Feather beds offer a soft bed experience unmatched by pillow top beds, memory foam beds and all kinds of top of bed solutions. The primary ingredient in featherbeds is a blend of feathers and down. The more down in the mixture the softer the featherbed will feel. The best featherbed on the market right now uses a 50/50 blend of filling but that is the exception with most being a 5/95 blend (5% down, 95% feathers).

Overtime featherbeds can go flat and unresponsive – so what can be done to improve your flat feather bed? We will discuss featherbed styles and constructions as well as cheap tricks to improve your featherbed to soft fluffy goodness.

There are several basic styles of feather beds including these:

• Baffle Box Feather Bed

• Quilted Feather Bed (Or Pillow Top)

• Horizontal or Vertical Channel Feather Bed

• Down Top Feather Bed

• Euro Feather Beds

Please note that many fiber beds have similar constructions as feather beds except the obvious difference of now down or feather content. In terms of fillings we recommend choosing one with a White Goose Blend preference with a higher down percentage (10/90 and better).

A baffle box feather bed is a basic style that offers separate compartments for the down and feather mix to stay in place during usage. Baffle box designs do have occasional fill migration – this is because the inside of the baffle chamber has a small hole which can allow the fill to move around under compression and during fluffing. Baffle box constructions can feature a bonus quilted top filled with either down or polyester for extra comfort (this down or feather layer provides additional cushioning against the feathers below).

Down and feather filling is very durable and can withstand years of nightly comfort. Down and feathers can withstand several years of comfort and actually soften over time which means less poking. However between softening and baffle migration a feather bed can go flat in some zones.

An easy trick to rejuvenate a featherbed is to cover it with an old white comforter and tuck the excess fabric underneath. This not only adds loft but adds cushioning. You can do the same thing but to a smaller extent with a cheaper mattress pad. In all cases we advise that a featherbed should be covered with a water proof liner on top because any spillage would ruin a featherbed if excess moisture stayed trapped inside a feather quill. Just be sure to get a featherbed cover that uses a ‘whisper or quiet’ water barrier to avoid noisy fabric movement in bed (the dreaded ‘crunch’ sound).

So before you seek to replace a featherbed with some ‘dead zone’ spots missing filling or where the filling is limp you should have a firm grasp of how to fluff your feather bed properly – whether daily, weekly or monthly. Feather beds regardless of the style need to be fluffed often to make sure filling is plump. This lofty filling is what gives feather beds their special feeling which can’t be replicated with stiff polyester pillow tops or memory foam tops. Try searching on YouTube for videos by DOWNLITE on how to maintain you’re featherbed.

When it comes time to fluff your featherbed you will want to try some tricks to help make it last longer. If your featherbed does not feature a down or poly quilted top then you can flip and rotate your featherbed for regular compression wear and tear. If you’re featherbed does feature a special top – like down filled or poly quilted you should only rotate your feather bed and never flip it. Regardless of flipping or rotating or both be sure to give the featherbed a dozen or so punches or chops to loosen the filling. Also take your hands and go underneath the featherbed and do a high force upwards push or movement to fluff from the bottom up of the feather bed.