Because not all down is created equally, it is important to understand how subtle differences in processing can make a significant difference in performance and longevity.

Many vendor sourced suppliers will process down extremely quickly and with harsh chemicals to get the material as clean as possible as quickly as possible in order to offer material cheaper. While this might provide a cheaper material for less expensive fast fashion products, these products will not perform as well or last as long as material processed correctly. There can also be a risk of contamination of down with PFAS which has implications for both the product and the environment where these chemicals are applied.

THE USE OF HARSH CHEMICALS

First, down has the potential to be amongst the lowest environmental impact of any material used in the entire apparel industry, but washing with harsh chemicals not only leaves traces of PFAS, but unnecessarily harms the local environments where these chemicals are used. Further, any material now run through these facilities will certainly show signs of PFAS for decades to come.

The harsh chemicals may get the down clean quite quickly, but they are also likely to strip the protein of the fat and oils needed to retain resiliency and return to loft after compression. The down may look fine in the garment on the rack, but a single season will often reduce the majority of this type of processed down to fiber – losing loft and warmth. Properly processed down should last for decades.

HOT FAST DRYING

Again, how the down is handled through the drying process can greatly affect the fat and oil on the protein the same way harsh chemicals can. In order to save money, suppliers will push hundreds of kilograms of down through extremely hot driers in order to cut down the overall processing time. What one is left with is either down with all the fat and oils burned off or material that is inconsistently dried that will cause issues such as mold while the down is stored and prepared for manufacturing.

It is critical to not only understand where your down has come from for animal welfare concerns, but also in how it was processed so you can rest assured that your down product will last a lifetime and has a significantly lower environmental impact than a synthetic alternative.

At ALLIED, we have always said that not all down is created equal. And what allows down to become such an incredible insulation lies in how the material was processed. Down can be sourced from some of the best – and even certified – farms, but how it is further processed is the difference between cheap down and feathers and a high quality, technical, sustainable and durable insulation.

Down is comprised of beta-keratin, which is a protein extremely similar to our human hair. When down is processed, it needs to be treated in a way that provides the necessary cleanliness, but while still retaining a precise amount of the natural fat and oil so that it retains its resiliency so it can take years of extreme compression and still loft back to its full potential to provide warmth and comfort. There is a lot of cheaper down sourced in the market that might even come with RDS certification, but that has been processed with harsh chemicals, bleach and dried extremely fast. While this may save a small percentage in cost, the insulation may provide clean test results and even look good in the garment right away. But after just a little use, this harsh processing will have taken its toll and the product will quickly start to lose its loft as the now brittle clusters quickly degrade into fiber.

This type of processing is also usually accompanied by the use of harsh chemicals that have extremely detrimental impacts on their local environments. The current down standards do not incorporate any form of chemical management so it is important to not only know where your down came from, but how it has been processed.

ALLIED has developed a proprietary processing method called DURAWASH which has long led the industry in sustainable processing and stands as the benchmark of cleanliness as tested by an independent third party laboratory. The DURAWASH processing is incredibly complex and consists of no less than 13 stages that includes constantly being run through magnets to pick up any impurities, unique drying chambers that ensure we do not overheat the down, vortices that help to reduce additional residue and filter out the finest clusters and proprietary dedusting bins to ensure only the purest down is shipped. The DURAWASH process also incorporates a complex water filtration system to ensure we are able to recycle all the water we use. Part of this filtration is a purification which helps soften all water so minimal detergents can be used. The detergents ALLIED uses have been developed with our long time bluesign® chemical partner to precisely clean the down with no harm to the environment.

In 2018, ALLIED was only the fourth company in the US to earn Palm Oil Free Certification