The Best of JCPenny Down Comforters

Down comforters are must-have items in every winter home. Due to their loft, soft outer fabric, and fluffy fill, down comforters are one of the items that you dream about when you’re out in the cold, and simply can’t wait to get home, under the sheets. But choosing the best comforter can be quite a pain, especially if you don’t know what to look for. No worries, we’re here to help.

The Best of JCPenny Down Comforters

Steps to Choosing a Good Down Comforter

Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t a best or worst type of down comforter. Pretty much like every other product you buy, down comforters should be given careful consideration because what labels a product as being “good” is actually meeting the demands of a particular type of sleeper and a particular sleeping environment. While there is no absolute best choice, there are some steps that buyers can follow to pick a comforter they can be pleased with.

Step 1: The Budget

People are tempted to think that the best products are luxury ones. Ultimately, some people buy luxury comforters and discover that maybe this wasn’t the best choice for them. Even if most comforters have a return policy of 30 days, some people may overlook that window, and end up having a product they don’t like, and for which they paid too much.

Establishing a budget and actually sticking to it is hard, but not impossible. Chances are, you will find a decent down comforter within your given budget, so there’s no need to panic. You can find a good down comforter under $300, but you should know that there are features that will cost more.

Step 2: The Bed

As odd a this may sound, you might want to actually measure your mattress before choosing a comforter size. There have been a lot of complaints registered across different well-known bedding brands, claiming that the comforters are too small for their size of the bed, despite their right order placement.

Translation: just because you order a King-size comforter and you already know that you have a King-sized bed, that doesn’t always mean that these two will have the exact same size. If you measure the bed and always have the dimensions in front of you, you can’t go wrong when placing an order.

Step 3: The Season

A down comforter is definitely a long-term investment. Nobody wants to spend $300 every year on a new comforter, but there are situations where you might need two comforters instead of one. One of the ways to classify down comforters is by the season in which they serve.

Comforters with a lot of pill power and superior insulation properties are mainly good for use in the cold seasons. Even then, some people may not need a comforter because the temperature inside the bedroom is pretty high.

But the important thing to remember here is that comforters can be for winter use, or for year-round use. Now, this “year-round” feature is pretty debatable, in our own humble opinion. For a manufacturer to state that a down comforter can be used throughout the entire year is an overzealous statement.

For this to be true, your bedroom should have the same temperatures in both winter and summer. But if your home is really hot in the summer, and gets cold in the winter, you can’t very well use the same comforter.

Step 4: The Construction

With down comforters, there are three important things that a buyer must look after before choosing a specific model: the fill power, the outer fabric, and the stitching. The fill power is a degree of the insulation properties of a comforter. The higher the fill power, the better the comforter is at retaining heat and keeping the sleeper warm.

The outer fabric is the material that’s used to make the cover of the comforter, or what keeps the fill together. This fabric can be anything from pure cotton, silk, micromesh, polyester, linen, or different fabric blends. The industry standard is cotton, because it is the materials with the best properties, and also the most comfortable one, without being too expensive to produce.

As far as the outer fabric is concerned, some people argue that the best indicator of quality is a high thread count. Despite some absurd marketing promises, buying a down comforter with an outer shell that has a thread count between 250 and 400 is more than enough.

The stitching is basically the way in which the fill stays inside the comforter. It’s really important for the fill to be evenly distributed because when the fill is allowed to move freely inside the comforter, that means it will create cold spots, or empty patches as we like to call them.

Most down comforters come with either a baffle box or a sewn-through construction. The first kind is when the top and bottom side of the comforter are sewn together, to keep the down in place. A baffle box type of stitching is when the top and bottom side of the outer shell are connected through a thin patch of fabric. The result is a 3D box that holds the loft in place but also makes the comforter fluffier.

Step 5: The Cover

When you’re considering of purchasing a white down comforter (which is typically the only color choice for good comforters), then you should also add in the price for a duvet cover, unless you already have one lying around the house.

Not only does the duvet cover keep the down comforter’s outer fabric cleaner for a longer time, but it also keeps it safe from natural wear and tear. Even more, since natural shades are the most common down comforter outer fabric choices, some people might find that the color doesn’t really suit their bedroom decor.

Comforter covers are pretty much available in all colors and patterns, but a word of warning: try to buy a duvet cover that is not colored with questionable dyes. Cheap dyes will rub against the white comforter and ruin it. Try to look for quality materials and don’t compromise when it comes to something that you want to enjoy in the long run.

Bottom Line

JCPenney is a great online retailer which provides buyers with a really good deal on down comforters made by some of the industry’s most heavy names. While it’s easy to find a comforter you like on their online store, it’s mostly a matter of first understanding what it is that you require from a comforter.

As we’ve mentioned in the first section of this article, it’s really important to determine what are the main characteristics that you would benefit from. If you find that your bedroom is too cold during the winter, you want a comforter with a lot of fill power, which automatically has better insulation capabilities.

If you want to invest in a product good for year-round use, you want a light to medium warmth comforter. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to consider an organic comforter or at least one with a pure cotton outer shell. If you toss and turn a lot during the night, you want a comforter with stitching that prevents the filling from shifting sides. Whatever it is that you need, there’s surely a comforter out there for you.