A really great down comforter can take your sleeping experience from “meh” to “wow,” but with so many options out there, you might feel like you need a nap before you even get through the first page of searching for the best comforters on the internet. We know that you want to skip the searching part and get to the comfortable sleeping part, so we did some investigating for you to see if The Company Store Alberta European Down Baffled Comforter is a good contender. Here’s what we found.
Material: Ethically-sourced and hypoallergenic
The Alberta Down Comforter is made from ethically-sourced RDS Certified European down that comes in 600 to 650 fill power that’s housed inside a 300-thread count cotton shell. Down quality is measured in fill power, which is the loft or fluffiness of the down. The number refers to the volume of down per ounce. Down with a high fill power gives more insulation per ounce and requires less down; it is fluffier and weighs less. Fill powers below 300 are considered low. 600 is mid-range. A high fill power (lightest and warmest down) can go up to 900. The shell has stitched baffle boxes that prevent the down from clumping or pooling in one area of the comforter. The baffle construction works really well and keeps all the feathers evenly distributed. We tend to toss and turn most nights, and although we woke up a bit tangled some mornings, the down in the comforter was still evenly spread out throughout each section. You can choose from five different shell colors—alabaster, cloud blue, ivory, platinum, and white—and three different warmth levels—light, medium, and extra. We went with the platinum, which is a cool-toned true silver color in the medium weight. While the actual color is a beautiful gray, we weren’t huge fans of the sateen finish. It gives off a significant amount of shine that didn’t really go with the matte, distressed finish of the rest of our bedroom. But the warmth level was impressive. Our medium level comforter gave off plenty of warmth, even with the fan on. The comforter also had really great temperature control and was able to simultaneously satisfy one hot sleeper and one cold sleeper. Neither of us woke up sweating.
Texture: Soft and smooth
This comforter is really soft. And the sateen finish also makes it really smooth, which is a huge plus if you have pets that don’t take no for an answer when you tell them to stay off the bed. While pet hair does stick to the down comforter, it easily wipes off with your hand. The downside to the texture is that it shifts around on the bed pretty easily. If you move around a lot while you sleep, you might find the comforter hanging off the side of the bed in the morning.
Washing: You can do the job at home
While you may think such a fancy comforter would have high maintenance care instructions, this one doesn’t. The Company Store recommends machine washing the comforter on a cold, delicate cycle with mild detergents. You can dry the comforter too, as long as you’re tumble drying on low heat. But while the care instructions are straight forward, we didn’t have the best experience with the process. The king-size comforter just barely fit into our top-load washing machine so we weren’t confident that the comforter would have adequate space during the cycle to get fully clean. Getting it into the dryer was even more of a squeeze and because it was packed in so tightly, it took a really long time—about two and a half hours—to fully dry. In addition to testing how it did in the dryer, we also decided to hang dry the comforter to see how that would fare and we don’t recommend it. Aside from the fact that it took about four times longer than drying the comforter in the dryer, we were also left with clumps of down that settled into the baffled areas. Ultimately, after the comforter was washed, dried, and shaken out, it regained it’s soft and fluffy texture and we were happy with the final result. Keep in mind that you’ll need adequate time to get through the process. For the best results, front-loading commercial washers and dryers, like the kind you’d find at a laundromat, are recommended. If you prefer dry cleaning, you can go that route with this comforter too, but we’ve read that the chemicals used for dry cleaning can break down the fill over time, so it’s best to wash it yourself if you can.
Price: An investment in your comfort
We’ll just come right out and say it—the price gave us a bit of sticker shock. Prices start at $269 for a twin comforter in the light warmth level and go all the way up to $489 for a king/California king comforter for the extra warmth level. The comforter we tested—a king-size comforter with a medium warmth level—would set you back $439. You might not mind the price when you know it comes with a lifetime guarantee. The Company Store is so confident in their products, that they offer returns or exchanges at any time—you just have to pay the delivery fee. While the down comforter does cost more than many others upfront, the lifetime guarantee makes it highly likely that it will be the last one you’ll ever have to buy.
The Company Store Alberta European Down Baffled Comforter vs. L.L. Bean Sateen White Goose Down Comforter
If you’re a fan of a good sateen finish, The Company Store Alberta European Down Baffled Comforter and the L.L. Bean Sateen White Goose Down Comforter (view on L.L. Bean) are both two excellent choices. When it comes to price, they’re neck and neck. The Company Store’s comforter will cost around $439, while the L.L. Bean option will set you back $499. Both options use responsibly-sourced down and have baffle-box stitching that keeps that down evenly spread throughout the comforter. The L.L. Bean version is a little heavier—it has a 700 fill power compared to the 600 to 650 fill power of the Alberta. While both provide plenty of warmth, the L.L. Bean may be a better option for areas where it’s always cold. The Company Store Alberta European Down Baffled Comforter is soft, warm, hypoallergenic, and responsibly sourced—all the best things when it comes to choosing a down comforter. It is a fairly hefty initial investment but with proper care and the manufacturer’s lifetime guarantee, it’s worth it, especially if you like nice, shiny things.
