About 90% of upholstery manufacturers outsource their cushions to mostly local foam/cushion converters. The individual core springs can vary in gauge, usually between 14 and 18 and width of 2 1/2 to 3 x 3" to 3 1/2" height. The most important part of a spring cushion is the type of material they use between the spring core and the blend/down envelope. Because this is usually what breaks down first, and so the cushion begins to loose their shape in time. Actually a 2 pound density or higher HR foam will hold its shape better and last just as long as a spring-blend/down cushion.

I love my down comforter. I fell in love with down when I lived in Germany 30 some odd years ago. I inherited a tiny bit of money from my grandfather, and purchased my over-sized King comforter from Cuddledown (see link below). It was quite a bit over 10 years ago that I purchased it and it still in fantastic shape (I don't overly baby it either). I purchased it in its highest fill power with the baffle style, I wanted super "poof". The quality of the down is excellent, it is not heavy feeling at all on my body when sleep. Its hard to explain, but I am kept warm, but not overly, I think the down allows my body to still breathe. When I get a bit of a hot flash (yes, I'm o.l.d.e.r. ) LOL, I just kick it off, then right back on me when I've cooled off. I also keep a light sateen cover on it in order to not weigh down the down. It does not ever shift in the cover either. I even have it on the bed in the summer (I do sleep in a very AC room though by choice, and in the winter I have the theromstat down to 67-68 degrees-love a cool room). One time I did not have the cover on it and my poor Yorkie barffed on it, but the material that encases the down allowed it to wipe up really well without seeping in. With all this said, I did spend alot on it, but I see it as an investment, if you get a quality down comforter it will most likely be able to be passed down to your children (that's what my German friends told me anyway. And from the looks of mine it will go that way too) Sorry for writing a book here, I hope it helps in your decision. Here is a link that might be useful: Down Comforter

We've purchased at least 4 down comforters and an additional 5 or 6 alternative down comforters from the Company Store. Some of these my kids took to college and were subjected to heavy use but were still good enough to be donated to Goodwill after graduation. When we figured out that DH has a down allergy we replaced ours with the alternative down and also bought several for our adult kids when they moved into their own places. One of the reasons we chose the Company Store is because they offer larger sizes than those typically found in stores or other catalogs. We have king and they offer two sizes - Super size is 110x98 and Oversize which is 118x98. Just remember that if you want a comforter cover you'll also need a larger size. I've bought covers from the Company Store and I've also sewn my own from king size sheets.

The US market jumped on duvets and duvet covers about 20 years ago, having no idea how they are traditionally used and sized. They liked "the look". In Europe, they are used IN PLACE OF a top sheet, and do not have much drop at the top/bottom/sides. This works just fine in a colder room, but in the US, people typically overheat their houses at night, and it's just too hot, so they want a top sheet in case they throw off the duvet. They have now added another layer of fabric over them and each layer counts. Then they want it to hang down like the one in Kim's post above. Unless one is sleeping in Antartica, that will be one VERY hot bed at night! Buy a down blanket and put it in your duvet cover. You do not want to use a down comforter or blanket without it being covered - it will quickly become soiled and it doesn't look very nice - sort of "naked".