janeg

Betsy says ..."shaking the enclosed fluffy duvet down to the end and sleeping under the cover. " yes! When I first encountered one in Turkey, we were horribly jet-lagged & couldn't figure out if you got in it or put it over you. I ended up disrobing it & using cover for a sheet. Husband is allergic to feathers so we always have to tell them ahead of time to use synthetics.

WillTravel

We stayed at a couple hostels in Scandinavia where we were provided with freshly laundered duvet covers to enclose the duvets. Given the sometimes very small rooms and my lack of Olympic-level dexterity, I had a bit of a time. I do think hotels launder duvet covers between guests (at least any respectable hotel).

I think duvets are fine if the outside temperature is less than 70F or so. But I had a duvet in my Berlin hotel this summer and it was definitely too thick and hot. I wish I had thought to either take the duvet cover off and use it alone, or to ask for sheets.

Giovanna

nytraveler: We've never traveled in the Alpine region and was surprised to hear about the fluffing up of your nightie, etc. The only place I've experienced this was years ago on cruise ships. They don't seem to do it anymore.

Agree the duvets are washed along with the sheets when changed. I don't find them difficult to wash, since they are the thickness of a sheet, just doubled.

If I am too warm in the summer, I just leave it at the bottom of the bed until I feel chilly enough to pull it up. Not a big deal.

Sylvia

I haven't used blankets for years.Duvets are pretty well universal in the UK. Duvets have a TOG rating and vary in warmth. You use a lower TOG rating in the summer. The cover is treated like a pillowcase and changed regularly.

stardust

I love duvets and I hate sleeping in hotels with normal blankets!
My duvet is actually composed of 2 lighter duvets. One has a 350gr filling, the other a 450 gr filling. You can put them together with push buttons in winter, use the heavier one solo in autumn and spring and use the lightest one for summer. But if it gets really hot, then yes, I just take a sheet out of the closet. And if it gets really cold, I put a sheet under the duvet (my parents always have an upper sheet under the duvet by the way).
I really don't like Germany too much, but I think them having duvets on the hotel beds must be one of the best things they have
And oh yeah: my duvet is pretty big, so I never have cold sholders or feet, but usually just prefer to wrap myself in it, and if it gets too hot, I just put my feet and shoulders out.

kappa

I love duvet. Mines are called "4 saisons" which has two 200/220cm layers, attached to each other for winter. I remove one layer and use only the other for spring/autumn, generally speaking, and it's true even one layer duvet is too hot in mid-summer, then I sleep with only a thin sheet. With this "method" I'm perfectly comfortable all year around.

BTW, am I the only one who hate sleeping with the cover tucked under the mattress?

kappa

Well, I did not read Stardust's post before posting mine.

Hans

kappa: I'm used to duvets and so I really dislike it if the cover is tucked under the mattress. If I have to sleep in such a bed, I normally tend to kick everything loose during sleep and wake up in a mess of bankets and cover.

celticdreams

I love the down duvets in Germany, but I got tired of waking up in the summer in a pool of sweat. I bought a silk sleep sack that rolls into a bag the size of a soda can and sleep in that while I'm there.

kappa

Thanks Hans, so we are the only ones??

pandaschu

No, me too. I immediately kick up all of the sheets and blankets and wrap them under my feet and legs, burrito style. (this is terribly personal information to share on a public forum!)

Anyway, I like a cold room and a toasty bed, so I use sheet, blanket(s), and duvet! Poor DH!

lesliec1

Well, it may be easy to make the bed with a duvet, and duvet covers may be easy to wash, but I notice no one is singing the praises of putting the duvet back in the duvet cover once you've washed it! Ever try putting a queen-size duvet back in its cover? Two people must hold the top corners of the cover while a third person kind of reaches inside to feed them the corners. If 2 people try to do it, there will be an argument over who let go of whose corner. If you are alone and have to do the job, you have to sort of scuba dive inside the cover to deliver the duvet's corners into the top corners of the cover, (this isn't so bad because you will find the entire family's missing socks up here inside the duvet cover), then slither out, totally static-electrifying your hair, grab the corners from the outside, and stand on the mattress jumping up and down to shake the duvet into proper position inside the cover. Your cat will be taking notes so that she or he knows exactly where to hide the next time you want to take her/him to the vet. During my marriage to an englishman we used a duvet. What a liberation to return to a plain old comforter! Now, what was that about those full-size body pillows for the lonely...

lindilindi

I grew up with duvets, and hate sheets and blankets. I like the fluffiness of duvets, and that there's something to hug. If you're hot, all you have to do is stick your feet and arms out. If you're really hot, you can just take the duvet and sort of hug it. I can't ever sleep if the cover is tucked under.

