Silk comforters?

Quelah
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Silk comforters?

Postby Quelah » Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:21 am

We're in need of a new comforter, our down comforter is getting old and sad, and had been planning on getting another of the same, but then I got a copy of the Vermont Country store catalog (it's VERY entertaining) in the mail and they have silk comforters and (wavy out of focus screen for flashback) it took me back to a stormy night I spent in a bed and breakfast above an art gallery right on the coast in Bodega Bay. I'd spent the entire day out clamming on the beach, a required adventure for a marine biology class I was taking (I think clams are interesting but you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to eat one). It was a very long very cold day but lots of fun hijinks. At one point the professor offered a 5% bump on the final to anyone who could actually get a geoduck - my lab partner looked at me, "We got this" there was some pretty frantic digging of deep holes and at one point he stripped down to his shorts and I was holding on to his ankles the hole was that deep but we DID get a geoduck and both ultimately got As in the class.

At the end of that long cold day my sandblasted self made my way to the B&B and found the most delightful room, the shower/tub enclosure was tiled in dark green marble, I think I soaked for an hour before making my way to the bed that had the MOST lovely comforter, which I later found out was silk. When I turned on the TV, the original Jaws was just starting, which is one of my favorite movies and seemed oh so appropriate in the setting. Jaws on the TV, soaked and dried and snug and warm, and a storm slashing the windows with rain but I could still hear the surf crashing over the rain. So....are silk comforters really that lovely? Or is my memory of it colored by that evening? I'd prefer not to do down again, I love down, but I don't love how it comes to be in the blanket, and I'd like something more washable.

Thoughts?
Last edited by Quelah on Sun Jan 20, 2019 5:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Flight
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby Flight » Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:36 am

I don’t know, but I liked your story! :)

Hayburner
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby Hayburner » Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:50 am

Was the silk comforter warm?
I'm addicted to down - I just got a new one from Macy's - it was from their Hotel Collection in a heavy weight. I've never had issues with feathers coming out of any of my down comforters. I do put them in a duvet cover - which can be washed more regularly than the comforter. I prefer the ones from Front Gate - really nice and soft.

I too enjoyed your story1

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StraightForward
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby StraightForward » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:32 pm

I bought one from Sierra Trading post a few years back when it was on sale. A friend of mine was making a big deal about bringing one back from China, which is what put it in my mind. Anyway, the outer is cotton, and I envision the filling as being sort of a loose Brillo pad of silk fibers?? Anyway, it's fine, but it's nothing special. I suppose the filling doesn't shift the way down tends to, and it's more breathable than down alternative.

The instructions with ours said dry clean only, but I have been considering throwing caution to the wind and seeing what happens if I wash it. Maybe at the end of winter so we won't be blanketless if it gets ruined. It is Downtown Company Luxury Bedding, made in Austria, filled with 100% silk batting.

TLDR: fine for the sale price I paid, probably wouldn't replace it at retail price.
Keep calm and canter on.

Rockabilly
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby Rockabilly » Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:33 pm

Flight wrote:I don’t know, but I liked your story! :)



I love all her stories!

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Fatcat
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby Fatcat » Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:03 pm

I can’t speak to silk comforters, but I’ve found a new love—wool! It’s much better than down at not shifting within the duvet, and it is warm in winter and cool in summer. I also use a duvet cover so wash that when needed. Here’s where I got my wool duvet:

https://savvyrest.com/products/natural-duvet-insert

texsuze
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby texsuze » Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:13 pm

I purchased a set of flannel sheets (the cardinal and chickadee print) from Vermont Country store and they are the BEST sheets ever. Not too hot, not too cold, excellent. So I'll stick my neck out and say I believe their products are probably very good if you decide to buy their comforter.

As down feathers come from (mostly?) geese I recently heard something about the way they are obtained and couldn't listen any further... YMMV

calvin
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby calvin » Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:22 pm

Quelah,

You really DO have the best stories! Please keep on writing. Do you mean a duvet? If so, I did purchase a St. Geneve (accent grave over the second "e") silk duvet a few years ago upon the recommendation of the store owner. It is lightweight, hypoallergenic, and there are no little feathers escaping the duvet cover. I do not think that that any comforter could possibly compete with the memories of warmth following the day of adventuring that you described. You have very detailed memories! I do like the warmth, lack of weight, and cosiness of this particular duvet. I look forward to the comments others may have. Not life changing, but a nice luxury I think.

silk
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby silk » Sun Jan 20, 2019 7:06 pm

I love silk (refer username, haha!) but haven't had the pleasure of sleeping under a silk blanket.
I have woolen duvet inners which are amazing, but heavy. So much nicer than synthetic. Alpaca duvet inners are also available here.

Cashmere is also amazingly warm but still incredibly light, however more likely to be found as a throw/blanket than duvet. http://ellisfibre.co.nz/ is the manufacturer of most of the ones I have (duvets, underlays, etc).

lorilu
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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby lorilu » Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:40 am

I recently bought a mattress pad from Back on Track made using their heat-reflecting material. It is amazing...... not hot, but I no longer have cold spots where I lay on my side ......

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Re: Silk comforters?

Postby goldhorse » Mon Jan 21, 2019 2:31 am

I was reading this thread in Hawaii and thought "Hell, who needs a comforter?" But now, I've returned to Quelah's area which is cold and rainy so I can pipe in.
I have many silk comforters obtained from my DH's oh-too-many business trips to China. They are fabulous!!! In the house, we have down, synthetic, and silk. Silk is definitely my favorite. It's lighter than down. Doesn't smell. Doesn't shed feathers. I have no allergic or asthmatic reaction to it. The lightness is hard to describe. It doesn't lay down on your body so it creates air pockets that quickly fill up with body heat. One good silk comforter is enough to keep me warm with the thermostat set at 60 F.

In China, you can get various weights of comforters. I think we have the "medium" weight. It doesn't have the box stitching that I see in the Vermont Store Catalog.

Washing: I can't vouch for that. Mine are encased in duvet covers which means my skin isn't next to the fabulous silk fabric covering the silk fibers. But oh well. I think I need to sacrifice an old one to the washing machine but I suspect it will become a wadded mess. The filling looks like the batting a seamstress would use to fill a pillow. I think when the weather warms up for line drying, I will sacrifice the oldest one to the washing machine.

And to throw a wrench into the discussion: one of my DDs swears by weighted blankets to improve sleep. I guess the theory is that we sleep better if we're swaddled like infants. A silk comforter sure isn't going to do that.


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