Origin: Europe
Fill power: 850
Premium European goose down
The European grey down we sourced for this lot comes from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. The nature of the grey goose supply chain is that most of this material comes from smaller collector-based farms. These birds tend to be much older than those found in an industrial supply chain and therefore provide extremely high quality down. It comes as a by-product of the food industry, and almost all of these domesticated geese are descended from the greylag goose. The goose has a different composition of fat and oil than the duck, which leads to slightly better resiliency and durability than its duck counterpart.
Certifications
This ethically sourced 850 fill power European goose down is fluorocarbon free and certified by the following international standards:
Responsible Down Standard (RDS) — third-party verification that the down is sourced in compliance with animal welfare principles and criteria.
Bluesign® — Independent verification of responsible and sustainable manufacturing of textile consumer products.
OEKO-TEX® standard 100 — Independent testing for harmful substances in every component.
Verified 850 fill power
Fill Power is a measurement of volume that defines the amount of air a given amount of down can trap. This “loft” is measured in cubic inches per 30 grams of down and is used to determine the insulating quality of the down. The higher the Fill Power, the greater the warmth-to-weight ratio will be.
When down is sold for manufacturing, an average Fill Power is designated for sale. Through the manufacturing process and simple handling, the material can lose a small amount of its original loft. At Stellar, our commitment to providing the finest product in the world means we will always provide material that tests beyond that initially quoted to account for this loss through manufacturing. It’s our goal that our partners’ product meet or surpass the marketed fill power even after manufacturing and shipping.
Cleanliness
Down is a natural product that, like any other organic material, is susceptible to mold, dust mites, and other allergens. However, as a keratin-based protein similar to our hair, very few people have an allergy to the down itself. Those reactions are more often the result of dust mites and other allergens present in unclean down. The premium down that Stellar use, utilizes a unique washing procedure that uses significantly less water than other industry practices, recycles the water that is used and cleans the down thoroughly with environmentally friendly bluesign® approved detergents.
To quantify cleanliness, turbidity and oxygen tests are conducted. For turbidity, any number over 500mm is considered a hypoallergenic product. The down in our Stellar products consistently measures well over that hypoallergenic mark and has been used by third party asthma and allergen laboratories as the industry standard for cleanliness. Oxygen testing measures the residual organic matter in the material. The lower the number, the better, with a maximum allowable value of 10.
Test report
Down is an all-natural organic by-product and as such, it is impossible to achieve a lot with a true 100% pure down cluster without any trace of fiber, feathers, or other miscellaneous material.
For decades, down has always been used quite generically. With Stellar, you can feel confident that the product you are looking at has been developed with a level of precision and optimization unique to the industry. Working together with our partners, we can utilize different cluster sizes, contents and fill power to help create products that have better performance, resiliency, and feel for the entire life of the product.
A note on color and migration
As a natural product, it is normal to have some dark clusters even in the whitest of down. Others may bleach the material to get rid of these dark spots, but at Stellar EQ, we do not believe in this method. The harsh bleach will strip the down of its essential oils and can be incredibly harmful to the environment.
When you are looking at the jacket, keep in mind the math. Our partners can provide us with 99.9% white down, but each gram of down can contain five to seven thousand down clusters. A lightweight jacket might use around 100g of down. This means that even with the whitest natural down available, there may several hundred darker clusters per jacket.
It’s also perfectly normal to occasionally see a few small pieces of down fiber to come through the fabric and seams. If you see this happening, do not pull it out, but try to gently massage the down back into the baffle.
Wash and care
With proper care, your down product can and — should — last a lifetime. One of the benefits of down is its ability to retain loft and resiliency year after year, even with heavy use. When synthetic options start to degrade within a couple seasons, your down jacket can last for many years.
Keeping your down product lofty, comfortable and warm for years requires relatively simple consideration and care.
Harsh detergents can strip the down of the fat and oil necessary to keep it resilient, causing it to become brittle so it is critical to use a mild detergent.
For further advice on how to wash and care for your down gear, feel free to contact our customer support.
