When Buying Down Coats, Look Carefully at the Label
□ Reporter Lin Hui and Tan Ping contributed to this article; photographs by Li Wenbo.
Reading Prompt:
Recently, citizens of Zhengzhou have reported that after washing their cheaply bought down coats, they became stiff inside and emitted a foul smell. After investigating the market, the reporter discovered that under the circumstances where down raw material prices have increased two or three times compared to last year, some merchants are selling cheap "down coats." These garments not only fail to indicate the down content but also have misleading labels that can confuse consumers. Relevant personnel from the China Feather and Down Industry Association reminded that for some "down coats" in the market that clearly violate value laws, people must be cautious when purchasing.
Feedback: Newly Bought "Down Coat" Smells After Washing
"I bought this new down coat which felt very soft, but I didn’t expect it to become stiff and emit a foul smell after one wash," said Ms. Ma from Zhengzhou, expressing her frustration about the down coat she had just purchased.
She mentioned that during a recent shopping trip for down coats at a mall, she found that the price of down coats had risen significantly, costing over a thousand yuan each, which was too expensive. Therefore, Ms. Ma and her friends went to a clothing market near the Zhengzhou train station to look for something cheaper. After browsing for a long time, Ms. Ma bought a down coat priced at 198 yuan.
"At first touch, it felt good, but after I got home, I always felt there was an odd smell on the down coat, so I washed it," Ms. Ma said. It turned out that washing the down coat wasn't a problem-free process as the smell became worse and the inner lining became stiff. When Ms. Ma went back to the shop to complain, the seller insisted that the issue was due to her incorrect washing method.
"The down coat, I washed it according to the instructions on the label by hand, and I've hand-washed previous down coats without any problems. Why is this one emitting such a bad smell and becoming stiff?" Ms. Ma found online that the so-called "down coat" emitting an odor generally did not use duck down or goose down as filling.
Investigation: Confusing Labels on Cheap Down Coats
Yesterday, the reporter visited the Dunmu Road Clothing Wholesale Market, Tianrong Clothing City, Yinqi Trade City, and other places in Zhengzhou, finding cheap down coats everywhere. Most of these down coats were priced at "50 yuan," "89 yuan," "118 yuan," with the highest being no more than 200 yuan, and all sellers claimed they were "new down coats."
According to national standards for down coats, those with a down content of over 50% can be called down coats. Duck down and filler materials must undergo disinfection treatment to ensure the garment has no unpleasant smell.
For a quality-qualified down coat product, the label should include information such as factory name, color code, product name, execution standard, filler, and down content. However, upon checking the labels of these cheap down coats, none of them indicated the down content. The "filler" section was labeled in various ways, including "100% broken feathers," "100% duck feathers," "100% feather fibers," "100% down cotton," among others, creating confusion.
The reporter raised doubts, and the store owner shrugged and said, "This is normal. At this price, what do you expect?"
Upon visiting these clothing wholesale markets, the reporter found that the fillers of many cheap "down coats" were not real "down," but merely contained a small amount of feathers, and most of the filling was cotton-based items.
Reminder: Be Cautious About Purchases That Clearly Violate Value Laws
Data from the China Feather and Down Industry Association shows that in the past year, the price of duck down has sharply increased from a low point of tens of thousands of yuan per ton to 270,000 yuan per ton now. Additionally, labor costs, auxiliary materials, and other production costs of down coats have also risen in the past year, directly affecting the price of down coats.
It is understood that merchants often sell low-priced down coats by substituting inferior products for better ones. For example, some manufacturers lower costs by filling sealed garments with "crushed hair" to deceive consumers. Currently, a ton of "crushed hair" costs only a few thousand yuan. A "down coat" made by mixing "crushed hair" with fly silk, along with fabric and labor, costs only dozens of yuan.
"For some down coats that clearly violate value laws, caution is advised when purchasing," reminded Mr. Zhu from the External Information Department of the China Feather and Down Industry Association.
Tips: Seven Small Tricks to Identify Down Coats
How to distinguish between high-quality and low-quality down coats? Mr. Zhu provided seven tips: "look, press, touch, pat, knead, smell, and weigh."
1. Look. Check if there is a product quality label, if the manufacturer's name is indicated, and if the type of down, down rate, filling quantity, and composition of the outer fabric and lining are marked.
2. Press. Lay the down product flat and let it naturally recover for 3 minutes. Then press it with your hand and immediately release it to see if it quickly returns to its original shape. If it doesn't bounce back or bounces slowly, the filler quality is poor. If it has no elasticity at all, the filler may be crushed hair.
3. Touch. If it feels soft and has intact small feather pieces, it is a genuine product. If it has large and coarse long feather pieces, it feels soft but lacks elasticity, then it’s softened feather pieces rather than down. If it feels soft but has short, coarse, and hard feather shafts, it's crushed hair.
4. Pat. Vigorously pat the down product and see if any dust comes out. If no dust comes out, it's a good product. If dust does come out, it's likely made from crushed hair or ash hair, which is generally unsuitable for wearing.
5. Knead. Rub the down product with both hands and see if any down comes out. If down comes out, the fabric used is not anti-down leakage.
6. Smell. Check for any strange or foul odors. No smell is best. If there's a noticeable smell, it's not suitable for wearing.
7. Weigh. Use your hand to feel the weight of the down product while observing its size. The lighter the weight and the larger the volume, the better the product.