There are few things in life more satisfying than snuggling up in a cosy bed on a winter’s night. But what if the bedding in which you are snuggling contains feathers ripped from ducks, geese or chickens, often while they are still alive? The idea of literally wrapping yourself in animal products is sure to send shivers down the spines of most vegans, and perhaps a fair number of non-vegans too.
In this article, we’ll look at why many quilts, duvets, pillows, mattresses and sheets might not be vegan. We’ll also take a look at the main options available for vegans or those seeking cruelty-free alternatives to eiderdowns and other bedding that has been produced using animal products.
What Stops Bedding Being Vegan?
One of the most obvious reasons your bedding is not vegan friendly would be if it contained feathers. In theory, if these feathers were naturally shed by birds and collected without any exploitation or harm coming to them, there would be at least an argument to use them in bedding or other products without contravening vegan ethics. This is, of course, not the case.
As has been documented by various investigations and newspaper articles, feathers and down are often plucked from live birds without any painkillers causing various degrees of physical and psychological damage. This cruel and – given the viable alternatives – frankly unnecessary process of live-plucking is not as widely publicised as some other animal cruelty issues.
It is not just the inclusion of down or feathers in bedding that can cause issues for vegans, however. Other products can contain wool or silk, neither of which are vegan. Here we’ll run through the various types of non-vegan materials or products that can and often do appear in various types of bedding.
Down or Feathers
The term “down” (in relation to birds) refers to the soft feathers that are situated under the more robust outer feathers on a bird. Because of their excellent thermal insulation properties, they help regulate the body temperature of birds. Alas, it is the insulating prowess of down feathers that make them such an attractive filling for duvets and pillows (as well as sleeping bags, coats and jackets and various other products).
Inevitably non-down feathers end up in some bedding too, as producers attempt to pad out the products, but down feathers are most commonly used and sought after. Down feathers also have less hard quills and are less likely to poke through quilt covers and so on, and indeed offer greater insulation than the bird’s outer feathers.
Taken from Birds Slaughtered for Meat
It should come as a surprise to no one that any products that contain down feathers that have been ripped from birds cannot be classified as vegan. It is thought that most down and other feathers are taken from the bodies of birds that have been slaughtered for meat, but there has been plenty of evidence over the years that birds are regularly plucked while they are still alive.
It’s bad enough for the birds to be farmed and slaughtered for meat in the first place, but to have the added pain and torture of having their feathers plucked while they are still alive is horrendously cruel. Of course, there’s no real way of knowing which products contain down or feathers that have been plucked from live animals (despite the Responsible Down Standard, as detailed later in the article).
What About Feathers Naturally Shed?
On a side note, we would suggest that picking up a feather that a bird happens to have been naturally shed by a bird would not contravene vegan ethics if a person should happen to want to use them. Birds shed and replace feathers regularly (some once a year, others more frequently) and if you happen across one or some, there’s nothing to suggest you can’t collect them and make something out of them or even stick them in your hat, if you so desire. It is a similar argument as that used for naturally shed antlers, and there is no harm done to the animal who’s shed them.
Wool
Wool is used for various bedding products including duvets, pillows, mattress protectors and underblankets. Although marketed as a “natural fibre”, as opposed to synthetic, many vegans would posit that it is not “natural” to exploit sheep (or other animals) to use their follicles to make products for humans. As we discuss in our article on why wool isn’t vegan, the process of obtaining the fleece of sheep or other animals certainly exploits them and will often result in practices that would be seen as cruel by many people (as documented many times including by Plant Based News).
Silk
For some, silk sheets or other silk-rich bed linen is viewed as luxurious and desirable. But like any product that is made using animal products, this luxury comes at a cost. Like wool, many people question why vegans avoid silk given that the animals in question (silkworms) don’t technically have to be killed to obtain the silk.
