Investing in home comfort is one of the wisest moves you can ever make. Seeing as how the home needs to be a place where you recharge your batteries and create amazing memories with your family, it should be designed and equipped to offer you the best comfort possible.
Today we’re going to review a comforter with a very interesting brand story. The SmartSilk comforter promises to be a luxurious bedding item that’s designed for people who suffer from different types of allergies, and can’t get along with a down comforter. Since people dread the quality of down alternative, along comes with SmartSilk product: filled with quality silk and covered in a soft cotton cover. But is there anything more to it?
A Closer Look at the SmartSilk Comforter
Before talking about the actual comforter itself, it’s important to know the story behind the brand, because it often hints at what kind of quality you can expect from the products they manufacture. The company goes back more than 50 years ago, when the founder (Yair) discovered how much dust mite allergy can affect the quality of sleep. Later on, he discovered that Harry (an old-friend and also founder of SmartSilk) has the same condition.
After doing their homework, they saw just how little options the market had to offer in terms of bedding for allergies. So, they took their shares experience in the textile industry and decided to kick off their own luxury bedding collection, one that could improve the standard sleep environment.
Their bedding products are created with naturally-extracted silk. They grab the cocoons dropped by silk moths and boil them in water, for cleaning purposes. The silk is hand-extracted, and the floss is left to dry. Their products are created using only grade-A silk with long strands, while ditching harmful chemicals as part of the fabrication process.
Pros:
- Advanced allergen protection.
- Smooth and luxurious feel.
- Made with a cotton outer shell.
- Certified and cruelty-free silk.
- Available in a crib size.
- Good for all-season use.
- Easy to care for.
- Comes with a 10-year warranty.
Cons:
- King and Cal King sizes are identical.
- Expensive compared to other comforters.
Sizing Options
Buying a comforter that’s the right size will ensure that every square inch of your body is kept snuggly covered, so that no winter cold could ever disturb your sleep. Currently, the SmartSilk duvet comforter is available in the following size options:
- A universal crib size, to keep your baby warm.
- A Twin-size, measuring 66 x 88 inches.
- A Full/Double-size, measuring 82 x 88 inches.
- A Queen-size, measuring 88 x 94 inches.
- A King-size, measuring 106 x 96 inches.
- A Cal King-size, measuring 106 x 96 inches.
Construction & Materials
If you’re wondering why this SmartSilk comforter costs more than the comforters you’ve seen so far, it’s because of the high-quality materials used in the construction of the product. The outer shell of the comforter is made from cotton. It has a very smooth surface, feeling really pleasant when brushed against the skin.
The thread count of the cotton shell is 233, which is pretty much the average number in terms of quality. Anything higher than that would have added considerably more $$$ to the overall price of the product.
Cotton will always be one of the top choices for bedding products, because it provides the best price-to-quality ratio out of all the fabrics out there. Cotton is not that expensive, but feels really good and soft on the skin, plus it has great breathability and moisture-wicking features.
The filling of the comforter is made entirely from silk. We’re not going to argue over who wins in the battle against down and down alternative filling. The comforter has very quality stitching, and its design was made to ensure an even fill distribution across the surface of the comforter, so that you don’t get any empty spots that might cause discomfort or heat loss.
True fabric connoisseurs should know that the comforter is filled with tussah silk, and not Mulberry, which is typically considered the most durable and qualitative type of silk on the market. However, Mulberry silk is generally harder to care for, and since the SmartSilk is a comforter also created to be easily cleaned, the fact that you can clean it in your own washing machine is worth the Mulberry/wild silk compromise.
SmartSilk Shield Advantage
When you come across the SmartSilk comforter, you will most likely hear or read about the Shield Advantage. It sounds like a rather fancy concept, but the name justifies the cause. When the founders of SmartSilk developed their brand, they were focused on quality bedding that helps combat allergy triggers.
The SmartSilk Shield Advantage is a concept that brings forth those properties, creating a barrier against all the potential contaminants that can bring out the worst in an allergy scenario. The SmartSilk Shield Advantage is based on the following concepts:
- A top layer that’s made entirely out of quilted cotton.
- A construction that can act as a bacteria and allergen barrier.
- A product that can prevent dust mites and bed bugs from ending up in your bed.
Care & Maintenance
The manufacturer recommends that when you first unpack your comforter you leave it out to air. This way it can fluff up faster and you can enjoy a comfortable night’s sleep. Alternatively, you can also put the comforter in the dryer, set it on a low temperature, and leave it there for about 5 to 15 minutes.
As far as cleaning is concerned, you should wash your comforter in cool water, by using one of your machine’s delicate cycles. Make sure that you always use low heat to tumble dry. Alternatively, you can also hang the comforter to dry it.
However, the best recommendation that anyone can give you is to always use your comforter with a duvet cover. This is the best way to prolong the lifespan of the comforter, because you can simply switch the dirty cover for a clean one, and throw the other one in the washing machine.
Customer’s Opinions
Allergy Efficiency
The first and most important thing that manufacturers kept in mind when launching this brand was creating a quality line of products for people with allergy problems. Naturally, the feedback that customers give when referring to this feature is super important. Different buyers have praised the SmartSilk comforter more than once. Asthma sufferers are glad to report that they wake up breathing way better compared to what they experienced when using products from another manufacturer.
Insulation
How well a comforter performs in terms of keeping the sleeper warm depends on the level of insulation. The SmartSilk comforter was created to be an all-season product, and while the vast majority of the customers are happy with the level of warmth it provides, others that live in areas with colder winter do believe it’s way too thin. So, in order to be really happy with how warm the comforter can keep you, consider the average temperatures in your region, but also if you sleep with the heat turned on. If you do, the SmartSilk comforter should suffice. Funny enough: people that live in areas where winters are relatively warm claim that the comforter is too hot for them, so always keep average temperatures in the back of your mind when shopping for comforters.
Quality
The combination of silk filling and a cotton cover seems to be a real hit amongst customers with varied tastes in the bedding items. But the quality of the SmartSilk comforter lies in more than just the fabrics used: it’s also reflected in the construction of the comforter. Customers are happy to see that the fill inside the comforter doesn’t shift, and that the weight of the product is comfortable for them to sleep underneath it through the entire night. Buyers also claim that the stitching is qualitative, durable, and the seams look as if they’ll last a lifetime.
Care
Definitely one of the biggest pluses of this comforter is the fact that you can clean it at home. Having to take your comforters to the dry cleaner is always a hassle, such as spot cleaning, when you simply don’t have the time. People who have bought, used, and washed their SmartSilk comforter are happy with how smooth the process is, but also about the fact that it doesn’t lose its fluff after repeated washes.
Bottom Line
The SmartSilk comforter is a product that you definitely want to look into if you have your heart set on a down comforter, but are too sensitive to actually sleep under one. This is a great alternative to quality down, as it was created for people who have their allergies triggered by dust, pet dander, dust mites, bed bugs, and the likes.
While it is more expensive compared to other alternatives, the product is made with silk that’s naturally extracted, hand-selected, and then processed without using any sort of chemicals that nobody would want to have in their bedding items.