Understanding fine bedding—its materials, construction, styling and care—is essential to creating the ensemble of your dreams. To familiarize yourself with some terms that you will often see while perusing our collections, here, are a few terms that you will see often while perusing our collections.

Baffle Box Construction
All of our down comforters are constructed with baffle box stitching. It means that within each stitched square on your comforter there are vertical interior walls which keep the fill from shifting, eliminate cold spots and promote maximum loft. Introduced in the 1990s, it is more effective than traditional box stitching.

Baffle Channels
All of our featherbeds are constructed with baffle channels that run the length of the bed. This allows the fill to loft throughout the featherbed, conform to your body when you lay down, and stay in place as you move from side to side. It also lets you manipulate where the fill is placed, giving you adjustable support wherever you need it most.

Box Stitching
The classic way to construct a comforter, box stitching keeps the fill from shifting and promotes even warmth. It was standard for down comforters before the introduction of baffle box construction in the 1990s.

Our Down-Free™ comforters are still constructed this way because it is the best method to manage our hypoallergenic synthetic cluster fibers and maximize their warmth.

Cotton Batiste
A tightly woven cotton in a flat weave with a high thread count. It feels light, smooth and luxurious yet is extremely durable. Ours is woven in Germany at one of the finest mills.

Cotton Cambric
A slightly lustrous ticking fabric in a plain weave. Like all of our luxurious materials, it’s feather light, soft to the touch and extremely durable.

Cotton Percale
This closely woven fabric in a plain weave is the simplest, strongest choice for sheeting. It has a crisp hand, unmatched durability and never pills.

The standard thread count for cotton percale is 180, but our luxe version of this traditional favorite is woven with 500 threads per square inch, for a softer, more sumptuous hand.

Coverlet
Traditionally used as a decorative cover over a blanket on a formal bed. Today, it is meant to be layered under a comforter.

A coverlet may be tucked in or left untucked, according to its weight and your preference. The comforter is then folded at the foot of the bed, for easy access to greater warmth and a luxurious look.

Damask
Made on a jacquard loom, a damask weave alternates satin and matte textures to create a glossy pattern. The design is visible on both sides of the fabric.

Double Stitching
Double stitching is a sign of quality and superior construction. It is much stronger than single needle stitching and prevents down from escaping. It is used around the edges of bedding and usually finished with piping.

Down
The soft cluster found under the breast feathers of geese and ducks. It is nature’s brilliant way of keeping these birds warm in frozen climates.

Scandia Home™ uses only premium white goose down in its comforters, which is the superior choice for its greater insulation value, better loft and lighter weight. We also use the largest clusters from the goose, which better interlock and overlap to trap a protective layer of air that keeps warmth in and cold out.

Although there is no difference in quality between white and gray goose down, white is more aesthetically pleasing since it won’t show through tickings.

We always tell you where our down originates from—primarily Hungary, Poland or Siberia—because province matters. These locations produce the finest clusters in the world. Siberian is considered to be the best because generally speaking, the colder the climate, the larger the clusters—therefore the better the down.

Duvet
The word means “comforter” in French, though in the United States it is synonymous with duvet cover. It is the decorative fabric covering that protects your comforter’s ticking and down from dirt, moisture and body oils. Ours always have a button closure, which is a European tradition.

It should be laundered regularly to keep your comforter at its best.

Egyptian Cotton
Scandia Home™ only uses Egyptian cotton for its sheeting because it is considered to be the finest cotton in the world. It has a long staple, or fiber, which can be spun into finer yarns and, therefore, results in softer, more lustrous fabrics. It is the ideal material for bed linens because it is absorbent, cool, crisp, smooth and strong.

European Pillows
These large 26-inch decorative pillows are placed against the headboard to dress up the bed and for extra support for sitting up. Stack them on end rather than lying them flat, then place your sleeping pillows in front of them.

They are always placed in a decorative pillowcase called a sham.

Feathers
The actual feathers on geese and ducks—as opposed to the soft cluster of down found underneath—are durable and springy, making them an essential element in featherbeds and firm- or some medium-support pillows.

We use exclusively European small white goose feathers.

Featherbed
A pillow for the entire body, a featherbed is placed on top of a mattress to create gentle contouring support and soft warmth. It is made of down and/or feathers, encased within a fabric shell. And it is considered a de rigueur part of bedding in European households.

All of our featherbeds feature baffle channel construction.

Fill Power
A measure of the ability of down to regain its shape when pressure is released, it is the best way to judge the resilience, durability and memory of this natural insulator.

The greater the fill power, the greater the loft—and more loft creates more warmth. As a general guide, remember that within the industry, 500 fill-power is considered average and 800 fill-power, sublime.

Flange Border
A decorative strip of matching fabric that runs around all four edges of a pillow sham or duvet cover. It gives these items a more formal and finished look.

Jacquard
Any fabric woven on a jacquard loom, which creates intricate and complex designs. Damasks, brocades and tapestries are all created this way. It is also the name of a specific weave.

Our jacquard sheeting has a quiet shimmer, rich texture and silken touch because its pattern is woven directly into the fabric.

Hand
The tactile qualities of a fabric; the way it feels when you touch it.

Hemstitching
A small decorative stitch, traditionally used along a border or hem. Also known as faggoting.

Loft
The thickness and fluffiness of down, especially as an indicator of its warmth. Also see Fill Power.

Lyocell
A natural fiber made from the wood pulp of the Beechwood tree, lyocell has subtle luster, excellent drape, light feel, great strength and silky hand. And it’s significantly more absorbent than cotton.

This relatively new fiber, introduced only a decade or so ago, is being used more and more in luxury bedding.

Miter Border
A beautiful way to stitch together the corners of a border on a coverlet or blanket, so the two pieces fit together perfectly (think of a picture frame). Also referred to as a mitered corner.

Modal
A type of viscose. When modal is blended with cotton, the resulting fabric has a pleasing luster and better absorbency. It will also wear extremely well, staying softer and brighter than an all-cotton fabric would after repeated washing.

Piping
A rounded cording sewn along the outside edge of a comforter or pillow. It is decorative as well as functional, adding a layer of protection to the seams—often the most vulnerable place for wear.

Sateen
A cotton fabric in a lustrous satin weave. It has a very smooth surface and silky soft feel. Ideally, it should be ironed after washing to restore its luster.

Shams
A decorative covering for pillows that has a more formal, neater appearance than a traditional pillowcase. Shams are finished on all four sides and usually have an envelope closure in back.

Note that the dimensions listed for our shams do not include the flanged borders, but reflect pillow size only.

Shutter Pipe Finish
The term refers to the 1 1/2” decorative band on our towels, formed by rows of flat piping. This tailored finish is a unique alternative to the common woven band found on most toweling.

Ticking
The shell of a comforter, pillow or featherbed. Ours are made of the highest quality cotton, tightly woven to prevent any filling from escaping.

Thread Count
The actual number of threads in one square inch of cloth. To arrive at this number, the warp (vertical) thread count is added to the weft (horizontal) thread count.

As a general rule, higher thread count tickings and sheetings are more finely woven. But it is much more than this number that determines quality. Superior yarns, careful craftsmanship, hand finishing and attention to detail all dramatically affect the feel, look and durability, too.

In the end, trust what you see and feel. Discerning eyes and hands can always tell the difference between a gorgeous 500-thread count fabric and a merely mediocre one.