We often say that down feathers are a by-product of the waterfowl meat industry. This is because waterfowls float on the surface of the water. Unlike the unfamiliar land birds (often avians that move on the ground), there are no velvet only flakes, and waterfowl feathers. The plush contains oil and fat, which effectively blocks the wetting of moisture, and their feather fleece is reversible, has excellent elasticity, and correspondingly, its bulkiness is also high. The downs we often say come from waterfowl geese and ducks.
With the development of China's economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the market for Chinese down apparel is gradually opening up. In recent years, the competition in the down industry is fierce. The “goose and duck fight” that has long been familiar to the insiders has become new. A hot spot for consumers who are exposed to down products. The following is a brief description of the "goose and duck fight":
First, the smell
Don't look at the goose growing more plump than the duck. In fact, the goose is completely vegetarian. It never squats, only loves aquatic plants, algae, etc. Even if it is artificially fed, it is also eaten vegetables and rice. Ducks that are not taboo are keen on insects, crickets, fish and shrimps, etc. It can be said that whoever eats who they eat is not rejected.
Because the omnivorous food eaten by ducks contains a lot of fat, the duck down has a lot of oil and fat, and generally has a smell of astringency. It is called "fat sputum" and "duck odor" in the industry. This causes some processing plants to remove the smell of duck down, and the deodorant is incorrectly used in the process of decontamination and degreasing. Although the new down products do not smell much, they will return after a few months. And it will take at least a year to naturally dissipate. The goose is a thorough herbivore, so the goose down itself does not have the problem of odor, from the source to ensure that it is odorless and tasteless, smelling like the air is as natural as breathing.
The smell has always been the focus of the geese and ducks, but it is unfair to say that "duck is heavier than goose." China Down Industry Association said: "The production process of goose down and duck down are the same. Goose down and duck down are standard and tasteless, and goose down and duck down are not in accordance with the standard." Worried about the smell of qualified down products.
Second, warmth
As mentioned above, the goose is more plump than the duck, that is, the body of the goose is usually larger than the duck, and the goose down is larger than the duck down. Correspondingly, the goose has a higher hollowness, better fluffiness and better resilience, and warmth. Naturally stronger.
It is necessary to know that the bulkiness and warmth of the down are absolutely proportional, but whether it is goose down or duck down, there are many factors affecting the bulkiness of the down, under the same conditions of the same cashmere:
1. The ratio of velvet to velvet in down
The higher the proportion of the pile in the down, the better the bulkiness and the better the quality of the down. Conversely, the higher the proportion of the pile in the down, the worse the bulkiness.
2. The size of the pile and the oxygen consumption index in the down
The larger the velvet, the higher the bulkiness. On the contrary, the smaller the fluff of the velvet, the lower the fluffiness and the lower the quality of the down. Down feather fibers, like other protein fibers, are inherently chemically stable and generally not easily oxidized. The washed and treated down can greatly reduce the content of reducing substances, and the oxygen consumption is one of the important indicators to measure the effect of down washing.
From the above information, the goose down is good or the duck down is good, the key depends on the feather quality of the goose down and duck down, and the process of the goose down and duck down in the processing process, as well as the means of quality management of the feather company.
Third, down products
We refer to goose down and duck down as down, and down, down duvets, down sleeping bags, etc., which are made of down as a filler, are called down products. The soft, fluffy and warm down products are natural warmth and are popular among consumers.
At present, domestic down products mainly use duck down as filling material, which has been recognized by the market for many years and recognized by consumers. Duck farming time is relatively short, while goose farming time is usually double or more than ducks. The higher cost of goose farming determines that the price of goose down is much higher than the price of duck down. In terms of cost performance, duck down has a competitive advantage over goose down.
In developed countries, goose down is mainly used as raw material for down duvets, while raw materials for down jackets are still mainly duck down. In addition to the price factor, there is a very important reason for the domestic and international down jacket materials to be duck down. That is, the clothes need to be washed frequently compared to the quilt, and the duck down contains more oil, which is a good protective layer for down. It can make the duck down still maintain good fluffiness after repeated cleaning. Goose down contains less oil and is not resistant to washing. The number of times of washing is easy to cause the separation of the pile and the core, the velvet is broken, the pile is increased, and the bulkiness is decreased. There were once down manufacturers who carried out water washing tests on goose down jackets and duck down jackets with the same amount of velvet. After the same number of washings, the content of goose down jacket was reduced by 5%, and the content of cashmere down jacket was only decreased by 1%.
Therefore, Goose down duck down has its own advantages and limitations. It cannot be generalized. It is not possible to distinguish between superior and inferior. The most important thing is to look at the customers themselves. Demand.