Padding (패딩) jackets or padded coats are the "national" coat in Korea during winter. There are many reasons why it is popular with Korean people. First, padding suits both men and women since it comes in a variety of unisex models. You can choose from fashionable long padding or convenient short padding. Moreover, padding is not only warm and convenient but it also creates a trend among young Koreans for light materials and beautiful designs. You don't need to wear a lot of layers of clothes, just a T-shirt inside is warm enough when you have a long padding. So, for expats, especially those who experience their first Korean winter, and want to buy a padding jacket, please check out 7 things before you make your purchase.
1. What is the outer layer (겉감), lining (안감), and filling (충전재)?
Filling (충전재) acts as an insulating material, like the cotton in a blanket. Key ingredients commonly found in the padding material panel include:
Cotton
Wellon (special cotton fiber with added heat retaining function)
Duck down feathers (덕다운)
Goose down feathers (구스다운)
Wild goose down feathers (와일드 구스다운)
The outer layer (겉감) acts as a covering for the filling material and is commonly made of a special fabric that is waterproof and windproof.
The lining (안감) is the part that touches the body, so it will be made from a material that is soft and non-irritating.
Specialized paddings are mainly made by using materials that prevent static electricity, reflect body heat, or have a self-heating function.
2. What is the difference between natural and artificial materials?
Natural materials (천연소재) include feathers of poultry, such as ducks or geese. Meanwhile, man-made material (인공소재) includes cotton polyester, synthlate, wellon, and some similar components. Artificial materials will be cheaper than natural materials, which are more difficult to exploit.
Wellon cotton, the most popular man-made material in padding manufacturing over the past few years, is a specially processed fine fiber. It is warmer and lighter than conventional cheap cotton. Furthermore, you don't have to be worried about avian feather allergies. Also, the price of paddings made from this material is also relatively affordable. So, many Korean people, especially Korean students, often choose to buy padding made from wellon cotton rather than goose down padding or duck down padding.
Photo Credit: compagna_official
3. Duck down and goose down
Down feather refers to the feathers in the bird's chest part. With its light, porous and heat-retaining properties, down feathers keep warm better than the feathers in the bird's wings. Duck down paddings don't have as good warmth retaining ability as goose down paddings, but their price is cheaper.
Meanwhile, goose-down paddings have the ability to occupy a larger volume of gas so the ability to keep warm is better. In particular, the feathers of geese raised in cold and dry countries have a better ability to keep warm. The Korean market also introduced paddings made from wild goose down. Unlike normal goose down fathers, which is white, wild goose feathers are typically gray.
Photo Credit: classical_fit
4. Is it necessary to consider the feather-to-cotton ratio?
Currently, the main materials in paddings sold on the market include both feathers and cotton fibers. If only feathers are used, with the soft properties, the padding will be difficult to inflate and not create much space for gas storage.
Therefore, to create space for the air layers to appear, the manufacturer will add cotton fibers between the feathers. The golden ratio of these two components (cotton fibers: feathers) should be 9:1 or 8:2.
Photo Credit: clorlk
5. How many feathers is enough?
This is one of the most important factors when choosing to buy a padding. The more feathers, the higher the price. The amount of feathers weighing more than 300g is called heavy padding, and it is suitable for environments with temperatures around -25 degrees.
In Korea, the lowest temperature on the coldest days is not that much, so the amount of feather of a padding in the range of 220 - 250g is most appropriate.
6. What is Fill Power?
A thick and heavy padding is not necessarily warm. Korean garment technology is developing more and more so there are a variety of paddings that are light, warm and convenient having been introduced.
Fill power is simply the ability to restore cotton swelling after it is compacted. The higher the fill power, the more air a certain weight of the down can trap, and thus the more insulating ability the down will have. For the Korean winter, a padding with a fill power from 650 to 700 is sufficient.
Photo Credit: seoul_ajumma
7. Do paddings have to be dry-cleaned?
Many people think that because paddings are made from expensive feathers they need to be dry-cleaned. In fact, if water damages the feathers in a coat, birds such as ducks and geese cannot swim in the water.
Hence washing a padding by water (hand washing recommended) is recognized as not affecting the quality.
