Bedding Glossary

Bedding Glossary

All seasons duvet

As the name implies, this duvet is manufactured to be suitable for all seasons throughout the year. It consists of a 4.5 tog duvet (Summer) and a 9.0 tog duvet (Spring/Autumn) which attach to one another using buttons, ties or cufflinks, forming a 13.5 tog duvet (Winter).

Anti-Allergy

A fibre or material that has undergone a process that makes it less likely to cause an allergic reaction

Baffle-Box Construction

Construction in which fabric walls are sewn in between the top and bottom of a comforter. This allows for better loft and more even distribution of fill. It also prevents fill from bunching and shifting, helping to keep it in place.

Baffle wall

A thin gauze-like fabric ‘wall’ sewn between the top and bottom layers of a duvet shell. These vertical walls create a deeper interior of the duvet, allowing the fill to loft more and fill the pockets more evenly. They also have small openings in each corner allowing the fill to move.

Box construction

Individual square pockets are permanently sewn in to the casing to ensure that the fill is evenly distributed and remains that way.

Breathability

Fabric that has the ability to wick away moisture and allow water vapour to pass right through it, keeping the sleeper comfortable. Our natural products are notorious for their breathability.

Cotton

Cotton is the fibre from the seedpod of the cotton plant. The quality of cotton depends mostly on the length of the fibre, with a longer fibre being better due to its strength and length.

Damask

Damask is a fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibres, with a pattern formed by weaving. The term originally referred to ornamental silk fabrics from Damascus, which were elaborately woven in colours, sometimes with the addition of gold and other metallic threads.

Down cluster

The group of components: down, nestling down, and plumule. These are found in our premium down products, i.e. Hungarian, Canadian, Eiderdown. (Down fibre and other components are specifically excluded)

Down proof

Fabric that is down proof (lower air permeability means more down proof) will not leak or bleed feathers and down from the inside. Lower thread count fabrics may be treated with starch sizing to make them ‘down proof,’ as well.

Duvet

A soft flat bag filled with down and/or feathers, wool or synthetic material

Egyptian cotton

This is an extra long staple cotton, grown in Egypt. The longer staple of this cotton creates a stronger and finer yarn, feeling softer and more lustrous than regular cotton.

Eiderdown

Eiderdown comes from the Eider duck. It is considered to be the finest quality of all downs. It is also the most expensive. The down locks together, resulting in superior insulating power. The Eider duck is a protected migratory species and down is collected from fledged nests.

Feather

Collected from ducks or geese, these can provide duvets, pillows and toppers with bulk and structure. We get our feathers as a by-product of the food industry. We don’t partake in or condone live plucking.

Fill power

A measure that identifies the ability of down to regain its original state and “loft’ after pressure. This simulates a down product in use. The higher the fill power number, the greater the recovery of the down to regain its shape, loft and maintain its insulating properties.

Fitted Sheet

Elasticated sheet that fits snuggly around your mattress.

Flannel

Plain or twill woven cotton or wool fabric that has a surface with a napped finish. The cloth must be made from cotton with a fibre long enough to hold in the yarn, otherwise, the fibres will shed from the flannel or pill into little balls on the surface. Flannel can be brushed to provide extra softness.

Flat Sheet

A sheet covering your mattress. Needs to be tucked under the mattress to be held in place. Also known as a top sheet.

GSM

This stands for “grams per square metre”. The higher the rating, the denser the pile will be and therefore the quality also improves. This is because more yarn is used and therefore it makes the towel more absorbent and longer lasting.

Gussets

The side “walls” along the perimeter of a pillow or duvet. Generally, this supports a construction that allows the fill to fill the space fully and evenly.

Handle

The “feel” of a fabric.

Hollowfibre

A man-made filling that’s made from thousands of hollow microfibre fibres.

Hypo-allergenic

A fibre or material is deemed hypo-allergenic if it has undergone a process that makes it less likely to cause an allergic reaction. Our anti-allergy products have been given the ‘Seal of approval’ from Allergy UK, the leading charity which provides help to allergy suffers.

Jacquard

This decorative weaving technique was invented by Joseph Jacquard in 1804. A special loom is used to weave a non-linear pattern directly into the fabric; usually a design or shape such as a flower.

Loft

Loft is created by the size, quality and strength of the down cluster. A good measure of loft is fill power.

Mattress Protector

This is used immediately above a mattress to protect the mattress. Some also protect the sleeper from allergens.

Oxford Pillowcase

Similar to a housewife pillowcase but slightly larger and with a stitched border.

Piping

A thin tube of fabric that is used to ornament pillows and duvets. Can be made of any variety of fabric types.

Protectors

A casing or layer covering a mattress or pillow to help prolong the product’s life and protect it from dust, moisture and dirt.

Sateen

A cotton or spun-yard fabric characterised by floats running in the filling direction. Usually is mercerised and has a shine from the finishing process.

Silk

Silk is a natural fiber that features a soft hand, lustrous appearance and superior draping qualities.

Thread count

Measured by adding the number of warp ends per inch and filling picks per inch in the woven fabric. The higher the number, the denser the yarns are packed together.

Tog

This is a rating system that measures a duvet’s ability to retain warmth. The higher the tog rating, the more warmth the duvet will retain.

Topper

A layer that is placed on top of a mattress to give the user greater levels of comfort. Most of the time, these are filled with a material, similarly to that of a duvet or pillow.

Warp

The yarns that run the length of the loom. The warp yarns are pulled through the loom as the weft or filling yarns are woven across the warp to make the fabric.

Weaving

Weaving is an ancient art of making fabric, with no new types of weaves having been developed since 1747. The warp yarns and weft yarns are interlaced (woven) with each other to make a fabric (vs. a knit where the yarns are looped together).

Weft

The yarns that are woven across the loom. The individual yarns are also known as picks.

White Goose Down

Down is the layer of fine feathers found underneath the outer feathers of adult ducks, geese, and other water birds.

Wick

The property of a fibre that allows moisture to move rapidly along the fibre surface and pass quickly through the fabric.