silk filled comforters
 

How much should I expect to pay for a silk filled comforter (twin and queen size) in Shanghai or Beijing? Is their a price difference between the "factories" and regular stores? Do you happen to know how much it costs to ship these to the US?

We bought two on at a store another at a factory. The price was about the same. They will compress them for you to about 3 inches thick and about 1' by 2'. So we just stuck them in our sutcase.

Let me demonstrate my ignorance - what males a silk filled comforter worth carrying back from China? Are they superior to down filled in some way?

I want one too. Heard to buy the largest size, since they often run on the small side. I hate my down filled comforter. Just too heavy. The silk ones are supposed to be warm AND lightweight. They come in winter or summer weight, but heard the summer version is plenty warm.

It's the one thing I regret not buying when I was in China!

I bought a silk filled comforter here in the U.S. a few years ago after reading a magazine article rating comforters. We much prefer it to the down comforter it replaced--it is lighter weight and the silk stays put in the channels better than down. In our climate (VA), we use it year-round.

MariaL, where did you buy it? I would love to have one but probably won't go back to China again.
Thanks,
Jane

Hi steffek2, Can you give me an idea of how much these comforters go for? My sister is going to China, just want to know whether I can afford it before I ask her to buy me some! Thanks!

Jane, I ordered my silk filled duvet from Garnet Hill. Google to find other vendors.

No one ever said ABOUT what a silk filled comforter would cost in China. Any idea?

I bought one at the airport in Shanghai a couple years ago. It was supposed to be king size, but it is actually quite a bit smaller. It just covers the top of a king-size bed with no overhang. I believe it cost approx. US$50. I love it. So lightweight and cozy in all temperatures.

Sizes of everything is so different in China, I bought a King size duvet cover and could barely shove a Queen size comforter in it. I wear M size clothes but the pretty jacket I bought was XXL!

I thought I`d get a king size for my regular double bed. That should be big enough. OJudy, did you get the summer or winter weight? I`m definitely the cold type (live in Reno) and hate to have all those heavy blankets on in the winter. Thanks for the guideline of $50. maybe I`ll get a winter AND a summer weight!

Seems to me that $50 might be a bit high, but it would depend on how it was made. And that was a price at the airport. Better deals in the city, I expect.

Seamus, I don't know which comforter is superior, but they are different and the silk filled one is apparently a Chinese thing. See the following website:
http://www.silkbuyer.com/index.asp?P...ustom&ID=4

Silk filled comforter has been a long-time favorite for many generations of Chinese. Traditionally, an authentic silk comforter uses only long stretched, Grade A, 100% mulberry silk floss fill, but there are now at least three types of silk floss used in a silk comforter on the market: ...

If you can get a "Silk Comforter with All Silk Ourter Shell" with Grade A mulberry silk fill and silk charmeuse for the outer shell for $50 then you got a great deal. A queen sized one would cost $300 or more.

For US$50, I am fairly sure it is acutally polyester, hate to break it to you. That price is just a little too good to be true. Bargains like that just don't exist in my experience living here in Asia, and not at the airport for sure. You have to be really really really sure that you know a good polyester fake from the real silk thing. It is very easy to be fooled. I always assume everything I am looking at in the PRC, from pearls to jade to cashmere, to silk scarves, are fakes and bargain on that basis. Do a LOT of homework before you go, touch the real stuff versus a good polyester imitation.

At the link that I posted they go into some depth in describing the features of silk filled comforters, how they are constructed, and how to spot fakes or low quality ones. Interesting reading.

Yes, and a merchant will actually offer to burn a piece of silk in front of you to “prove” that it silk, but you will notice he won’t offer to take the thread from the actual quilt you are going to buy, that will be wrapped up in plastic, and will the polyester one…I have bought fake pearls and fake cashmere that were very good fakes, even my jeweler here in Hong Kong was impressed with the fake pearls I bought at the Hong Quio market in Beijing some years ago (and I thought they were real). . Just be really careful, and even then, I am not sure. I have just leaned by many years experience here that if I really want to buy a cashmere shawl that is actual cashmere, I go to Lane Crawford, or Pearls and Cashmere if the thinner Chinese cashmere is what I want. Neither will be really cheap. If I want to buy a fun “pashmina” for US$8, I go to Stanley. There is a time and a place for both, there is nothing wrong with the $8 pashmina, I just don’t pretend it is anything else.

Remember that there is really no consumer protection in the PRC (and very little here in Hong Kong, cashmere fakes abound, and of course the jade market is all jadeite but perfectly nice stuff, it’s not plastic). It may say “silk” on the package, and be polyester inside. There is not much you can do about it once you get it home to the US. If Garnet Hill sells you a fake, there is plenty you can do about it, getting you money back for a start.

