Absolutely - especially when the temperature gets below zero here in Minnesota!! That and the heated mattress pad!!

Another Minnesotan, wondering where Jeannie lives if comforters are optional!

Nope, have hand made quilts of my mom and sister

We use our comforter when we need it, or I fold it over the loveseat across the room.

We don't care for comforters. We use the quilts I make.

We use our comforters all the time. Our winters are very cold and long so we would not do without them.

Not quite sure about difference between comforters, quilts and duvets, I googled the question. As always, for clarification the first two options were from Houzz. Still not real clear, not everyone agrees. Growing up, because of my heritage, we had feather ticks for the freezing winter nights, really hated to get out of those warm beds, or wool blankets and a thick flannel top sheet. The feather ticks had been made by my grandmother and great aunts. No one else even knew what I was talking about when I said feather ticks, now they are called down comforters. I like sleeping in a cool(cold) room. I have a sheep wool mattress cover and a goose down comforter for the cold nights, do not need anything else. The down comforters seem to breath and I never get too warm, like I do when I have slept under a nondown comforter. Oh and flannel sheets, of course.

I also don't know what a comforter is (I'm in England). I love to have a big duvet pulled right up to my ears. Hubby prefers a thin blanket, so I usually end up with the duvet doubled up for most of the night - even better! My toddler won't have anything over him at all in his bed, yet is happy to sleep under my big duvet...
While I surround myself with beautiful-but-useless things everywhere else, when it comes to bedding, I wouldn't have anything on my bed that isn't used, comfort is the ONLY priority here!

If it's on the bed and will cover a body, it's fair game. :)

Berinlist, I know what you speak of. They also used to be called down featherbeds, were on the order of a foot thick if done right; and were used on TOP of the bodies not slept on, but under. My paternal grandmother had some, very carefully kept, and the year we spent Christmas there (1968) and it was so ungodly cold and blizzarded us in on their farm; she dug them out....

Flannel sheets, wool blankets... I love my army surplus wool blankets. No wool doesn't make me itch. I can pull on the 100% wool sweater without an undershirt and smile at you happily. My hubby says my collection of blankets are the best birth control ever invented... post menopause I tend to be hot, so I only use the wool a few times a year or when I'm baking a cold (germfarming). I'm usually half covered with a sheet, hubby has three blankets and I get the spot under the ceiling fan even in the winter... and our rule is if it's on the bed it's fair game, whoever got to it first, it's theirs.

I get too hot at night so comforters are not good for me. Houzzers told me that they make the room look more inviting. Their the pros.

I have a trapunto quilt over my down comforter that acts as a spread. I fold down the quilt and sleep with the comforter. It stays on the bed from October to May and is then traded out for lightweight cotton blankets.

For hot flashes take black cohosh, it really works. You can get it a health food store, some grocery stores, some drug stores or on line. It worked great for me. Told a woman I worked with who had them very bad. First day on Black Cohosh, she could feel the difference and we could see it. Try one small bottle, what have you got to lose,

I love the feel of a fluffy down comforter during the Midwest winters. The rest of the year I use a coverlet or quilt.

@berinlist .. I did try it, along with vinegar and a host of other things. Nothing works. They are getting better slowly .. it's been 5 years now!

Thirteen below right now and that is not counting the wind chill.......soooooo using the quilt tonight!

I am so sorry it did not work. I think some woman should be able to go on disability during that period. I don't know how long mine lasted. I could not understand what was happening until I talked to friend. The mood swings and the weight gain was unbelievable. One thing no one told me was that I would have such facial hair, that I would need to amost shave!

TMI! :0

I love my down comforter. We used to have one that after a while had the feathers go into some of the pockets and not do a good job. I decided to invest in a good one and we got one from Plumeria Bay. I like the fluffiness of it.

My rule is the bed cover has to be not-so-fluffy that I cannot see over it to watch tv whilst laying my head on my pillow. Some comforters are just too fluffy and block my view! So, we have a coverlet now that is velvety, quilted, thinner, and less bulky. It's perfect for snuggling under while the otherhalf watches his nature or science shows. I usually fall asleep way before he's ready, but it is nice to be able to check for myself what it is he's watching now and then.