Duvet covers are always washed along with the bottom sheet and pillow-cases. I wash my duvet once-in-a-while too (it's synthetic).

When I go to hotels that don't have duvets, I wake up in the middle of the night and realize that I have made a mess of sheets and blankets in my sleep. And bed covers are yucky - I don't think those are ever cleaned, while duvet covers certainly ARE.

lindilindi

When putting the cover on, all you have to do is turn the cover inside out, then match up the top two corners and turn the cover over the duvet. It's still a fair amount of wrestling, but to me it's better than trying to tuck corners under the mattress!!

BTilke

Lelsiec1, that body length pillow is sometimes referred to as a "Dutch Wife." Don't know why, perhaps one of our Flemish or Dutch Fodorites will explain...;-)

Katherine

No Kappa, you are not alone. I too like duvets. When I was 19 and stayed with an English family that is what I had in my room. When it came time to do laundry I loved the smell of a fresh duvet cover..they taught me to turn the duvet cover inside out and put it on that way..it made it easier.
Now I have one at home I have two duvets..one for the winter and the rest of the year. I do love the fact that I can take off the cover and wash it as often as I like.
On the other hand I still love using just sheets and a Hudson Bay wool blanket that I have had for a long time...so warm in the winter...

kappa

Kathrine, thanks for your reply... but my question was if I was the only one who hate sleeping with the cover tucked under the mattress. I guess you do too as you too like duvet.

Katherine

whoops your right Kappa...that's what I get for speeding through the post!

sandi

Almost every hotel I've stayed in during the past 10-years have had duvets on the beds. Some have had a top sheet underneath for those who preferred not to sleep under the duvet, which is my preference. I've noticed with rare exception that houskeeping changes the duvet cover daily along with the sheets. So in a quality hotel, the duvet cover is freshly clean for a continuing guest or a new guest to a room.

I've had duvets at home of the best eiderdown in both winter and lighter weight - eventually, I've gone back to a top sheet and light weight blanket. We have heat through the night during winter and the a/c is on at a comfortable temperature during summer, so the eiderdown at either weight is just plain "overkill."

What I've concluded is that some people like to feel that they are in a cocoon under a duvet, while other's just don't like the feel of anything on their body. Just as some people sleep all bundled up under the sheet, duvet or whatever, while others keep all the extremeties outside the covers except for the body itself being covered.

What we were lucky enough to get when in Germany were the European pillows for all our bedrooms - the big 26" squares eiderdowns which are great for the back of the bed, and the smaller squares that are great to sleep on. We had our flight attendent friends bring them home is those large black garbage bags and the Customs Inspector was hysterical watching them bring their "garbage" home, claiming a value of $5 each (if the CI only knew what these cost even with an excellent exchange some years back), as they were limited to only $25 per trip. After a month's worth of flights, all the friends had their bedrooms finished with the best German eiderdown to be found. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Most of us still only sleep under a sheet and have those duvets folded at the end of the beds in beautiful custom fabric covers with added ribbons completing the effect.

To each their own!

USNR

In 1969, while in London, we bought Norwegian eider down duvets and used them for about 20 years. A second set, bought in America, have served us well even today. We use them in winter and have summer-weight ones which we use in the warm weather. From time to time, my wife sewed sheets into replacement duvet covers which she washes just as one would a sheet. The duvet is simply slipped into the "bag" and the entire cloud-like cover is set upon the bed. Sure beats a lot of work messing with layers of sheets, hospital corners, etc., etc. Inasmuch as we live in a warm and dry climate, the changing of the seasons marks the changing of the weight of the duvet. Warmth without weight, comfort without work.