Pillow Wrangling

Today I had a call from a customer who was trying to find oversized pillow cases for his standard size pillows that apparently were so squished in his current cases that it felt ‘log’ like .

Once in a while we get  questions like this basically asking if we make any pillow cases that are extra wide not necessarily extra long. Our usual response is to tell them how the pillow case fabric measures out – say for example 20 x 26 to fit a standard pillow. Now the newest pillow cases we make are extra wide which are designed to make sure the end of the pillow does not peak out (aka no prairie dogging). These extra long pillow cases also can be used to give a hotel look because the ends are tucked back in. Surprisingly the friction of the fabric keeps the pillow case ends neatly tucked in – just like you see in a hotel.

What does 75% Down Mean?

I get this question from consumers about once a week. Normally, the questions starts like this:

‘I see that it only contains 75% down – but I want 100% down’

Well the reality is that our federal government has a specific guideline when it comes to how much down is in a product. The rule from the FTC states that to call an item a down something – it must contain a minimum of 75% down clusters – the remainder can be down fibers or small feathers, etc.

There are very few cases where you see a number higher then 75% on the law label – usually they are items that have high fill power – where by default you need more down clusters to increase the fill power count. For example, our 800 fill power white goose down likely has a 85% down number on it’s law label.

Short of hand tweezing out loose fibers and small feathers it is impossible to have a 100% down anything.

If you were wondering what the other 25% is – it is a mixture of either:

• More down clusters
• Loose down fibers (the parts that break off from the down cluster)
• Small feathers (6 CM or smaller)

All the down filling used by DOWNLITE complies to it’s RestAssured standards.

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Why So Many Size Pillows?

Not long ago most stores carried pillows in three sizes:

• Standard – 20 x 26
• Queen – 20 x 30
• King – 20 x 36

Then the stores started to carry less sizes basically so they had less money tied up in three sku’s. Some stores took a different stance and offered previous program’s in more densities – soft, medium and firm. Now most stores carry pillows in two sizes:

• Jumbo – 20 x 28
• King – 20 x 36

Frequently I’ll get a call or email from a customer who wants to buy an item on the website – but has pillow cases that might not fit. For reference most duvets and sheet sets are now designed with jumbo or king pillows in mind – so if you have a standard or jumbo that will work great. I have seen less sheets and duvets that come with queen sizes – so for the most part a jumbo pillow will fit the bill. And of course king is always king.

I generally like a jumbo size pillow because it’s just right in size and the filling tends to not move around as much as a king size pillow.

Can You Have Too Many Pillows?

I think it’s safe to say most everyone has a pillow on their bed per person. We speak to quite a few folks who love pillows and can’t have enough. I myself have three pillows at night just for myself – two for my head/neck and one for cuddling. Our customers always seem interested in what size they should be – which I think is more of a choice dictated by the sheet sets they have at home. We get a ton of hotel sleepers who find our name on the pillows label and literally want to buy the exact pillow they enjoyed at a property for home – even down to it’s size. Most of the time we have the same pillow available in three or four sizes – but they seem to think they have to have the exact size pillow.

So – for what it is worth we would just like to let everyone know that we usually recommend buying a pillow size to match your current sheet set pillowcases. We do however sell ala carte pillowcases just in case you want to get a pillow in a size not contained in your sheet set choices (for example you have a king size sheet set at home, but want the jumbo size pillow you enjoyed at a hotel, etc).