Eider Down - The Ultimate Down

Eiderdown - the most exclusive down available in the world today. An insulator which is delightfully fluffy, beautifully soft and incredibly sensitive. The eider duck grows the ultimate down and eiderdown truly is the very best insulation material provided by Mother Nature.

The eider duck is a species that belongs to the Northern regions where it has adapted itself to the cold and capricious climate. Ever since the settlement of the country eleven centuries ago, Icelanders have made use of the down from the eider duck, developing methods of gathering the eiderdown without harming the bird. These methods are now enshrined in tradition and are stories which are passed on from generation to generation.

Each Spring, the eider duck comes back to its breeding grounds, returning to the same place year after year. The eider farmers go to great lengths to create a peaceful and tranquil environment for the eider duck, preparing and then protecting the nesting sites in the hope of attracting as many birds as possible.

The female lays 4-6 eggs in the nest, lined with eiderdown which she has plucked from her breast, where it becomes loose at the time the eggs arrive. She arranges the eiderdown underneath and around the eggs - a necessary measure in such a cold climate. Hatching takes up to four weeks and in due course the female leaves the nest. the eiderdown, having served its prime purpose is either blown away by the wind or, more usefully, gathered by the eiderdown farmers.

The eiderdown is dried immediately after it is gathered and then heated to about 110 degrees Celcius and kept at that temperature for a certain time; the heat sterilises the eiderdown and makes it easier to clean.

The eiderdown is mechanically cleaned in machines specially designed for the purpose, the process being based on age old methods for cleaning eiderdown. This equipment ensures that the eiderdown is cleaned without damaging its special properties. No chemicals are used in the cleansing process as the eider down farmers are sensitive to both the properties of the eiderdown and the environment. Although the machines do a good job of the cleaning, the eiderdown undergoes further checks in which any feathers or knots are removed by hand. All eiderdown product exported from Iceland are subject to weight and quality control by an authorised quality inspector.

Like feathers, eiderdown is made up of horn cells. From the minute fuzzy centre of each eiderdown feather, fine threads reach out in all directions, forming a whole which resembles most of all a tangle of threads. These threads are set with microscopic hooks or crotchets, which give the eiderdown its cohesiveness and elasticity. The insulating properties, lightness, cohesiveness and elasticity of eiderdown make it a unique filling for lovely, light, fluffy duvets.

As eiderdown is a natural product from a clean, unpolluted environment and not chemically processed, it is a popular tradition for many people in Iceland to give a new born baby an eiderdown duvet.

Although the eider duck is a wild bird it can become quite tame in peaceful surroundings and given proper attention. Icelanders have encouraged this in various ways - for example as early as the middle of the last century, the eider duck was declared a protected species. Consequently, Iceland has some of the largest eider duck colonies in the world and the benefit derived from this peaceful co-existence of eider and Icelander is unique.

The eider duck nests on offshore islands, large and small and at many points on the mainland shores. It finds ample nourishment in shallow coastal waters all around the country. The eider ducks tend to flock together in tightly packed nesting sites where there is peace and quiet. The eiderdown farmers have learned from experience how to attract the eider duck and encourage it to nest. The Icelandic eider down farmers endeavour to ensure good treatment of the eider duck and of its natural habitat.

The eiderdown is the softest, lightest down in the world and is the very finest filling for a duvet. If you were to close your eyes and hold your hand out whilst goose down was placed in one hand and eiderdown on the other - you would feel a slight tickling sensation from the goose down but you would not know that anything had been placed in the other hand. Eiderdown is so light and fluffy and has an amazing ability to work with your body temperature that it is not tog rated. If it were to be tog rated then it would probably be rated at a 6 - 9 tog but it works so sensitively with your body that it will truly keep you warm during the long, cold months of winter and lovely and cool throughout the heat of summer.

An eiderdown duvet from The Surrey Down Company is hand filled - the eiderdown has hooks which hold it together so well that a machine is unable to blow them into the fabric boxes and so they have to be pulled apart by hand. It is this ability to hold together that gives the eiderdown such insulation properties.

The eider down duvet is then stitched by hand inside each box ensuring that the eiderdown stay within its own box (cassette). Each eiderdown duvet is made to order and is made with a passion for the materials used, a passion for the quality that only eiderdown can give and a passion for the environment and the world in which we live.