I can't imagine sleeping under anything but a duvet! I hate staying at motels with blankets and sheets! Ugh!

Glad you got converted!

Do most people who use duvets not use top sheets? I am wondering since reading Linderhof1208's post. I have had terrible experiences with duvet covers and comforters in the past and finally gave up trying to use duvets. I bought a beautiful Bella Notte duvet cover but got so tired of the comforter bunching up inside, I gave up. During the summer, I use the duvet cover as a coverlet. I would love to hear others and their experiences. Thanks for your post Sueb20.

i haven't slept with Cuddledown duvet.it must be very warm and comfortable in the cold winter night. i prefer silk quilt.it is soft and comfortable than duvet.
have a try 1 it is excellent feeling!

I have a down-alternative comforter in a duvet cover, but also use a top sheet. I'm not about to remove the duvet cover and wash it every week.

This might not be true about US versions, but all German down comforters come with ribbons or strips sewn as triangles across their corners, and duvet covers have strings sewn into the inside corners -- you flip the cover inside out, tie the strings to the comforter corners, flip the whole thing back right side out, and voila! Nary a slip or slide until the next time you do the wash. :-)

PS: I just went and checked, and my Garnet Hill duvet covers all have those tie strings on the inside, so it must be customary for duvets here as well?

I use a top sheet also~~in Europe they don't use top sheets. It may be the case where top sheets were first used by the affluent to keep the duvet from being cleaned too frequently. Duvets were probably made out of rich silk Damasks and Velvets. ;o)

I've had covers with the ties in the corners, but for some reason even that didn't help. Not sure why. Now I have the corners tied AND clipped!

We always use a top sheet, AND the duvet cover! Love my down comforter, and love having the option to change the look of the bed and bedroom merely by changing the duvet cover!

Circus, I bought my comforter and duvet cover from The Company Store. Has the same triangle and ties.

I think most of the duvet covers have ties. I've never tried the clips. But we don't sleep under our top covers. We use sheets and blankets or quilts to cover with.

Glad you like yours Sue! I like duvets myself.

tina

What other online stores are there for bedding? I'm shopping for either a duvet cover or a quilt and not finding anything I love. So far I've checked Company Store, Cuddledown, Garnet Hill, Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel. Other than department store sites, where else should I look? Oh also, Overstock, which is Overwhelming.

I definitely love using duvets and their covers as well. I use ties in the corners with no problem with slippage. I also use a top sheet though, but love having a duvet cover with high thread count so it feels luxurious to touch and can be washed regularly.

I've found that more and more hotels are also using them now, and I actually check before making reservations to make sure we're getting one that does. They usually mention it on their websites or pictures will show. It's just feels so much more clean since the duvet covers are about the weight of heavy sheets and appear freshly laundered. Love that instead of bedspreads!

I use to have trouble with the bunching and the comforter not staying in place - especially with my husband who toss and turns all night. Some of my duvet have ties, while most of them don't...but I found these CLIPS at Bed, Bath, & Beyond that hold everything in place!! I've been using the same set for 7 years!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bed Bath & Beyond - Comforter Clips

I sew Velcro onto my duvets and covers (corners and middle of each side) to keep them from bunching up. I used to LOVE them, but DH is too hot-blooded... My boys love them still.

I use duvet covers, but I don't put the comforter inside the duvet cover. I lay the cover over the top of the comforter. The dc adds so much warmth to our lightweight down blankets (we like to sleep cool), that we need to have the option of turning down the dc. It's so much easier than stuffing it :)

So glad you've found a duvet set up that you love sueb. I've enjoyed using them as part of my bedding before I was ever married. Thank you DM.

Can't imagine not using a top sheet. I've just switched out our summer weight to a light/mid weight comforter and it's still fab. However, now and then I have nights where I have a power surge and appreciate using only the sheet to cover myself, but DH is still nice and comfy. Hoping someday to go back to my heavy comforter during the winter one year sometime soon. lol

There are so many quality choices with regard to comfort/warmth weight, and even more great duvet options. There's a reason the comforters and duvets have been around as long as they have - versatility.

Work, we use a lightweight comforter year round. With flannel sheets in the winter it's more than adequate.

