WHY ARE ALPACA QUILT PRICES SO DIFFERENT?

When browsing online offers for duvets with alpaca fiber filling, we can see a huge price range. Then many of us wonder why in one place you can pay several hundred zlotys for such a product, while elsewhere the prices for what seems to be the same product only start from over a thousand zlotys? We will try to present this topic in as much detail as possible.

Filling weight of an alpaca duvet

The first, very important issue that affects the price of an alpaca duvet is the weight of its filling. A simple rule applies here: the less, the cheaper. Unfortunately, there are offers on the market stating that the duvet is year-round and its filling is 200-300g/m2, which is in fact untrue. The optimal filling for a year-round duvet in European climatic conditions is approximately 400-500g/m2. In various online stores you can also find a division into summer, year-round and winter duvets, so if we want to choose the most suitable duvet for us, before we are tempted by a low price, we should pay attention NOT to the description regarding the season of its purpose, but above all to the filling weight.

Composition and weight of the outer layer of the quilt

The second important issue that affects the cost of an alpaca duvet is what its cover is made of. For alpaca fiber to provide us with all its valuable properties during sleep, it must be properly supported from the outside. I guess most of us are aware that there is nothing better than what nature gives us, and it is probably this knowledge that led us to duvets with alpaca fiber filling. Therefore, when choosing the right duvet, we should also pay attention to the composition of the cover, whether it is a 100% natural fabric, such as cotton. An important aspect of the type of case is also its grammage. Because alpaca fiber is very thin, with a low grammage of the outer layer of the duvet, there is a risk that it will show through. For this reason, the best are densely woven bulk fabrics with a grammage of approximately 160-190g/m2, which are intended for delicate filling of the quilt. When checking information about the covering, it is worth making sure that the fabric has a certificate proving the quality of the product that comes into direct contact with human skin, such as Oeko-Tex standard 100. Such a certificate gives us confidence that the product that has it is free from agents that adversely affect human health, including: formaldehydes, pesticides and substances that cause allergies. The quality of the fabric, which is defined, among others, by: by its composition, weight and certificates, affects its price, so a quilt made of better material will undoubtedly cost more.

Are you sure it's 100% alpaca?

When we see a duvet priced at PLN 300-500 with information that the filling is made of alpaca, we should wonder whether it is actually 100% alpaca fiber. In this case, again, in addition to the product description itself, let's pay attention to its composition, because this is where the most important details are contained. It often turns out that the composition states that the filling is not 100% alpaca, but is made of admixtures of various types of fibers, or e.g. the filling is "llama", and unlike alpaca, it has a very thick fiber that has virtually no no similar properties to alpaca fiber.

Different faces of the "100% alpaca" filling

Once we have gone through all this information and we see a duvet on the Internet that costs approximately PLN 500, according to the composition, the filling is 100% alpaca with a grammage of approximately 400-500g/m2, and the covering is made of 100% cotton, can we Buy a duvet without any worries and sleep peacefully? Unfortunately not. There is always a risk that, despite all this information, the actual composition will differ from that given on the label. In the worst case, these may be admixtures of other wool, such as sheep's wool, which does not have the same properties as alpaca and may also cause allergies due to the lanolin content. Another important point is that the alpaca fiber itself can vary in quality. When shearing alpacas, we divide their fleece into three categories:

I - it includes the so-called veil and it is the best part of the entire alpaca fleece. It is used, among others, for producing yarn or filling quilts;

II – it includes the neck and upper parts of the alpaca's legs. Because it is usually long, it is used, among others, for the production of quilt filling;

III – the lowest class, which includes the fleece from the belly and lower legs of the alpaca. It is a short fiber, usually used for felting. Because it is often the dirtiest, it is rarely further processed.

Alpaca wool from classes I and II is undoubtedly the best for producing quilt filling. Unfortunately, some people also use class III as a filling, which is not suitable for this purpose primarily due to its length. Filling duvets with such fiber will not be durable and may split during use, causing empty spaces inside and thus depriving the duvet of its valuable properties and the users of adequate sleeping comfort. The higher the quality of alpaca wool, the higher its price. The price difference between these classes is huge and, for example, between classes I and III is approximately 600-700%!

What else affects the price of a quilt?

In addition to the filling and covering, the price of the duvet is also influenced by the process of its production, which is undoubtedly a complex and time-consuming process. Shearing alpacas once a year, selecting the fleece, cleaning it, washing it, tearing it, carding it, and then preparing it and sewing it takes several, if not several dozen, hours of work. Most of these activities are performed by humans on their own without the help of machines, and since the alpaca fleece is very delicate, there are no shortcuts and it must be done carefully and, above all, gently so as not to damage the fiber.

Can a quilt with alpaca fiber be "cheap"?

Finally, a simple answer to the above question: NO. An alpaca quilt is a luxurious product with the best properties and whose production process is painstaking. Therefore, it is impossible for the price of the final product to be several hundred zlotys with all the components mentioned above and under fair working conditions.

So how do you avoid being fooled and what should you pay attention to when choosing a duvet ? Let's not just look at the price, let's read the descriptions of the ingredients, check the certificates and, above all, let's buy products from proven and reliable producers.

In 2019, ALPAKINO received the prestigious Quality Certificate of the KUKBUK POLECA magazine