From the very first minute of our visit I was surprised with the hospitable and open-minded environment at the IDFL. During our visit I learned many interesting things about the IDFL and the kinds of tests conducted at the laboratory, in particular the fill power tests. Below are several interesting topics that we had a chance to discuss that day.

The market for goose down products is growing in the US. While demand is steady, the supply of goose down is subject to fluctuations, especially the supply of raw goose down. A substantial disruption of goose down supply due to the risk of Avian Flu is very unlikely. This is explained by a high-temperature high-pressure sterilization process used on down and feathers that destroys the virus.

I was very interested to learn about a new method of measuring fill power used at the IDFL. Fill power refers to the amount of cubic inches one ounce of down occupies. The purpose of the fill power test in IDFL is to validate the fill power measured at down processing factories. The down may be compressed and shipped long distances before it arrives to a producer. In order to restore the compressed down to its original state, IDFL uses a tumble dry conditioning process and a steam conditioning process.

In the tumble dry test, down is sewn into a pillow. This pillow is then tumble-dried in a household dryer for 30 minutes at 60°C. After that the down is moved to a box where it must remain for at least 72-hours before fill power is tested in a cylinder.

The more recent steam conditioning method was approved in May 2004 and it allows down fill power values to be restored to that of newly processed down. The down is placed into a screened conditioning box and steamed from all sides by a steam jet cleaner for 2 minutes. The down is then completely dried by a regular hair dryer. This drying process takes only two minutes. As for the tumble dry test, the down must stay in the conditioning box for at least 72 hours before it is placed in a cylinder to have its fill power measured.

We were thrilled to witness the whole process of goose down steaming. Also, IDFL people showed us how they measure fill power in American and International cylinders. We were very lucky to witness 870 fill power of the very best white goose down that IDFL had stocked after steam conditioning method.

Depending on the transportation conditions of the processed down, the fill power results of different conditioning methods could vary for as much as 100 units. Given that Bask receives uncompressed processed down right from a nearby factory, we believe that fill power of Bask goose down products does not depend much on the conditioning method. At the present time Bask uses the most conservative unconditional method for measuring fill power and this actual fill power score you can see in Bask labels attached to all Bask goose down products.

Bask would like to thank all IDFL people for their generous hospitality and their time. It was a most enlightening experience!