Glad you found a duvet and cover that work for you. And I'm really glad you mentioned being pleased with Cuddledown. I just found a site with a nice Cuddledown comforter on sale and I snapped it up. I'm nervous (as Cuddledown comforters are not cheap), but hopeful since you sound very pleased with yours. I've had the same down comforter for so many years that it has now lost about 97% of it's down. (It was a free perk from a job so I don't know much about its quality). Now that the cold weather is setting in, I've been freezing at night and wanting to buy a new down comforter. When it arrives, I may just purchase those same clips since they seem to be working out well for you. Thanks for sharing your experience.

For those asking about duvet covers, I purchased one I absolutely adore from Anthropologie a few years ago. I almost wish I would have purchased two in case this one ever wears out because I absolutely love it.

Since we love down comforters, duvet covers are a nice way to dress them up.

I've owned cheaper duvets that didn't have ties (actually, I had one that was Calvin Klein and that didn't either.) We used the clips. The last one I bought had ties in three corners (is that normal?) .... I sewed ties into the fourth corner which made a big difference.

I didn't use a top sheet for many years, but we have been recently. It is certainly easier to wash the sheets more often than the duvet cover.......

Someone was asking where to buy covers ... LL Bean and Lands End have them, and at nice prices, too.

I am a duvet lover ... I use both sheets in the summer, when we can fold back the duvet when it's warm, and then a flannel bottom sheet and flannel cover only (not top sheet) in winter. We spend more nights away in winter, too, so I don't have to wash quite as often. I only wash the cover every other time I wash the bottom sheet. I hope I'm not grossing anyone out. :-)

My duvet came with strings in the corners, but the saleswoman advised adding one to the center of each side, on both the duvet and the cover.

It has worked great! No shifting, and my husband is a very restless sleeper. I often wake with the covers over him and the floor on his side of the bed, but the funniest was when he had the top sheet around his neck, like a very large scarf. Making the bed in the morning is always an adventure.

I also use a top sheet.

Bumping this thread...finding all the responses so informative..

I was wondering do people use duvet covers to cover up regular comforters that have patterns on them? Or is it necessary to buy a plain white comforter to use inside the duvet cover?

My kids have duvet covers from Pottery Barn Kids and the bunching problem is not too bad - they do have the strings inside the corners but they don't always stay put.

If the duvet cover is thin enough to see through, you can't use an old comforter inside. But apart from that, an old patterned comforter probably won't have the right heft to fill out the duvet.

Down and down-like duvets come in many price points. Don't always assume the costliest is the best for you -- some are very hot!

All my kids have duvets and we do too, in winter, In summer we use matelasse coverlets and we have those in the guest room too.

My favorite bedding though is our dual control heated mattress pad. Preheats the bed before sleeping!

Ohhhh! I like a warm cozy bed! Very good point about a patterned comforter being inside a see-through duvet cover - that definitely would spoil the whole look.

Hubby has allergic tendencies to down, so we would probably be looking for a synthetic duvet. I think we would use year round, because in summer with the air conditioning on, we still use our current comforter.

We use a lightweight down-alternative comforter year round. Last year I bought a new one together with a white duvet cover, so I only have to wash the cover instead of the comforter. Perfect amount of warmth winter and summer with none of the heaviness associated with blankets and quilts.

In England we used duvets year round, thicker in winter, thinner in summer, sometimes adding the 2 duvets together if it was very cold. The insulation value of each duvet was identified by a 'tog' number. I never used clips, strings, velcro or any other fasteners and my duvets never slipped. Perhaps it was due to the fabric used or maybe it was because the duvets were a snug fit inside the covers.

Personally I love the feel of a duvet but I am so glad I no longer live in a climate where I have to remove covers from duvets to wash every week. Even though you soon become adept at sliding the duvets in and out I don't miss the exercise! Here in Florida we use sheets and lightweight quilts only. Easy to wash and quick to remake the beds. I must admit I feel somewhat liberated!

In my opinion, using a top sheet defeats the whole concept of a duvet cover (but then I'm from Europe). I hate wrestling with the top sheet or having it tugged into the mattress. I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw that many of the PB duvet covers are scratchy linen, so obviously they are meant to be used with a sheet. For inexpensive bedding, I go to Ikea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea bedding

I'm from Europe and grew up without the top sheet. I did that for a while here too, but living in TX I now use the top sheet as I sometimes will get hot during the night, but don't want to be without a cover and then when the ac comes on I will freeze if I don't have anything. I've only been doing that for the last year though. I always by 100% cotton.

