I'm sick of duvets

[Chalatte]

What the title says. I have these big double duvets that most of the family uses and a few singles. It's hard to maintain these, keep them in duvet covers, change the covers, getting a good matching cover, etc. Often they will go without a cover for days and be used just like that. I'm finally ready to replace them.

I'm thinking I want to do away with them entirely. what are my options? Can I just do 5 single duvets for everyone? Or comforters, or quilts and blankets? What does everyone do?

I think you probably need to dig into why the duvets aren’t staying in their covers.

We use duvets and a top and bottom sheet.
Change the sheets weekly but the duvet cover less so. It is treated like a quilt and doesn't have skin contact due to top sheet.

Our duvets are feather and about two
blanket warmth. They never shift out of their cover. All are sized bigger than the bed. The single has a king single, the double has a queen duvet.

Have a blanket/throw for extra Winter warmth and in Summer the top sheet is often all that we sleep under.

We have duvets that clip together so you can have them both in the winter and the thinner one in the summer. Changed every week (sometimes twice if the.dog has slept with us). Three sets for each bed, all white . Not a problem if you have a routine and spares for accidents like spilled coffee.

Cover less duvets, not cheap but the Fine Bedding Company have a discount on some of their Night Lark range at the moment. They feel just like a duvet in a cover, but without having to fight to change the cover of ending up with it bunching on one side

Everyone in my house has white sheets, white pillowcases and white duvet covers. They are free to add decorative items if they wish. We have two sets each so one in the wash and one on the bed. We change them once a week and as others have said we put the clean bedding on as soon as we take the old off.

It helps though that my DC are old enough to change their own beds and that I have a tumble dryer so not worrying about having washing piling up.

No need to slit seams.

Easiest way to change a duvet is to have the cover inside out then lie duvet on bed and put hands in cover to other end and grab the corners of the duvet then shake it down that way. If you are short you can feed the duvet off the end of the bed around your feet.

it is about organisation really.
at one point I had a super king, king and two singles and I used labelled plastic zip bags to keep it organised.

wash your duvet covers inside out and fold them
before you put in the machine as less of a job when you take them out.
also weekly bed changes is overkill unless you are a heavy sweater/manual
worker. Not good for the environment either.

i change duvet once a month although I will change base and pillowcases more in very hot weather.
my mum puts a sheet under the duvet to save her having to strip the cover and put it back on. Easier for her to cope with as she’s very old now.
We’ve not had duvets on the bed since May, just the covers.

lastly why are you doing it all by yourself? Even my disabled son was changing his own bed by the time he was 16 - took years of “supervision” to get past the stroppiness but we got there eventually.
if you have a massive super king your husband should help with the cover unless you have some weird 1950’s division of labour. if he doesn’t want to then get single duvets then he can sort his own out!

Thank you I needed to read this. It sounds way more practical. What kind of throw would you use over these? I was thinking of those fleecy ones...

Why are you sleeping with duvets without covers? Just buy two for each duvet so you always have a clean one to put on. Bit grim not too.

I would have sheets and blankets with a nice old fashioned small quilt on top if I could like we had as kids.

You can put a sheet under the duvet and fold it over so the quilt cover never touches the skin. This is what I do. It’s not so much the changing of the quilt though I also dislike it I like the fold of the sheet on my face.

I only change our bedsheets, everyone else's are up to them. When our kids were children they got a base amount of pocket money, but it got bumped up if they changed their sheets, dusted and hoovered their rooms and emptied their bins - other household chores like emptying the dishwasher were expected to be done without reward as that's just part of living together.

It is much easier for two people to change a double duvet cover together (unless it's got a stupidly small hole at the bottom like our current ones!)

I have a king size bed with a double size coverless duvet on it. Its plenty big enough. It goes in an average size washing machine and is dry in an hour. They are quite a low tog so if its very cold I just sling a blanket on top.
You can them everywhere now. Amazon, argos, dunelm. No way Im messing with duvet covers again.

www.finebedding.co.uk/collections/night-lark-coverless-duvet

2 sets per bed with no borders or embroidery, so they don't crinkle. Strip them once a week or once every two weeks and put the clean set on. That gives you plenty of time to wash the rest. But whoever sleeps in the beds can strip them for you, and if adults or teens, make their own beds too.

No more struggling with duvet covers, but you have to wash a kingsize duvet every week? I think I'd find the covers easier.

I don’t have a duvet. I use a flat sheet, one or two blanket layers depending on temperature, plus a light bed spread. I don’t change the bed spread as frequently as the rest. Sometime for a quick refresh I just strip the bottom sheet, flat sheet and pillow cases.

Meant to say DH and teens have duvets but they strip and remake their own beds.

We mainly use the ones which are velvety one side, white and fluffy the other. We have one each and use them on the sofa in the evenings. They're pre-warmed when you go up to bed.
I also have some double bedspreads, which are useful for an extra layer when it's really cold, or when it's too hot but you need something heavier than just a sheet. Although double they're thin enough that they fit in the washing machine.
Everything has to fit in the machine!

My king size coverless duvet goes in the normal washing machine and is dry in an hour this time of year.

It sounds like you need to see one to understand what you’re commenting on. They are very light and dry very quickly.

exactly - I have cotton for the really hot weather, heavy linen sheets
bought in France in a depot vente (15 euros each) which are great
if I’m hot and kick the duvet off, lovely to sleep under in bare skin

easily washable thin low tog duvets from IKEA in summer
feather and down 13.5 for winter
white cotton ‘under’ duvet covers then the duvet cover proper
which is washed when I think it needs it, as its a real struggle,
so do this when this son or that sun make an appearance

the winter duvet I thoroughly aired in the garden in summer,
in bright sunshine, minimal humidity, by son as its so unwieldy

when I was married we tried the single duvet each which didn’t
work; they didn’t drape or cover properly as we were both side sleepers

OP I hope this helps!

Coverless duvets are rubbish! Mine came out of the washing machine so creased it looked awful on the bed and they have these weird visible seams - I don’t expect my bed to be pristine but I thought they looked awful and felt horrible.

I’m a convert to a wool duvet,I’ve slept with it the whole summer and been cool but it keeps me warm in winter as well. It also seems to fit the covers better and is generally easier to deal with.

coverless duvets its the way to go wish i had done it sooner

Try social media for different methods of changing covers.
I lay clean, inside out cover like a piece of naice ham on the duvet, open edge furthest away, then roll it up like Swiss roll, away from me, curl the closing ends round edges of duvet and roll back down, then do up the poppers.
no more fighting with laundry