Also in Minnesota and it will be well below zero tonight!

Still living in Colorado! So yes, comforter.

So is a comforter what we in the UK would call an eiderdown? I don't use them because they're generally unwashable, I think? If you want thin, cosy warm but not sweaty, try a wool-filled duvet. They don't come cheap but are amazing!

Hi Jeannine, it's 100% functional for warmth. It's the only cover in use at our home ! :)
LoobyGuru, some comforters are washable. ( The filling can be of various materials, such as cotton, polyester, and different kinds of down feathers, or down-alternates. )

In that case I think you're talking about what I call a duvet! Only some people here also call them quilts, but to me a quilt is all-in-one with filling and a decorative side, that's usually only dry-cleanable... It's so confusing!

Hi LoobyGuru, I agree it's so confusing! Here in the US, a comforter usually comes in a clear square plastic bag (photo 1). The comforter is not decorative, but keeps you warm. Then you would buy a separate "comforter cover" (photo 2) in which you put the comforter. The comforter cover is decorative and also protects the comforter. So you would normally only have to wash the comforter cover, and not the comforter itself, which could also be washable.
The result -- a comforter housed inside a comforter cover -- is shown in the 4 photos in my post right above your last post.
So the relationship between the comforter and the comforter cover is the same as that between the pillow and the pillow case.
I don't know what's a duvet ! :)

I use the term duvet and comforter interchangeable, but there is a difference. The fluffy covers that are filled with down are duvets. The covers that are filled with synthetic material that is usually sold in bedding sets are comforters. In US, duvets are also referred to as comforters; that is why we are so confused:)

I think in this thread the use of "comforter" by the posters refers to down comforters, not the bedspread type decorative comforter which would not have a down fill and go over traditional blankets. The one I use is a true down comforter, or duvet if you prefer, and I throw it in the washer and dryer with no problem.

berinlist, my fur is so bad I actually took a bet for this past Movember event and managed to grow a credible moustache. It was for charity to raise money for prostate cancer research and it gave me vast new insights into my hubby's 'living with face fur'. Nothing worked for my flashes until they took all the plumbing...and I could NOT tolerate hormone therapy.

Anyways, my lovely wool army surplus blankets, an assortment of fleece lengths we use for blankets (cheap if you buy off bolt, 2.5 yard chunks, and when they get pilly after several washer/dryer passes, recycle into something else and buy another) and quilts that I make... our king bed is made by piling what is 'in play' at the time and you help yourself when you crawl in. So, as I said, if it's on the bed and it will cover a body, it's fair game. There are two twin sheets, loose, one flannel, one cotton... and the fitted cotton bottom. If someone comes then everything gets folded and the bed gets made like a real bed with a king flat and pillows at the head end, and a pile of folded blankets on the bench.

A trick for those who wash their comforters, down or other wise, put tennis balls in the dryer with the comforters. The balls bounce around, I do not know what they actually do, but the comforters come out fluffy and dry quicker. I learned this from a dryer cleaner I helped. The down comforters they would take out when still a little damp and layer over racks to finish drying. A trick of the trade that most do not know. They had about a dozen tennis balls and a very large dryer.

Any hand made quit I would treat like a rare piece of art. To me, that is what they are!

Okdokgal, I glad you no longer have the hot flashes and are willing to be candid a about your life. It always helps to know you are not alone.

Hey we are in Minnesota where comforters not just decoration but they keep us warm on those long winter nights - sometimes multiple comforters man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am like the princess and the pea but in the reverse. The weight of the cover matters too much to me. So I use the fluffy cover for show only and use the same cover I have had for twenty five years to sleep under !!!! Silly me !

No duvet/comforter here in SE Massachusetts. We sleep under two quilts (with flannel sheets) during the cold spells, which usually don't last long and just remove a quilt as needed.
At 69, I too have had a furry face since menopause...good magnifying mirror, tweezers and depilatory are necessities now! IS IT HOT IN HERE, OR IS IT JUST ME?!