Duvets - what fillings are worth a try, and which brands and retail are good (eg for being able to send back)

B

bobbler

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
This, and other types of bedding seems to be something ongoing for me. There is always some aspect of my bed that needs something new, and becomes a huge task either because what I had wasn't great (looking for improvement) or is no longer sold.

Now a lot of places put notes that if you open the box to look at the duvet you can't send it back, so I'm getting into the habit of contacting them first before I order to check

Specifically on duvets:
- It must have a cotton outer/cover

- I have always avoided feather/down in case of allergy (but have never had one so...) and because of my assumptions on weight... but see below, I might experiment

- I tend to go for 10.5 tog but have had the odd one I've ordered of that where it came up thin eg Silentnight, so I guess that depends on the quilt itself (I'd need more tog if it was thin - that one is now a summer quilt)


I'm looking for something that is filling-wise going to be fluffy enough to have something to 'cuddle' and tuck under my feet etc but without it being either heavy or sweaty and it needs to be soft so that it 'flops' (the hollowfibre quilt on my spare bed is a bit more like pillow material, but maybe it is just as it hasn't had much use)


Has anyone tried things like silk or tencel fillings?

or good recommendations for soft synthetic that isn't sweaty or bulky and might be worth a switch to etc

I'm even thinking of the 50-50 where the filling is half feather and half synthetic

And where is a reliable place to buy from if so? I've found La Redoute will let you look at it (obviously not use it, but at least I can squeeze the fabric to see if it is crinkly, soft enough etc) - and am being cautious to check (I think a lot of places changed this during covid)
 
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I used to be fine for years with picking up a quilt from House of FRaser and it being soft and the right thickness and not sweaty - I never had to think too hard about it - then they stopped those and I've struggled since (I think lots of brands have eg stopped having cotton outers)

I currently have a Tielle microfibre and it has been nicely light but got thin fast (I guess like when a puffer coat goes 'empty') and is now for well over a year at the stage of having no filling near any of the edges

It wasn't that cheap, but it is very soft filling (and doesn't feel like a sleeping bag) and I'm guessing it is around 5years old (but could be more) and feels like it went thin quite quickly for what I'd like.

I got a hollowfibre for the spare bed which is better filled but more bulky feeling, and sounds crinkly so I don't want similar on my main bed.
 
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If you're not allergic to wool it has the benefit of being temperature regulating .
It does need aired after purchase to get rid of a woolly smelly.

Too pricy for me at moment , but my menopausal cousin is very happy .
 
Have you thought about trying a wool-filled duvet? It’s very breathable and supposed to be good for temperature regulation. Apparently, there is a study showing that wool bedding increases the amount of REM sleep. Some of them aren’t the best for snuggling up in though because the filling is a bit more firm and doesn’t drape around your body so well. But Devon duvets has a process they used to make the wool more fluffy.

You can also get a duvet made with bamboo fibres in the cover and filling, that’s a good choice for breathability and moisture wicking. I think the company is called Panda and it’s 10.5 togs.

You can get down-filled duvets that have been certified allergy free. I think they might have an extra process to certify that the filling doesn’t contain dust or dust mites. Also look at the thread count of the cover. Very high thread count like 300 helps to encase the filling and make it impenetrable to dust mites.

Soak & Sleep is quite a good retailer for bedding and if you sign up to their mailing list, they have frequent offers.
 
Wool is good for winter. I like down/feather for the other seasons; the cover does need to be a high thread count though to stop feathers coming out. Perhaps you could try a matching pillow from a supplier that has a suitable duvet to see if you are allergic?

I've never tried a silk-filled duvet, but I've looked at them and thought they sound good.
 
I don't have any particular needs about duvets, so I just get cheap ones. I like the system where you have two duvets—a 4.5 tog and a 10 tog—and if it's really cold you can press-stud them together to make a 14.5 tog. I have those on both beds.

One thing I do look for is box-stitched duvets, though. I find them less likely to get thin patches, especially in the lighter weights. If you're not sure what I mean, these screenshots show the difference.

Channel stitched:

Duvet - conventional.png

Box stitched:

Duvet - box stitched.png

Probably haven't got much else useful to add, but good luck @bobbler!
 
I use wool duvets, 2 of, one summer weight and one autumn weight, from devon duvets.

A major downside of the ones from devon duvet is that, other than some short bits of fabric, there is no way of linking them - and as may be surmised from the above statement, I'e never been able to join 2 duvets using this method, so it's lay one on top of the other both inside separate covers if it's cold enough to need two.

They do/did cost a bit/lot more (around £200 each for double bed size) than a cheap duvet but cause little to no sweating, which was a major problem with other duvets I have owned and made it seem like a good idea to pay so much.

