The temperature regime of the product is determined by the density of the sintepon thermal insulation: insulation with a density of 100 g / sq. m recommended at a cool temperature of +5 degrees; from -5 degrees it will be comfortable in a jacket with a sinteponovy heater with a density of 150 g / sq. m. (such clothes are quite suitable for late autumn); but with the onset of frost up to -20 degrees the best option is a jacket with a density of a synthetic winterizer of 250 g / sq. m
If the frost is stronger, even a three-layer down jacket will not provide a comfortable walk and you will feel cold. It is worth noting that the more layers of sintepon in the jacket, the more bulky and inconvenient it is for movements. Recall how clumsy and defenseless young children look in thick padding polyester.
In no case do not wash the glued synthetic winterizer. Only dry cleaning is suitable for its maintenance.
Sintepon - artificial material. It consists of polyester fibers. The fibers are bonded to each other in two ways: either by gluing or by heat treatment. The synthetic winterizer on glue is easily deformed, slylyaetsya. It is airtight. In addition, it is considered not environmentally friendly due to the presence of glue.
Thermally bonded sintepon is preferable, it “breathes” and is considered environmentally friendly.
Jackets with synthetic padding are comfortable, durable and unpretentious in care. However, they are more suitable for off season or mild winters. For a harsh winter, they are of little use.
What is in sintepuhe?
We smoothly approached the consideration of another material, which is used for warming winter jackets. Logically, judging by the unusual double-crooked word, it may seem that it is a material that consists of padding polyester and down, a combination of two classic materials in one heater. However, the name of a modern artificial insulator is correct - synthetic down. Pooh, but artificial, according to its thermal characteristics, very similar to the present.
Down on the tags of puhovikov denoted by the word down. Adding feather means adding feather to the down. The word intelligentdown says that in a heater the down and a synthetic filler are combined. The designation cotton or polyester warns that cotton wool, batting or synthetic winterizer is used for warming.
Sintepukh consists of a large number of polyester fibers. Like natural fluffs, there are cavities in the fibers. It is this air in the microtubules that helps retain heat. The material is environmentally friendly, without harmful impurities. In addition, due to the use of silicone in its production, it is resilient and very elastic. Silicone-soaked fibers are twisted into a spiral. When pressed, the crush easily takes the original look.
Clothing with the use of a sinthepuhovogo insulation warm, light, fluffy and airy. A distinctive advantage over the real down - from washing and from prolonged wear, sintepuh does not roll up in tight lumps.
Sintepukh, as well as down-feather fillers, easily "breathes" and perfectly passes air, at the same time retaining heat. Feathers will never crawl out of a synthetic fur jacket, the water from it will flow down “like a goose”, it dries quickly.
For washing, you can use the services of dry cleaning, but it is not difficult to wash the sintofuhovy down-padded coat at home. It is very comfortable to wear.
All options are good.
If we talk about the topic as a whole, then all the listed fillers are good. Which of them is preferred depends on a variety of circumstances that are different for each person.
The down jacket from sintepukha differs from just down. The difference is that it is warm, resilient and light, environmentally friendly. Therefore, it is the best option for allergies. The advantages of synthetic filling agents are that these down jackets look very elegant, moreover, they are very light, they are easy to wash and dry. They are warm and comfortable in the offseason, as well as during light winter frost. Well, for those who prefer all natural, of course, the best option is a jacket with down-feather filling.
Ideally, it is better to have three down jackets: for off-season, mild winter and severe frosts. If their insulation will consist of different materials - you will see from personal experience which one is preferable to you.
On the features of fillers for winter jackets, see the following video.