But as we discuss in our article on why silk is not vegan, it is extremely rare for a silk farmer to simply wait until a silk moth emerges from a cocoon before spinning said cocoon into yarn. This is because when the moth emerges from the cocoon it breaks through it which causes possible imperfections in the yarn. Much better then – from the farmer’s perspective – to kill the silk moth larvae when still in the cocoon.
Irrespective of the killing of the silkworms, though, silk would still not be vegan because it always exploits the animals. But, in reality, it almost always causes harm or death too.
Leather, Suede or Fur
Though not particularly common, especially in the UK, it is possible to purchase leather, suede or even fur bedspreads, throws and blankets designed to be used as bedding. As we discuss in our articles on leather and suede, these materials are made from the skins of animals and are clearly not vegan. Fur is also very obviously not vegan given that it is the pelt and fur from whatever animal that has been killed for that purpose (or that has been killed for another purpose, such as meat, after which its skin has been used to make a fur or a fur-lined blanket or similar product).
Cruelty of the Fur Trade
Awareness of the cruelty of the fur trade has increased in recent years thanks in no small part to various celebrity-endorsed campaigns and investigations and publications from PETA and other organisations, such as the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT). This has resulted in many consumers shunning products that contain fur from animals, with many instead turning to synthetic faux fur that is often made from polyester or similar. The problem is, investigations, such as this one by Sky News, have found that real fur has been passed off as faux fur and has been sold by major retailers in the UK.
When it comes to leather and suede, meanwhile, there is very little in the way of public backlash against the materials. This is despite them being similar in nature to fur (i.e. made from the skins of animals), but they appear to be more socially acceptable for whatever reason. Though leather bedspreads are not exactly the most popular option, these are still something that vegans would avoid.
Is There Such a Thing as “Responsible Down”?
Based on the notion mentioned above about naturally shed feathers being fine for vegans to pick up, could naturally shed feathers be used to make a vegan-friendly duvet? Well, not really. There is an industry scheme called the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) that companies sign up to and that “aims to ensure that down and feathers comes from animals that have not been subjected to any unnecessary harm”. This includes “ensuring” the prohibition of live-plucking and force-feeding of birds that are to be plucked. Which is great. But they are still going to be held in captivity, slaughtered, plucked and exploited.
Given the many and varied alternatives to feathers and down for bedding products, such captivity and slaughter of birds is definitely both harmful and unnecessary. At least that’s what vegans would assert, and it is something with which many right-minded non-vegans would surely agree. Irrespective of that, it is almost impossible to effectively police how and when birds are plucked and what conditions they are subjected to.
Vegan Ethics
The choice consumers make about purchasing bedding that contains down (or other animal-derived products) goes to the heart of vegan ethics. As we shall see in the next section, there are plenty of vegan-friendly alternatives, so the choice is not about having bedding or not; rather it is about choosing bedding that contains down because the consumer (rightly or wrongly) perceives the quality or insulating abilities, or whatever else, of the down-filled product to be superior to the vegan alternative. As such, the consumer who chooses a down-filled duvet over one that contains, say, polyester, is valuing the perceived superiority of their chosen product to be of greater importance than the lives of the geese, ducks or other birds that had to die for them to get that product.
This is the same when it comes to animal-derived leather versus vegan leather, meat burgers versus vegan burgers, or indeed any other products for which there are vegan alternatives that are at least fair substitutes. Is a “real” sausage so much better than a Linda McCartney sausage that it’s worth killing a pig for? When people really thought about it – and certainly if they had to do the killing themselves – one would suspect they might have reservations. But with something like down-filled duvets, the suspicion is that a lot of people really don’t think about it and hence they are not making a judgement about the relative merits, but rather just going along with how things have been done for centuries. Many people simply are not aware of the alternatives, do not consider them, or don’t realise quite how good they are these days.
Is Recycled Down Vegan?
Recycled down is the term used to describe goose, duck or other bird down/feathers that has been retrieved from used pillows, duvets or other products. It is then cleaned and can be reused in other products. From both an environmental and ethical perspective, the use of recycled feathers is certainly better than ripping new feathers from birds, especially if it reduces the need to collect new batches of down. But many vegans would no doubt feel uneasy about using bedding that contains feathers, even if certified as recycled.
