During all the history mankind confronted the serious problem of retaining warmth. Down, as well as fur, is the natural fabric that provides the best solution of this problem. Besides it, synthetic fabrics, such as Thinsulate, Thermoloft, Polartec and others are used and continually developed to match this purpose too.
Nevertheless, even when compared with the most effective synthetic fabric, natural down has its own obvious and surpassing advantages. They are: extremely light weight, high compressibility (it means an ability to restore an original volume soon after compressing), unique long lasting. Down clothes and bedding insulated with goose down if treated properly last for more than 20 years, duck’s down ware lasts for 10 years and more.
Strong persistent demand for down ware (especially minding waterfowl depopulation in our country) requires converging the attention on the quality of feather-down stuff and its intermediate products by means of developing the methods of quality control.
Current Russian feather-down quality standards were developed more than 10 years ago and should be completed nowadays. They operate with characteristics and norms that can’t provide really high quality of the production which could be competitive with foreign analogues. Using this gap in technical documentation and requirements, a number of cheap (in both senses) and low quality products, mainly from China, glutted our market. From the other side, agents of numerous European companies buy up Russian feather-down stuff in state and private farms by penny-ante prices and export it, getting roaring profit after processing the stuff.
According to the state technical standard OST 10-02-01-06-87 the quality of feather-down stuff (assorted and unsorted) picked from dressed birds is evaluated by its exterior, odour and percentage of moisture, down, small, average and underwing feather.
Quality standards for feather-down stuff picked from birds alive are more rigid. No underwing and small feather from head and neck is permitted, norms and limits for big feather, percentage of fat, and so on are set.
Nevertheless, even that requirements can’t be considered to be complete as even their fulfilment doesn’t provide high quality of down and as they don’t give complete description of stuff.
In accordance with technical instruction on manufacturing intermediate products, developed by Scientific and Production Association `Complex’ and certified with Russian Science Association `Soyusptizeprom’ (State Bird Industry) instead of old TU-49-1-2-80 standard on processing of feather-down stuff, intermediate products should be evaluated by organoleptic parameters and humidity (not more than 12%). This instruction doesn’t provide control of other parameters of intermediate products. The same instruction admits manufacturing of intermediate products with `proportion of components conforming the composition of filler’. We find this detail very important as manufacturing of feather-down intermediate products (fillers) with various proportions of components is not an exception but a rule nowadays. `Pure’ down or `pure’ feather intermediate products of waterfowl are almost never used. Down filler always contain so-called `down feather’, small and average feather and unripe down. At the same time feather fillers always contain some down, usually not more than 1-2 percents.
We need to add some remarks about fluff (nap) too. The great bulk of fluff consists of destructed down and, in a lesser degree, of feather. Presence of fluff chops the quality of down. Down with sufficient admixture of fluff loses its resilience, clods and by that the volume of air held in down decreases. All these factors imply degradation of warm conserving properties of down. In short, such clothes can hardly protect from cold. The problem of fluff is the more topical as produced now machines for picking gooses alive damage about 40% of down transforming it to fluff. It’s obvious especially when picking doesn’t take place exactly during moult period. Such factors as violation of drying regime (exsiccation, overstated temperature), usage of unadapted abstergents also leads to decrease of durability of down and feather and to increase of the fluff amount.
Sintapon has approved itself as a good agent for washing feather-down ware, while Condutex is good as disinfection agent and Ateblank – as antistatic. At the final stage of processing, we use NIKWAX (Great Britain) solvents to impart down with water-resistant qualities and higher elasticity. The whole processing is brought about at processing equipment of German company Lorch at our manufactory in Kashira (Moscow region).
All the above-stated will show that current methods of evaluating the quality of feather-down primary products of waterfowl and its intermediate products can’t completely describe the quality and can’t provide proper control.
Foreign producers and consumers of feather-down ware are not confided with this set of characteristics in evaluating the quality of feather-down ware. In most countries in Europe and in USA usage of FILL POWER (F.P) parameter is indispensable.
