Good Questions: How Do I Control My Duvet?

Hello AT,

How can I make my duvet look sleek and chic? Like many, I have a down filled duvet in a white cover. Just one night's rest and its hoplessly lumpy and twisted. Tying the corners of the duvet to the inside of the cover somehow doesn't work.

Thanks, Sophie

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Dear Sophie, we know exactly what you mean and somewhere along the line solved the problem, but hadn't quite figured out why. Let's see if we can now.

One thing that is important is having a duvet cover the SAME SIZE as your duvet. We had a bigger one for awhile and the duvet would swim.

Another thing that helps is making sure that you have a cotton covered duvet with a cotton cover. These two fabrics will stick closer to one another than if you have poly in the mix.

Tying the corners does help, but we haven't done it in awhile as we haven't needed to.

Last thing - look at the quality of your duvet and cover. A cheap duvet will be made out of lower quality feathers that will tend ot clump up more often. Expensive (or more expensive ones) have lighter, higher loft feathers that stay in place better. A better cover will also sit more heavily on the duvet, which will help.

Last tip. Sometimes high humidity will get into your feathers. We know that at our summer place out on Long Island, we have had to switch to non-feather pillows because they clump AND get smelly.

Comments (6)

I've experienced the same problem, and had been looking for a solution when I opened up my old button can today I found it! It is exactly what we need for these slippery problems, anyone interested in obtaining these, probably less than $5?

Hi H,
You are 1000% correct that down comforters(and featherbeds and down pillows and down coats) are absolute MAGNETS for dustmites! I found this out the hard way after continually getting sick with sinus infections for over a year. I finally visited an allergy doctor who tested me for numerous things and of course dust mites were at the top of the list. After quizzing me about my living environment, he told me I was literally sleeping with "the enemy" (dustmites). Since I was having so many sinus infections I was also using a humidifier next to my bed, which the doctor said was also creating an environment that dustmites love (high humidity). Along with the humidifier, he told me to throw out all the down stuff and my carpeting. I also had to make sure I wash all my bedding and blankets at least once a week in VERY HOT water. If you have allergies, Dacron pillows work well along with Vellux blankets, which can take getting laundered that frequently in hot water. There are also allergen sprays and powders that you can use on your bedding and furniture which will also help to kill the dustmites. By the way, EVERY single apartment and house has dustmites in it. It has very little to do with how clean you are. The problem comes in when you are highly allergic to dustmites such as I am, then you have to do your best to "allergy proof" your house. Hope this helps someone out there. I miss my down comforter and featherbed, but I don't miss getting sick all the time... Sleep well and stay healthy! -WDK

H,
By the way, one of the least expensive and best ways to get rid of dustmites is to put the comforter or pillow or mattress, etc. out into the sun for several hours (turning every hour).
Blessings! -WDK

Enough with the dustmites-they are everywhere in everything!
As a down comforter user of many years the only solution to the duvet situation is don't use a duvet. That works.
If you have to have one try IKEA. They have light weight, attractive covers that don't nail you to the bed.

Duvet clips if all else fails!! Decorative/functional clips from duvetcoverclips.com and functional ones from bedbathandbeyond.com.

Mazie

i work at a hotel they have these duvets and we have alot of them that have lumps in them. what can i do to get them out so that they are not lumpy.