One concern would be that it might be relatively easy to simply slap a “recycled down” label on a product with a view to tapping into the ethical/green consumer market. It can be quite a costly process to acquire, sort and sufficiently clean used down, and though we have not seen direct evidence of this, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility that certain unscrupulous manufacturers might just use fresh down instead. Beyond that, many vegans would simply not feel comfortable using such animal products, even if they felt it was ethically acceptable.
Main Vegan Alternatives for Bedding
Thankfully for vegans and those seeking cruelty-free bedding products, there is a growing number of companies offering pillows, quilts, and so on that have been made without the use of animal products. We won’t go into specific product details here as they’ll be covered (pun intended!) elsewhere on the site in due course. Instead, we’ll outline the main types of vegan-friendly bedding options, fillings and materials that are available.
Cotton
Although there are potential environmental issues around the intensive farming of cotton in relation to water requirements and fertiliser use, it is at least a plant and so it is vegan friendly. As well as being a very good material for sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases, cotton is an increasingly popular alternative to down when it comes to the filling of pillows and duvets.
A breathable and light material, cotton is also easier to wash and care for than down-filled bedding, and though it might not be quite as good an insulator, it is good enough for most non-extreme temperature situations. Cotton is also less likely to produce allergic reactions than feather-based products. Beware of “cotton blend” products though, as they might be blended with wool or other animal-derived materials.
Flax/Linen & Other Plant-Based Fibres
Linen – made from the flax plant – offers another natural option for things like sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers. It has the added benefit that it tends to dry quicker than cotton so can be of particular use in areas of the world with high humidity. There are lots of other natural fibre options too, with the like of hemp, jute and even bamboo being used by some producers to make bed linen of some sort of other.
Buckwheat
Many vegans will be familiar with buckwheat – which is related to rhubarb and sorrel – for its use as a complex carbohydrate that works well in stews and casseroles. But fewer are likely to have encountered it as a vegan-friendly filling for pillows. But this is exactly what the hulls can be used for.
The hulls are very durable and unlikely to cause allergic reactions (as long as they are well cleaned before use) so can be an effective alternative to feathers in pillows and cushions. Because of the gaps between the hulls, they can also promote greater airflow through the pillow, hence making them more breathable.
Synthetic Materials
From polyester to lycra to polystyrene microbeads, there are all kinds of synthetic fibres and fillings that are used for all kinds of bedding from sheets to pillows to duvets to mattresses. The big plus of these materials, from a vegan perspective, is that they act as viable and highly effective alternatives to things like down and wool that clearly have big negative impacts for animals. But are there any environmental issues with synthetic vegan bedding?
Although there are some potential benefits from an environmental perspective, there is also potential for environmental repercussions of such products as some are neither biodegradable nor able to be effectively recycled. Some synthetic materials used for bedding could be made from recycled products, and there is potentially some scope for them to be recycled or repurposed when they come to the end of their useful life. But in general, the use of plastic-based (i.e. petrochemical-based) products is unlikely to be great from an environmental perspective and many vegans would opt for natural fibres like cotton or linen where possible instead.
Is Bedding Vegan: Conclusions
The chances are, if you attempt to buy any kind of bedding, from pillows and duvets to sheets and covers to mattresses, that many of the options are likely to contain some kind of animal-derived product or material. One of the biggest offenders is down and feathers that act as the go-to filling for pillows and duvets. This is despite the well-documented cases of live-plucking that goes on in the down industry and the obvious agony this can cause animals.
The good news for vegans and those seeking animal-free products is that there are lots of viable and good value alternatives to down (and indeed wool, silk and other animal products that are often used for bedding). With items made from the likes of cotton, hemp, flax and even buckwheat husks, as well as the plethora of synthetic options available, there really are plenty of opportunities to opt for when it comes to vegan-friendly and cruelty-free bed-related products.