The whole issue of the filling moving inside the duvet itself isn't an issue if the duvet is organised with the sections running horizontally rather than vertically (so across the bed not up and down).

They do need to be repositioned inside the duvet cover every month or 2 or the whole duvet tends to move slightly towards the bottom, inside the cover. Either changing the cover, or a good shake whilst holding the bottom corners of the duvet in the correct place inside the duvet cover works. Not easy but I suspect that all duvets may have this issue, not just wool ones.

They can be machine washed, if your machine is big enough, and have a claimed lifetime of up to 30 years - as someone who made the switch to wool only about 8 years ago I cannot verify this claim.

I do not get on with down duvets (or pillows) due to pointy bits - based on whats been said above this may be because I didn't buy high enough quality.

I also have a couple of wool pillows which (not from devon duvets) which, at times, have been brilliant as they are so pliable, but I am currently not using them.
 
Hutan said:
Wool is good for winter. I like down/feather for the other seasons; the cover does need to be a high thread count though to stop feathers coming out. Perhaps you could try a matching pillow from a supplier that has a suitable duvet to see if you are allergic?

I've never tried a silk-filled duvet, but I've looked at them and thought they sound good.
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I've tried a silk duvet.
During my menopause I was on an endless search for the holy grail of duvets. I tried wool, but still had night sweats. In the end I bought a silk one. It was by far the best for regulating my temperature at night. In the winter I use two. They weren't much more expensive than wool, and have served me well.
 
I tend towards being too hot at night.

The only thing that has worked to sort this out is using a very thin cotton filled duvet (from John Lewis) and then putting one of my old polyester duvets on top of it, using a thick one in Winter and a thinner one in Spring/Autumn. Weirdly this regulates my temperature perfectly. If the cotton duvet falls off the bed during the night and I'm only left with the polyester one I will wake up too hot, even though I've lost one layer.
 
Spartacus said:
I've tried a silk duvet.
During my menopause I was on an endless search for the holy grail of duvets. I tried wool, but still had night sweats. In the end I bought a silk one. It was by far the best for regulating my temperature at night. In the winter I use two. They weren't much more expensive than wool, and have served me well.
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Thank you - do you have any brands that you can recommend for silk duvets?
 
I had a feather duvet for years and woke up with red/itchy eyes so I switched to a 100% Mulberry silk duvet. I love it.

I bought it from a company in Montréal. He sold 3 different weights. I bought the medium weight so I can use it all seasons in Canada. It's a great heat regulator and for menopausal night sweats. NO dust mites either.
 
Spartacus said:
Sorry for the delayed reply. I was dealing with my husband's stalker. Very stressful.
I bought a Jasmine silk duvet from Amazon. I can't remember why I chose that one. Probably just because it was on Amazon and I was too tired to do any research !
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Thanks for taking the effort to reply, given what you are dealing with - I’m so sorry to hear that you are dealing with that :hug::hug:
 
Might be a daft question, @bobbler, but have you tried old-school wool blankets instead?

I have several very loud ones left over from the 1970s, one of which had never even been used when I inherited it. It's really warm and really light, and there are plenty around that you don't need sunglasses to look at.


Two sides of a Tetem blanket (we had some even noisier ones!)

Mam's Tetem blanket.jpg
 
Blankets are good even with a duvet. I have cotton ones that I put on top of the duvet+duvet cover - because the dog likes to sit on the bed and look out the window. It's a lot easier to wash a light cotton blanket and put it back on the bed than deal with all the duvet drama at the same frequency.

I suppose it's a bedspread really, they seem to be an old fashioned concept. Another old-school idea that warrants a comeback I reckon.
 
Hutan said:
Blankets are good even with a duvet. I have cotton ones that I put on top of the duvet+duvet cover - because the dog likes to sit on the bed and look out the window. It's a lot easier to wash a light cotton blanket and put it back on the bed than deal with all the duvet drama at the same frequency.

I suppose it's a bedspread really, they seem to be an old fashioned concept. Another old-school idea that warrants a comeback I reckon.
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I always use a bedspread over the duvet except in hot weather, and used to have a washable sheet or blanket for the cats when they were still alive on top of that.
 
I am also looking for a new one;

my parents had a wool one that was lovely breathable and warm. Downside for me was that it was too heavy, so it exhausted me to just turn. It is also not washable I thought.

Silk sounds light and breathable, but can you wash it? The only one I saw was very expensive.

Down is light, breathable, can be washed but not very often. Good quality is expensive though.

Cotton, can easily be washed, 4 seasons is quite heavy but for summer it is ideal.

Thinking of this I am considering buying a summer cotton one and a autumn down one, and combined it will be nice for winter.

Or still a 4 seasons cotton one, a bit cheaper but slightly heavy.

I am wondering about bamboo, had anyone tried that? Is it breathable and washable and light?
 
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