There was a fascinating article in the Herald Tribune a few months ago about fake NEC brand electronics being produced and sold in huge numbers for years by a factory in the PRC. NEC itself did not know about the fakes and the counterfeiter even developed lines of products which NEC itself did not make. See http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/27/business/nec.php. You almost have to admire their chutzpah. Counterfeiting is just rife in the PRC, do NOT under any circumstances buy Viagra or other prescription medicines there. That stuff might actually hurt you, as opposed to just hurting your wallet.

We visited the Silk factory #1 store in Suzhou last year (about 1 hour from Shanghai) and paid 300 RMB for king size silk duvets. (at todays exchange into Canadian dollars that's about $45.00) A good down duvet in Canada can cost infinitely more than that. The store will ship them to your home for an extra cost. I chose to carry mine with me as I was living in China at the time. (and am again :) ) They compress them down to a decent size and add a carry handle to make it easy to transport.
When I took it home I had no problem with the size as another poster did on this site. It fit into a king size duvet cover just fine.(I think some of you call these "comforter covers".) The size was perfect and I love them.
My answer to the poster who wondered what the difference was between the silk ones and down ones we buy at home is that the silk ones are lighter but just as warm if not more so in the winter and yet the lightness allows you to use it (in my home climate anyway) except on hot days when even a sheet is too much.
Hope this helps. Not sure of shipping costs but I do remember wishing I had sent them home from the store as I ended up mailing them home anyway and the cost wasn't exorbitant to Canada so I am assuming it will be much the same to your country.
regards,

Lucky you, keldar, I was wondering where you ended up at.

We were in Shanghai in August 2006 and visited the government regulated QiCai Silk Factory where we purchased a Queen size silk filled comforter which was approximately US$70. We also purchased a silk duvet cover, which was about three times as expensive -- clearly that's where they make their profit! My son also bought a twin size silk filled comforter. We have come to love those comforters so much we regret not buying one for every bed we own! At present time, I'm searching for a site where I can purchase them in the U.S., but without much luck, and of course the ones I do find are four times as expensive as the one we purchased in Shanghai. Suffice to say, compared to a down comforter of equal quality, the silk comforter wins, hands down. Incredibly light and thin, even a year-round weight is almost twice as warm as a regular down comforter. With that experience, what I'm now also looking for is a silk filled jacket! My advice to anyone going to China, or anyone who knows someone going, take advantage of the opportunity to purchase a silk filled comforter -- you will adore it!

I've suspected that prices for "silk comforters" at Shanghai's Pudong airport are lower than at "factories" and "museums" around town. I find Water Towns are least expensive, but not everyone can get out there. As others caution, quality of a particular comforter needs to be verified as silk and cotton stock can be mixed yet labeled as silk.

Below are the posted prices from "International Shop" between Pudong airport gates 18 and 19. Didn't try to negotiate. I don't have comparison data compiled yet.

Meters Grams RMB at 7.8=$1USD
1.5 x 2 2500 590 $76
1.8 x 2 1500 480 $62
1.8 x 2 2500 790 $101"cotton cover"
2 x 2.2 2000 580 $74
2 x 2.3 2000 690 $88
2 x 2.3 2500 790 $101"cotton cover"
2.2x 2.4 2500 700 $90 double checked
2.2x 2.4 3000 830 $106

Seems something may be out of line here so I'll check again and post if any of the above are incorrect.

There may still be a shop on 2nd floor of Shanghai Center (same loc as Ritz Carlton aka Portman) above HSBC that sells high quality, but expensive, silk duvet covers. Not pure silk as they said that's too slippery. I went the less costly route and had duvet cover and pillow shams custom made at the Fabric Market.

Thanks for this information. The custom-made cover route sounds like a good one. But, forgive me, is there a sure fire way to tell silk bolts from polyester? I think my eye is pretty good on fabrics but all this talk of fake this and fake that is scaring me a little...

Any recommendations for buying lengths of silk?

ttt

I visited China in 2006 and bought a silk quilt. Now, 10 years later, the filling is starting to clump and I'm trying to find one here in the US, with no luck. I bought mine at Sibo Silk, which was in Hangzhou, I believe. I don't recall what I paid for it, but I'm pretty sure it was a lot less than what they want to charge here in the US. Plus, this was also 100% including the outside, whereas most of the ones I'm finding have a cotton cover. I did buy a cotton duvet cover so I could wash that. I highly recommend buying one, but if you're going to be traveling around a lot, you should look into shipping it home. I had to lug mine on and off trains for two weeks and that was kind of a pain.

Additional info. It wouldn't fit in my suitcase, because of the way we were traveling, all I had was a carry on.