Note you do have to use a duvet comforter. Regular comforters are a different size and won't fit in the duvet. In the US you also have to watch what size your duvet comforter is to the duvet cover itself. There is a smaller size and several different larger sizes for the king. I use the largest and IKEA duvets are on the smaller side.

I'm in the market for a new duvet for my bedroom. Eventually I'll post some photos for suggestions. Back when I worked at Pottery Barn I could never understand why the duvets on the beds looked so fluffy and full. They use TWO down comforters in the duvet covers on the beds. I always thought that was kind of slimy.

Beth P.

The first time I ever encountered the duvet/cover concept was in Moscow back in the Soviet era (I was living in London at the time--I don't think you could go directly from the US back then). The hotel had white linen duvet covers with blankets inside them rather than separate blankets and top sheets.

They were crisp and immaculate and changed daily and I loved the idea, but I have to say that these days I bring my own blanket or a dreamsack when I travel in the US because nothing would make me sleep under those dubious duvet arrangements (edit: i.e., no top sheet) in American chain hotels right now. Gaah. I'd as soon sleep under a hotel bedspread with no sheet.

This post was edited by writersblock on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 19:58

When living in Canada, I have used Ikea duvet covers and comforters and never had a problem with bunching, and their higher quality ones are also quite good (so is Cuddledown of course!).

However it's just too warm for them with our memory foam mattress and California climate. Now we just use a sheet and a thin coverlet.

tinan - they have different weight duvet comforters. I have a very light weight one that works year around for me.

Might be something for those in northern climates with warm summers to do. In Sweden we had winter duvet comforters and summer ones. Still used the same duvet covers.

writersblock - seems now most of the better hotels use two sheets and cover the blanket so sort of making a duvet out of flat sheets. I went - about time when we saw it on our trip this past October as I have the same feeling like you about it.

Thank goodness, lyfla. I hope it trickles down soon.

Oh, and at home as a Floridian I use an empty duvet cover as a coverlet, along with a summer weight blanket. Most of the time the duvet cover gets folded down to the foot of the bed, but during cold spells it's just the right amount of extra warmth.

duvet's have historically been meant to be slept under without a top sheet. I love sleeping that way, but cannot tolerate the extra weight/heat. We use down blankets year round in a high desert climate, because they breath as intended and don't have the added weight that the duvet adds. Not to mention that stuffing a down comforter into a duvet is like wrestling an alligator. I envy your cozy enjoyment, but I'm too old for it -- been there, no convert here.

I LOVE my down comforter & duvet cover! I can't imagine mot sleeping under one. I feel like I am in a cocoon . I got mine from overstock it does have feathers and is very fluffy. I bought a king for my queen bed as the reviews said they ran small. I put it in a queen cover w/o any ties etc but I had to turn it the opposite way it was supposed into fit so it fit my bed better and I've need had it bunch up or slip around inside the duvet cover.

I have a flannel duvet to keep my down clean. Still use sheets though. And a comforter on top which I fold down. I so wish I could buy another down like this one. Bought in NZ and shipped, but they aren't allowed to ship down as before. Also bought a sheep wool mattress cover, beyond wonderful.

Am in cold country, but store the down in the summer. I love layers, sort of a "Princess and the Pea" look.

Two sons use duvets without top sheets. One is a truck driver and it saves on washing as well as a sheet sliding all over. The other is into European anything and loves the duvet no top sheet.

We have alternative down comforters on all of our beds and we also use a top sheet. For our king bed I use comforters and duvet covers from The Company Store because they are larger and provide more coverage. I don't like shams or bedskirts and their oversize and supersize king covers the top mattress and pillows.

If they don't happen to have a duvet cover on sale that I like I often sew my own from 2 king size sheets. A duvet cover is really just a large pillowcase. I also sew extra ties inside to help keep the comforter in place.

Well, you talked me into it. I have been indecisive and tonight I ordered duvet sets for our master bedroom, and both sons bedrooms. I found them on sale at Macy's. I found their hotel collection and then narrowed it down to "men's" for my sons bedrooms. I hope we love them. We are very excited!

Thank you for posting about your duvet love!