Buying a new duvet - confused!

[Emarosa]

Hi everyone,

We recently renovated our bedroom and are looking to replace our very old, very flat duvet. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the choices!

We’re willing to spend a bit more for something really nice that lasts, and I’ve done a bit of research. I really want that soft “cloud” feeling.

I started with down - and specifically the Hungarian down duvet from White Company, but I am really put off by the ethical issues.

I looked into wool, but I’m worried about it’s effect on my eczema, that it wouldn’t have a cloud feeling, that it might smell like farm and that it might not look good with my white bedding.

I’m absolutely up for a high quality synthetic and there seem to be nice options from the Dunelm Dorma range or the White Company.

What are your recommendations?

I have eczema and zero issues with wool. There’s two possible reasons wool can be an issue - you can have an allergic type reaction (often to the lanolin) or it can be mechanical - the wool is too scratchy for your skin.
Do you react to wool jumpers? If you have an allergic type reaction to wool I would absolutely avoid a wool duvet. If it’s just the mechanical scratchy issue it would probably be fine - wool duvets usually have a cotton outer cover and then you put them in a duvet cover. A thicker cotton duvet cover could help too.

It's obviously a very personal thing but I don't think synthetic ever does the job, really. No matter how expensive it is, they always feel slightly clammy. My personal preference is for down or wool.

We have wool on one of our spare beds, along with white bedding. It doesn't show through. It's reasonably fluffy; certainly better than synthetic and it doesn't flatten like synthetic does. It's not as light and cloud-like as goose down, though.

You can get recycled/reclaimed down duvets, if that appeals. John Lewis do one, Bedfolk, I think Secret Linen Store and maybe Devon Duvets too. I haven't tried one yet so I can't vouch for quality/feel.

Oh I think you can also get silk duvets. Again, I've never had one, so I can't speak to what they're like.

That’s really helpful - thank you so much!
My eczema actually appeared in pregnancy (currently 40+5 and waiting/ researching duvets… :) ) so I’m not quite sure how I will react to different materials yet. I really fancied the wool option, especially as DH prefers a warmer bed to me, but I’m worried about the risk of a reaction.

We have a wool duvet which i love, but it is thin and flat, but super cosy. A friend loves her bamboo duvet says soft and clloudlike so maybe an option? Panda duvet pandalondon.com/product/the-cloud-duvet

I love feather duvets, there’s nothing like that cloud feeling. We have John Lewis ones.

May be an assumption on my part but I’m assuming that the ducks/geese used for feathers are also used for meat. And as I eat meat I don’t object to this and am glad the feathers are being used too.

Sorry, I don't have a suggestion, but I just wanted to say, I had to give away my (expensive) wool duvet to a friend because I couldn't stand the smell of it. I've sniffed others in shop too and (to me) they all smell the same.

I won't buy feather/down etc.

bamboo appeals, so I might go & look at some of those. Next thing is, what tog? My duvet is so old, I have no idea what tog it is though 🤷🏻‍♀️

@SalviaOfficinalis your assumption: it doesn't work quite that way & 'harvesting' the feathers is often done over & over on live birds. It's an utterly heartbreaking process & takes around 75 birds worth of trauma to make one duvet.

🥲

It's not quite that cut-and-dried; if the down is harvested in the EU or UK, there are welfare rules and live harvesting is not allowed. John Lewis, White Company, and Soak & Sleep (among other companies) all source ethically harvested down.

Some other countries, yes, live harvesting still happens (and shouldn't).

A bit more on here about it.