To break off from one of the threads about what European "thing" do you now continue to use at home: Is there really any difference between a duvet and a comforter? The duvets/comforters in hotels/B&Bs in Europe are quite nice, warm and comfortable, I can't imagine sleeping without a sheet and blanket with my comforter at home. Perhaps the fabric on my comforter is not conducive to sleep comfort. Any bedding help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

A comforter is the poofy thing and the duvet is the cover fo it.

I use sheets with mine, because getting the comforter in and out of the duvet as often as I would want it laundered is a pain.

In my opinion, companystore.com sells the best comforters and duvets. The flannel duvetsa re super comfy.

Oh my gosh down comforters are WAY too hot with a blanket too!

Well that's what I thought. Company Store is the catalog I'm looking at right now! I agree with you taking the comforter in/out of the duvet every time to wash - especially queen size! Thanks.

I disagree with the definition above, duvet is the poofy thing too, and the 'envelopes' they go inside of are duvet covers. That's what they're called in the catalogs and stores I've seen, and you can google it and get entries.
The duvet covers are to have soft fabric next to your skin, and to keep the duvet clean. In Europe sometimes I've noticed a duvet is sandwiched in between two sheets. Presumably the sheets get washed between guests, but the duvet doesn't.

Hi
here's one official definition

http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/duvet

Lo' and behold! Elaine is right! I just looked up duvet in the dictionary and it says, Comforter Ha, that's how much I know...

Comforter is not really a European term. Perhaps you mean eiderdown? These are feather filled lumpy old-fashioned things with no loose cover that you use with sheets/blankets. I associate them with my grandma.

The duvet is the padded warm thing and the duvet cover is the removable washable cover.

no, the duvet is not just the cover. The cover is a "duvet cover". The duvet is the actual envelope which has stuffing in it (usually down). I have a duvet with down I use in the winter and that term is used for the entire thing when it is filled. I then must have a duvet cover that I put on top of the duvet (which is another envelope) and has buttons. I have a couple duvet covers -- some with buttons, some with zippers -- to keep my duvet clean, which is a very fine white cotton stuffed with down. That is sewn shut.

I think you could call that a form of comforter, which is a stuffed bed covering of some kind, although people don't usually have comforter coverers as the comforter itself is mean to be decorative and the top layer.

I think you should do what you like. I know my taste differs from others on here regarding duvets. I certainly do not use mine in summer as it is too hot. I hate it when I get a duvet in Europe in the summer and no other blanket as it is too hot for me. I've had this in some hotels. I also personally dislike not having a sheet between me and the heavier comforter/duvet, blanket, whatever over me. I also do not want to wash duvet covers constantly. My duvet cover is meant to be decorative and to keep it clean, it is not a simple cotton sheet type thing, and costs a lot more than sheets. It's also just preference.

Some people on here have said they do this because it's so much trouble to make the bed in the morning, and that is easier. I don't understand that as it takes me only a couple seconds to sort of shake out the covers and straighten them over my bed so they look decent (I have a sheet, cotton blanket and quilt on my bed now).

but we both meant "poufy"

At our house, we use down/feather duvets encased in 100% cotton duvet covers. That's in the cool months. On warm summer nights, we encase a thin blanket inside the duvet cover, or just use the duvet cover by itself.

Getting the cover stuffed is not difficult after a little practice -- not much tricker than putting a pillow in a pillowcase, I've found. As to frequency: we change the cover only every other week; after the first week's use, we just flip duvet and cover over to sleep under a 'fresh' side. The bottom sheet and pillow cases we change weekly.

Regardless, we make sure the duvet packages are loosely folded, plumped up during the day, then kept at the bottom of the bed so both cover and mattress can air out.

The only hard part for me: Is it "dew-vit", or "doo-vay"?

Fritzrl

For over 20 years, I've used a "comforter" encased in a changeable "comforter cover."

It differs from a duvet in that LL Bean, where I've bought all of mine, uses the old-fashioned, instead of the Europhile, terminology and calls it a "comforter."

Of course, this means that I'm forced to dream in English while sleeping under it.

I slept under a comforter or duvet long before I went to Europe. I always hated getting tangled up in flat sheets.

I've grown up in the UK, and many years ago when I was very young, we had a bottom sheet, top sheet, and blankets, topped with a quilt or eiderdown (a quilt stuffed with down from the eider duck). In the 70's duvets (pronounced doo-vay) started to become popular, as I recall imported in from Scandinavia.

These were extra fluffy pooffy quilts which in turn were inserted into cotton covers. The covers were regularly washed as per the owners preference, but the actual doo-vay/quilt itself needs to be sent to the cleaners on a yearly basis (or whatever... according to preference). Some people use a top sheet as well to avoid changing the duvet cover, but I think it's just more stuff to get tangled up in!

I change my duvet cover as often as I change my pillowcases and bottom sheet - at least once a week depending on how hot it is and how much energy I have! It doesn't actually take very long, maybe 5 minutes. If I get chilly I put a blanket on top.

BTW, I have 2 duvets, one with a 5 tog rating for summer and the other with a 13.5 tog rating for winter. I use the same covers all year round, because they match the bedroom decor!

I use a duvet/comforter encased in a duvet/comforter cover. Separate weights for summer and winter. Also use a top sheet. Yes, sometimes the duvet/comforter is decorative, but it is less expensive to change your decor with a duvet cover (and takes less storage, too), than to change the duvet cover. It is doo-vay, by the way. Company store has great duvets in different weights and also "supersized" ones that have a nice drop over the bed edge.

Well whether one calls it a duvet or a comforter I have used them for decades. I have a "designer" cover for it which matches the bed skirt and bed linenes. I also use a top sheet, as I find it impossible to get the duvet/comforter back into the cover. Also my cover requires dry cleaning so it would not be practical to not use the top flat sheet. Inside the cover there are clips at each of the four corners attached to the duvet/comforter that keeps the duvet/comforter from slipping around in the cover. My duvet/comforter is boxed stiched so the filling does not move around either.

I really do not like sleaping in a bed with blankets. They always seem too heavy to me.

jill_h, if you need to use a blanket along with your duvet/comforter it sounds like you need a winter weight one. Sweet dreams!!!

I suppose using "comforter" instead of "duvet" does resolve the pronounciation issue.

Besides, as my Nanny used to remind me as she escorted me through the portico of the manse to the drive, where the chauffeur awaited, holding open the freshly-burnished handle on the door of the Rolls, "Eschew pretension!" Of course, *she* said it in French.

(Yeah...as *if*...)

Fritzrl

Uhm jill_h, next time I will use the edit feature here and correct my typing, sorry about that!!!

When we stayed with a friend in England she called the comforter on the bed a duvet.

doo-vay

I would say a duvet is normally feather-filled and needs a cover and a comforter has man-made filling, is patterned and therefore does not need a cover.

In the UK we chose duvets by their 'tog' number, the higher the tog the warmer the duvet - here in the US they are sold by weight. We bought the heaviest weight for use in MA

My favorite duvet was actually sold as a pair - the lighter one to be used in Summer and the heavier one to use in Spring and the Fall, put them together and they make the warmest duvet for Winter use.