Originally Posted by ponyriver
This is what I have been told about poly & cotton batt. I am no expert, but this informations has helped me plan my quilts.
Poly Batt does not breathe much and the body heat is reflected--therefore, it tends to feel 'warmer'.
Cotton or Cotton Blend Batt breathes, letting some of the body heat escape.
I tend to think of the batting as to where the quilt is going to live, example:
Hot Climate=Cotton or Cotton Blend, Cold Climate=Poly or Cotton, and have used both in a couple of quilts.
this doesn't make sense to me - if you look at a poly batt you can see light through it. Cotton batts look denser to me.
Both work in the same way, having a layer of air trapped in the batt, that acts as insulation. Same way the insulation in your walls works.
Poly fibers do not absorb water the way natural fibers do, this is why quilts dry so fast with poly, and one of the reasons I like poly. I don't have a dryer so have to dry on the line on a sunny day.