A short little post to clear up the "baffling" concept of baffles. I answer the question "what is a baffle" a lot!
Baffles in a duvet are synonymous with "walls" or divisions inside a duvet. See the video posted here to visualize the construction.
The intention of the baffle is to separate different sections inside the duvet, and to allow the down to loft to its maximum potential after fluffing (based on the construction and how high the baffle is). Of course, the oldest style of duvet did not have any baffles at all, essentially making it a big bag of down, or down and feather - which we still make for some purists! (**and watch our website for a new product coming very soon!)
Our duvets are constructed in tunnels, separated by baffles for the Austrian and Bavarian models. This allows for warmer, fluffier duvets as air does not pass directly through the stitch lines (the baffle is there). The Classic does NOT have baffles, it is stitched in tunnels from one side of the duvet to the other to make it cooler intentionally - allowing air to pass directly through the stitch lines. We have always constructed our duvets this way to allow for adjusting the down if needed on a hot night. Duvets sewn in squares cannot be adjusted, and can only loft as high as the square is constructed (if it has baffles, and if it is stitched right through, it will be flatter).
Many people ask how the down stays in place? It really has to do with the QUALITY of the down. High quality down doesn't tend to shift around on its own. We use only TOP quality downs in our duvets. Down is extremely light. Feather is heavy. Feathers in a duvet would certainly shift around. So the higher the feather content in your duvet, the more likely it is to shift. (Feather is also much cheaper than down to purchase)
Our baffles are completely sealed from top to bottom of the duvet. There is no chance of the down shifting to another tunnel. We also make our baffles out of the same down-proof ticking that the duvet shell is made from. Many cheaper duvets have mesh for baffles - the down can actually move through the mesh when shaking the duvet, and you end up with uneven distribution of the down over the duvet with time.
So, not really very baffling at all, there you have it!