— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.Nothing makes a cozy bed more inviting than a plush down comforter. Its soft fluffy plumage provide a lush, lightweight layer that traps warm air, keeping you comfortable throughout the night.
While many comforters on the market now have down-alternatives and include eco-friendly fillings, they often can't compare to the natural luxury of down, or provide the same amount of warmth.
Over the past few years, we've reviewed many of the best comforters, putting them through extensive testing. Among our findings, we've named The Company Store Legends Hotel Alberta Down Comforter (available at The Company Store for $399.00) as a top pick.
These are the best down comforters we tested ranked, in order:
- The Company Store Legends Hotel Alberta Down Comforter
- Pottery Barn Supreme Down Duvet
- Lands' End Essential Down Comforter
- The Company Store LaCrosse Down Comforter
- Brooklinen Down Comforter
- Casper Down Duvet
This comforter from The Company Store comes in light warmth, medium warmth, and extra warmth options—we opted to test the medium warmth version as a middle ground.
Sleeping under the The Legends Hotel Alberta Down Comforter will make all your dreams come true. It's like being underneath a luxurious cloud. It's amazingly comfortable, and we think it’s worth every penny of its price tag.
This comforter from The Company Store is perfect for anyone, even for hot sleepers. It's available in light, medium, and extra warmth options—we opted to test the medium-warmth version as a middle ground. The exterior shell material is a 300-thread-count combed cotton sateen that’s silky smooth and the interior is filled with 600 fill power duck down, so it’s incredibly lofty and cushy to wrap up in.
There are five muted color options to choose from and the blanket has baffle-box construction to keep its fill weight evenly distributed so you don't experience any cold spots.
The Legends Hotel Alberta Down Comforter aced all our tests. It kept us the perfect temperature on cool nights and the weight was spot-on as well. The medium warmth seems like it would be ideal for all-season use, as it’s not too heavy or too light.
Our only complaint is about the comforter's construction, which was not the softest to touch. However, you can always wrap a duvet cover over it via the comforter's corner loops.
The comforter does get a little wrinkly when scrunched up, but it does a great job repelling liquids. It's also machine-washable, which is quite rare for down comforters. Overall, we think just about everyone would be happy with this high-end comforter, especially since it comes in a variety of warmth options.
Pros
-
Silky exterior
-
Different warmth levels
-
Machine washable
Cons
-
Not the softest exterior
-
Expensive
How We Tested
The Tester
I’m Camryn Rabideau, a freelance contributor here at Reviewed. After I tested and reviewed the best sheet sets, it was a natural progression to move on to comforters. (More sleeping for work—score!) Personally, I usually spring for comforters based on looks alone, so I was curious to see if high-quality bedding were really that much better than what I usually buy at the discount store. (Spoiler alert: It is.)
The Tests
I put each of these comforters through the wringer—figuratively and literally—to see how well they perform in a few key areas.
First, and perhaps most importantly, was the sleep test. I took a one-hour nap on my queen size bed under each blanket, then slept with them overnight, evaluating whether they kept me warm, how soft they felt, and if they were noisy when I rolled over.
Next, I evaluated how easy each comforter was to wash. In addition to researching care instructions for each product, I stained them with fruit juice, food, and Diet Coke, then attempted to spot clean them with regular detergent—no pre-treating or stain removers.
Finally, I used my background in textile science to evaluate the overall construction of the comforter, determining whether it would stand up to years of use. I also considered how easy or hard it would be to store each item, based on how much space it took up when folded.
What You Should Know About Down Comforters
What makes down comforters different from other comforters is the material that's sewn inside the bedding. Down references the ultra-soft filaments on the undercoat of waterfowl, usually geese or ducks. Feathers, which include the quill, are also usually included in the filling. The American Down and Feather Council, an industry trade group, explains what makes the material so appealing is that "down and feathers trap air while allowing moisture to escape, allowing products such as comforters to adjust to the amount of heat released by the body." Therefore, whether it's winter or summer, the comforter will adjust to the sleeper.
Down-alternative comforters, as the name suggests, use synthetic materials. Their performance can often be just as good at down comforters, as we found in some of our comforter testing, and are recommended for those with allergies or for looking to spend less.
However, as the council notes, using down and feathers is more comfortable, is usually easy to care for, and helps ensure a comforter's longevity.
How Heavy and What Fill-Power Should the Comforter Be?
When choosing a down comforter, be sure to consider its weight and fill-power. A light-weight comforter is great for hot sleepers whereas comforters with higher fill powers are best for those who need more warmth. Summer-weight comforters are excellent for warmer climates, especially if your bedroom is hot. It all depends on how warm you want to be at night.
Down is prized because it's one of the most insulating materials. It's qualified by its fill power, which measures how much air can circulate around it. A 750 fill-power will be more insulating and warmer than a 700 fill power or a 400 fill power.