Fill power describes elasticity (or capacity to resist pressure) of down. I.e. it shows how quickly may down restore its volume after compression with fixed power. In terms of figures, it’s equal to final volume (in cubed inches or cubed centimetres) of one ounce (28,35 grams) of down. The more the volume, the higher the quality.
There are two methodologies of estimating fill power – European and American ones. The difference is related with structural features of gauges. In European variant the diameter of the cylinder for testing down is equal too 284 mm, in American variant – 241,3 mm; cylinder height is 500 mm. Area of a base of the cylinder is equal to 633,1 cm2 and 457,1 cm2 respectively. Therefore, plummets of different weights are used to provide equal pressure. Round circle lid with holes for air transfer is used as a plummet in these gauges. The diameter of a lid is 2-3 cm less than the diameter of the cylinder. The weight of the lid is equal to 94,25 gr. in European and to 68,3 gr. in American variants. So in these conditions the pressure in both gauges is equal and makes 0,149 grams per square centimetre of cylinder base area.
Cylinders are marked with two scales. Left part of a scale shows volume of one ounce of down in cubed inches and the other, right, part of a scale shows the same quantity in cubed centimetres.
We use our own fill power gauge designed in accordance with regulations of international feather and down assay office in Germany. We took a cylinder 500 cm in height and 244 mm in diameter (inner diameter). Base area is 476,4 cm2. As pressure should be equal to 0,149gr/ cm2 we use a 69,7 gr. lid. In the issue we obtain perfect comparability of measurement data with all gauges.
European gauge of Lorch company, American gauge, Russian gauge of company BASK.
Procedure of fill power measurement is the following:
- 3-4 samples from each consignment of down are taken. These samples are mixed and the weight of the final combined sample should be not less than 500 gr.
- From this combined mix weighted 28,35 gr. sample is taken.
- Weighted sample is put in the cylinder and thoroughly mixed until one gets a uniform mass.
- Lid is put in the cylinder and consequently down begins to subside.
- In 1-2 minutes, when down finishes subsiding and its volume is fixed, the lid is removed.
- The result is measured when down finishes lifting, i.e. when its volume is not changing any more.
Final result of fill power measurement is calculated as arithmetic mean of indications of two scales on the cylinder.Each sample is tested for 2-3 times, and the difference in measurement results for down samples of equal quality should not exceed 4-5% in this scheme.
Here are quality indexes of intermediate products manufactured by our company:
|
Down type |
Proportion % |
Fill Power (F.P) |
|
Down |
Feather |
|
Goose gray
|
70
|
30
|
550-600
|
|
Goose gray
|
80
|
20
|
600-650
|
|
Goose gray
|
85
|
15
|
650-680
|
|
Goose gray
|
90
|
10
|
680-700
|
|
Goose white
|
80
|
20
|
650-680
|
|
Goose white
|
85
|
15
|
680-700
|
|
Goose white
|
90
|
10
|
700-780
|
|
Goose white
|
95
|
5
|
780-800
|
|
Goose white
|
80
|
20
|
500-550
|
|
Duck white
|
85
|
15
|
530-550
|
|
Duck white
|
90
|
10
|
550-600
|
In conclusion, it should also be stated that in European Economic Community a number of other parameters are used to control the quality of feather-down stuff and its intermediate products. They are: fat and oil percentage, muddiness of water solvent after washout, oxygen index and others. For some of them there are standards and methods of measurement already and for others they are developed. Finally all of them should be included in global European `Feather and Down’ system of standards. So to be a competitive company in world market we need to include now the most important parameters in the list of essential standards for feather and down evaluation and, in prospect, to accept European `Feather and Down’ system in block.
V. Shpektorov – Ph.D. (agricultural science), goose-breeder
V. Bogdanov – director of company BASK
A. Khrapkov – director of company Carigus. |
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