How down is harvested
Most comes from geese raised for meat. Top eiderdown fills 1,200 cubic inches per ounce, and costs a fortune.
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The short version
Down is the fine layer under a bird's tough outer feathers, and its loose structure traps air. More than 99 percent is a by-product of meat plants, with China supplying some 70 percent. Processors dedust and wash it through several cycles, spin and steam it, blow it through a sorting chamber, and laboratories rate each lot by fill power.
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Collect at meat plants
Over 99% of goose and duck plumage is a by-product of meat packing, usually wet-plucked after slaughter. Live plucking also happens, including in Poland, Hungary and China, and has been condemned as cruel.
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Dedust and wash
Coarse dirt and dust come out first. Special washers then run the plumage through 6 to 8 cycles with a feather detergent, repeating until it meets hygiene rules. Rough handling here can damage the down.
6 to 8 wash cycles
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Spin and steam
A centrifuge throws off the final rinse water. A pressure tank then steams the plumage, which one testing lab puts at 130 °C for 30 minutes, and it cools to room temperature.
130 °C steam for 30 minutes
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Blow it through a sorter
Clean plumage enters a chamber with air jets below and floats over a row of open cubicles. Heavy feathers drop into the first, and pure down drifts to the far end. Blending then makes set mixes such as 90/10.
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Rate the fill power
An ounce sits in a graduated cylinder under a small dropped weight. The volume below the weight, in cubic inches, is the fill power. Even 550 gives reasonably good insulation.
Worth repeating
- Wild nests yield at most four tonnes of eiderdown a year, about 70% of it from Iceland.
- World down production is estimated at 175,000 tonnes a year.
- An 800-gram eiderdown duvet sold for about US$5,116 as of 2021.
Where it comes from
- Chinaabout 70% of world supply
Share of global down output as stated on Wikipedia; the article text gives no year.
Where it goes next
Down feeds 1 line directly.
Keep walking
Sources
- Washing and Sorting Down and Feathers, IDFL
- How are down and feathers processed into bedding articles?, Textination
- Down Quality, PHD
- Down feather
- Duvet
Cite this page: "How down is harvested." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/down