What is the Best Thread Count for a Comforter?
Thread count refers to the number of vertical and horizontal threads per square inch. Simply put, the higher the thread count of the exterior shell, the softer the comforter. If you're using a duvet cover, the thread count won't be as important as if you're using the comforter on its own.
A thread count between 200 and 800 is considered good. However, a high thread count will wear faster than a low thread count. Finally, keep an eye out for barrier weaves, which stops the down and feathers from coming out of your comforter.
How to Wash a Down Comforter
Like any textile you buy, always read the label to make sure your comforter doesn't require dry cleaning. But one advantage to having a down-filled comforter is that the natural material is generally safe in your washing machine.
To wash your comforter, always follow the instructions listed on its label. However we have some additional washing recommendations:
First, make sure you're using a big enough washer and dryer so your comforter has enough room to thoroughly get clean, and then dry. If you only have a compact washer and dryer set, consider using a laundrromat and use one of its extra-large machines—especially if you have a king size comforter.
For best drying results, use dryer balls. They're not made to soften the comforter, but they may help to keep the down fill inside the comforter from bunching up as it dries. We also recommend opening the dryer a few times during the cycle to help fluff it up manually.
Lastly, make sure to allow ample time for drying. Depending on your dryer and the setting used, it may take several hours to dry.
Other Comforters We Tested
The Pottery Barn Supreme Down Duvet is very similar to the Legends Hotel Alberta Down Comforter in both construction and performance. The comforter is 100 percent cotton, and it's filled with European white down. The exterior shell is made from 300-thread-count sateen fabric and it boasts a 650 fill power making it very cozy.
Its baffle box stitching keeps the fill weight in place and we enjoyed sleeping under it. The Supreme Down Duvet was also the perfect weight and temperature. However, we'd recommend using a duvet cover, as the fabric wasn't as soft as we'd like.
In our other tests, this Pottery Barn comforter repelled liquids and stains came out easily. You can machine wash and dry this blanket, assuming your washing machine is large enough and, though it retained some wrinkles after being bunched up, they weren’t too bad.
It came out of testing neck-in-neck with its rival from The Company Store. Ultimately, it was edged out by the Alberta Euro Down Comforter simply because of personal preference.
These two blankets performed the same in every test, so you can’t go wrong.
Pros
-
Good weight
-
Comfortable temperature
-
Baffle box stitching
Cons
-
Slightly rough fabric
-
Minor wrinkling
-
Expensive
This comforter doesn't appear to be anything special at first—it looks like every other down comforter on the market. However, it’s really soft, comfortable, and warm to sleep under, and it would be great for cold winter nights.
Like similar down comforters, the Lands' End Essential down comforters can be washed in the washing machine, saving you from having to drag it down to the dry cleaner. It features box-stitching, which keeps the down evenly dispersed.
The company also claims the down is washed so thoroughly that it’s hypoallergenic. But we were unable to test that detail.
The downsides we found included trouble removing stains, and it wrinkles easily.
Pros
-
Machine washable
-
Baffle box stitching
-
Soft
Cons
-
Easily stained
-
Prone to wrinkling
-
Expensive
While the Brooklinen Down Comforter delivered in warmth, its exterior felt almost like plastic to the touch.
It’s supposed to be a “cotton sateen shell,” but it was significantly less soft than the many other options we tested.
However, it uses down “clusters” instead of standard feathers, so you avoid getting accidentally poked in the middle of the night.
Overall, we recommend this comforter only if you plan to use it with a duvet cover.
Pros
-
Down feathers don't poke you
-
Warm
Cons
-
Plasticky exterior
-
Expensive
We were surprised this Company Store comforter didn't test as well as the other comforter we tested from the popular linen retailer. The LaCrosse Down Comforter was just OK.
The comforter wasn't very soft, and it was one of the few comforters that was actually too heavy. This is especially strange considering we tested its lightest option—there are also medium, heavy, and extra-heavy styles available.
That said, this comforter did keep me warm, and it comes in a variety of bright colors to add interest to your bedroom, or perhaps may be better suited for a guest room.
Pros
-
Warm
-
Variety of colors
Cons
-
Heavy
-
Expensive
-
Mediocre
On paper, the Casper Duvet seems like it'd be a good comforter, but it fell flat in several of our tests.
First, the material felt strange. Although the exterior is 100 percent cotton, it feels like plastic. It makes a lot of noise any time you shift under it‚ as if you're sleeping under a tarp. Even if you added a duvet cover, you’d still probably hear the crinkling as you move around.
This duvet performed OK during nap testing, but overnight we found ourselves a little chilly underneath it.
The duvet is filled with down and has an extra layer of merino wool inside, so we were surprised that it wasn’t as warm as other down comforters.
At the end of the day, for the money, there are much better options.
Pros
-
None we could find
Cons
-
Chilly overnight
-
Expensive
-
Plasticky exterior