AIBU to not buy from Soak and Sleep?

[Skinnytailedsquirrel]

Really fancied one of their duvet covers until I saw it was "manufactured in China". Looked at another one...and another one....same thing.

Why would a company do that? So many people (including me) are boycotting anything made in PRC.

I suspect other 'like-minded' people will already be checking where their duvet covers are made.

What would be much more useful is a thread focusing on the general issues rather than one shop, imo.

I'd never heard of Soak and Sleep but, thanks to you, they have a bit of free advertising. It's your money so you can spend it wherever you wish.

There's surely a middle ground though? Posters pointing out how much is made in China and how difficult it is to avoid are obviously right but that doesn't mean people can't choose to avoid things made in China where they want to. Seems a bit odd to just shrug your shoulders and say since you can't avoid it in electronics you should just accept everything in your life being made there.

@user1493494961

I'd never heard of Soak and Sleep but, thanks to you, they have a bit of free advertising. It's your money so you can spend it wherever you wish.

Agreed - I'd not heard of them either!

I've also literally never heard anyone saying they are boycotting Chinese made products until I read this thread,

Mmm, I was browsing the John Lewis sale yesterday looking for new bedding - can you guess where most of their (expensive) offerings were made?
And as a PP commented much UK/British labelled stuff only qualifies as such because it has been packaged, or partly assembled, here which IMHO is deliberately deceitful.

I'd love to boycott products made in China but I genuinely think it would be impossible because everything is fucking made in China, including fucking world damaging viruses that they never admit to or apologise for.

@ISaidDontLickTheBin we obviously move in different circles

Still waiting for the OP to tell us where her internet device, or the parts that make the device, were made.

Unless you're very wealthy, or have a very primitive lifestyle, you can't not buy from China.

So many people (including me) are boycotting anything made in PRC.

Yeah, but they're not though, are they.

I wouldn't buy from them at all regardless of where they were made, the duvets i bought a couple of years ago have redistributed / lost their filling so some of the squares are almost empty and the pillows are saggy and bulky, the sheets ripped and threadbare so not at all impressed by the quality of their products.

Still waiting for the OP to tell us where her internet device, or the parts that make the device, were made.

Or the furniture she sits on/ sleeps on/ stores her stuff in

@Skinnytailedsquirrel

Really fancied one of their duvet covers until I saw it was "manufactured in China". Looked at another one...and another one....same thing.

Why would a company do that? So many people (including me) are boycotting anything made in PRC.

I agree, I've used them in the past but the fact that their stuff is manufactured in China has put me off. So many other options that aren't produced there.

Anyone going 'but what's wrong with China?' must have their heads in the sand. Cities built to house slave labour factories where, very possibly, your sheets were made by displaced people forced to work by the state:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-51697800

Genocide (the Uyghars), the fact that China isn't a democracy (yes, I know you could say that of other countries, but China is the largest and most successful non-democracy of them all), appalling human rights record... I could go on. Nowhere's perfect, but China is clearly one of the very worst.

I also now avoid buying things that are made in China as far as I possibly can because of the human rights issues, especially for Uyghur Muslims. It isn't easy, I often have to email companies to ask where their products are made because it isn't made clear on the website. But I do it, and if the answer is China then I don't purchase. Where I can't avoid products that have been made in China, I try to buy them secondhand.

Hardest is kids' shoes. When you try to buy shoes that haven't been constructed in Asia, you realise a) how rare that is and b) how much we should really be paying for things...

@MissKeithsNeice I presume the internet device parts are made either in China or Taiwan. When buying our last laptops we did spend some time trying to find some that were not made in China. Impossible so far however, hopefully, this will happen.
None of our furniture is from China. I hope that helps. Have a nice day.

@StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes

I wouldn't buy from them at all regardless of where they were made, the duvets i bought a couple of years ago have redistributed / lost their filling so some of the squares are almost empty and the pillows are saggy and bulky, the sheets ripped and threadbare so not at all impressed by the quality of their products.

I do agree with you.

We bought 2 of their duvets at over £500 each a couple of years ago and both now have squares in the middle with barely any down in them while the outer ones are bulging. I spent some time trying to force the down between the squares with little success.

Also a fitted sheet that was over £100 went threadbare and tore within not much more than a year.

To be fair some of the stuff (600tc duvet covers in particular) has been great but I've lost faith in them.

@MissKeithsNeice

Still waiting for the OP to tell us where her internet device, or the parts that make the device, were made.

Or the furniture she sits on/ sleeps on/ stores her stuff in

You can buy all these things secondhand. It's not a perfect solution, but there's certainly plenty of used goods available in the world. More environmentally friendly, too!

OP where was the device you typed this on made?

I presume the internet device parts are made either in China or Taiwan.

So you're boycotting China as long as it suits your lifestyle. Your ethical stance is a selective one!

I have no problem with China, or any other country, but it's better for the economy to try and source products that are made locally, yes

Me too SophiaMichelle expensive and poor, i did complain and first they hinted i had washed them wrongly, when i told them they had not ever been washed they said ah well thats why! You try putting a kingsize duvet in a standard washing machine 😁 and how often do people actually send a duvet for laundering i wonder? Tbh i have stuff from Dunelm that has been better and longer lasting.

@BooksChocolateAndSleep

I'd love to boycott products made in China but I genuinely think it would be impossible because everything is fucking made in China, including fucking world damaging viruses that they never admit to or apologise for.

It's not impossible, just start doing it. Yeah you'll slip up - I bought some dried apple rings in Tesco the other day that I belatedly realised were from China - and yeah you can't always avoid it - sometimes even something that is 'Made in Britain' will be made with, for example Chinese steel - but you can easily stop buying clothes and kids' toys and stationery and all sorts of things that are made in China. Just vote with your feet.

I guess the OP means that when there are so many other places S & S could source their (quite expensive) bedlinen from it is disappointing and surprising that they are buying from China.

Taking an ethical stance often means having to spend more money

Not everyone has that choice

Buy from whoever you like. Nobody cares.

However this company is not alone in manufacturing overseas.

If more people actively avoid buying items made in countries/places where human/animal/environmental abuse may be happening then eventually there will be some improvement. I have even contacted the supplier to find out where things are made - perhaps if more of us did this then the practice of sourcing cheap rubbish and passing it off as luxury may end.
I also do not buy from Amazon - horrified to see the volume of waste that is sent to landfill.
Okay sometimes it is unavoidable - I have now moved on to "do I need this, can I make what I have last longer??"