Few people know that the word comforter was originally used to refer to quilts filled with eiderdown. It is the name of a bird that has very special feathers. This duck nests on the island of Breidafjordur in Iceland and has the most expensive feathers in the world.
The most expensive feathers in the world are also the most sought-after ones
They are feathers with natural fibers that are warm, light and insulating. For this reason, eider stalls are sold in the market for thousands of euros per kilogram. They are used to make the most popular quilts in the world.
When summer arrives in Iceland, more than 400 farmers dig through rocks, sand and bushes. You are trying to collect the precious gray feathers of this polar duck. The bird nests there from May as it is a quiet and uninhabited place to lay its eggs. While the unhatched eggs remain, the farmers only take part of the loose feathers. As soon as the birds leave the nest by the next season, the remaining feathers are collected.
The female eider has dark brown plumage with black spots. By removing the feathers from her breast, the female covers the nest to keep it warm and insulated while it hatches the egg (s). Around 60 nests are needed to collect one kilogram of eider duck feathers. The duvets contain between 600 and 1600 grams of these precious feathers. Around four tons of eider duck feathers are collected around the world every year.
Iceland is the largest exporter of eider duck feathers
Three quarters of this harvest comes from Iceland, the world’s largest exporter, followed by Canada. On this Icelandic island, spring collectors have taken on this task from generation to generation.
It is a tradition that has been established on the island since the Viking colonization from Norway at the end of the 9th century. However, birds are highly regarded in their habitat. The eider has been protected in Iceland since 1847. It is absolutely forbidden to trade their meat and eggs.
After the feathers are collected, they undergo a special treatment. It consists in drying the feathers in the fresh air. This will prevent mold due to the island’s humid climate. They are then dried in an oven at a temperature of 120 ° C for eight hours to make cleaning easier.
Baking cleans the feathers of any organisms that could contaminate them. When collected, they contain debris from hatching eggs, grass and other marine organisms. After processing in the oven, the springs are pressed on rotary machines to remove any remaining dirt.
The final process is manual work as it is also done by hand. It is about the selection by expert hands in order to separate the different qualities and to enable a more thorough cleaning. This whole process affects the final price of an eiderdown comforter. In the international market, one in 800 grams costs more than $ 5,000.
