Do you button up your duvet cover before washing?

[Ultravox]

Please help resolve an incredibly minor dispute in our house. I’ve just changed our sheets and when I went to put on the clean duvet cover it was buttoned up so I had to unbutton it to put it on and then re button it. It has proper fiddly wooden buttons and it may be just menopause but I have the rage over this.

So…

YABU: Yes I button up the duvet cover before putting it in the washing machine to stop other items going inside it.

YANU: What a waste of time. If any items go inside the duvet cover during washing then it’s easy to take them out before drying.

Yes, or it kidnaps the other washing and holds it hostage

Drives me mad in hotels when they have an open duvet cover and the cover moves around independently of the duvet. I hate it tucked in at the bottmo as well, I have to go round when we arrive pulling it out, which is actually quite hard work.

We rarely stay in hotels although not for this reason

The eco cycles use less because they use less water and heat it more efficiently. The agitation and spinning contribute to the saving too, but the water heating is where most of the saving comes from.

Your machine's manual gives the kwh used by each program so you can compare.

I saw a good analogy once - you can drive 100 miles by zooming along the motorway at full speed most of the way, and with some fast acceleration/aggressive braking thrown in, and get there in just over an hour, but using a lot of fuel. OR you can drive much more slowly, maintaining a steady speed without the need for changes through acceleration or braking, and sitting in the slipstream of a lorry. You might take 2hrs or more to get there, but you'll use a lot less fuel.
Same with a washing machine. Do the component parts of a wash in the most fuel efficient way possible and it will take a lot longer.

I have already said I use mostly a cold wash.

I button up duvet before putting it in the wash. Only put in pillowcases in the same wash.

When taking it out of the washing machine, its not tangled and easier to hang on the airer.

Putting the cover without buttoning it can risk damaging it.

Yes because everything else goes inside and it’s a massive pain in the arse. DH wanted a super king bed so the fucking covers are huge and cumbersome to manage. I unbutton it when i fold it though.

Yes but not necessarily all the buttons. Otherwise I get a lump of other washing inside that hasn't been spun as well as the rest.

I've had very serious words with VDW about this. Buttoning up the cover increases the chance of ripping off buttons. This has happened to us twice now.

Justwwash your other stuff separately.

Yes always