Bed Duvets

These days Duvets have replaced blankets everywhere but choosing one has become more and more complicated.

Luckily you are reading the definitive online duvet guide so you need not worry.

The advantages of using a duvet as opposed to blankets are:

• For maximum warmth, loft and softness, you can’t beat a 100% down duvet, but it’s comparatively expensive to buy.

• Synthetic duvets are relatively cheap and easy-care, but don’t offer other benefits of natural fills.

• The popularity of wool duvets is on the rise — pue or mixed with other natural fibres.

• If you’re allergic to house dust mites, bedding that can be washed frequently and tumble-dried on high might be your best choice — or a or if you prefer a duvet, use a dust-mite proof cover.

• Some manufacturers make duvets or blankets for couples with different warmth requirements, where the two sides are made of different materials (such as cotton and wool) or contain fills with different weight and warmth factors.

Down Duvets

Down is the soft, fluffy plumage that grows underneath the birds’ outer breast feathers to protect them from the cold. Each down cluster contains thousands of filaments (left) that intertwine with each other, forming air pockets that provide natural insulation to keep cold out and warmth in.

In terms of quality, goose down has slightly bigger clusters and gives better loft (ability to hold air) and so more warmth.
Good-quality duvets contain only new down and feathers and are labeled ‘all new materials’. If a duvet contains recycled product, it must be labeled ‘couché’ (French for slept) or ‘recycled’.

Spending more doesn’t automatically get you a better product with all purchases, but with a down duvet you’re likely to get a better-quality product with higher-quality down (bigger clusters) for better loft and warmth. Smaller, lower-grade (and cheaper) down is flatter and will eventually lose its ability to spring open when you fluff and air it.
If you’re looking for a soft, light and warm duvet, choose one with a high down content. The more down, the warmer and lighter the duvet, but also the more expensive. However, down will last longer than feathers, which have hollow, tubular quills that’ll break down over time.

Synthetic Duvets

At the upper price level, you’ll find duvets made from better-quality polyester fibres such as those developed and made by DuPont (Dacron, Hollofil or Quallofil). These fibres are promoted for their superior washability, durability, softness and ability to bounce back. The quality and performance of duvets bearing these trademarks are guaranteed by DuPont.

Duvets with the antimicrobial fibre Allerban are particularly promoted for people with allergies. The fill weight of polyester is, like wool, generally specified in grams per square metre (though the weights of the two fillings aren’t comparable), such as 250–350 g/m2 for a summer weight or all-year-round duvet, or dual layers of 175 or 200 g/m2 each for extra warmth in winter.

Microfibre is a specially light and fine polyester fibre that’s air-blown into the duvet casing for good loft and softness. It’s designed to emulate the characteristics and feel of down. Microfibre duvets are generally a little more expensive than those made of other types of polyester.

A polyester duvet is usually fully washable but shouldn’t be dry-cleaned or tumble-dried in a household dryer. In a large, commercial machine, however, the tumble-drying process can assist the refluffing of the filling. Check the manufacturer’s instructions before you do wash it though.

Wool Duvets

Wool fibres are stiffer and springier than down and feathers, so a wool duvet has less loft and won’t snuggle as closely around your body. It’s also heavier than a down duvet. But the natural corkscrew-like crimp of good-quality wool will bounce back to keep its loft after you sit or lie on it. And the crimped fibres trap air in tiny pockets for even warmth distribution.

In the past, the warmth of a wool duvet was often described as equivalent to, say, two, three or four blankets. But manufacturers are increasingly moving away from such descriptions because different types of blanket (wool, cotton or synthetic) offer varying levels of warmth, which usually decrease as the blanket gets older.

Pricewise, wool duvets fall roughly between synthetic and down or feather ones.

© Buy Beds.org.uk 2006.

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