LB, the same can be said of sheets. I wash my cover and sheets at the same time. Also, my duvet covers are usually solid color and my sheets, pillow cases and pillows are patterned. I have a king size duvet and cover on my queen size bed and have no problem with cold feet. My duvet is also very light weight.

Thanks Jean Worthy. Yes I understand what you said. My thought is that sheets are easier and less expensive to replace than colored, patterned, detailed or more expensive duvet covers and comforters. If duvets are solid color without purposeful design and/or pattern/motif that co-ordinates with the design style of the room - these specialty designed toppers would be pricey to replace if they are regularly laundered and may not be available again.

OK, I understand. You're calling me cheap...LOL Just kidding.

I don't like tucking in sheets or sharing. I decided to do two thin comforters i can easily wash. Many duvet covers have sheet-like material. I am a convert to getting rid of the top sheet. No more tugging wars with a restless spouse and we can burrito into our own covers.

I you don't use your top sheets that means you have to wash your blankets all the time. I like the softness of sheets against the skin.

I know there was a discussion about the difference between duvets, comforters and another thing that I don't remember. Depending on where we live, we call things by different names. I use a down comforter, which apparently is what is called a duvet (comes from French) for which I have a cover. I wouldn't need the flat sheet since the duvet is protected by the cover, but I like to have an extra layer.

I use a flat sheet, soft blanket, comforter and duvet with a cover. My duvet cover requires dry cleaning, so I really don't use it unless it's very cold. For me, the bed just doesn't feel right without a flat sheet

Not sure how I ended up here on this topic, but. I like 2 flat sheets and a light blanket. I am temperature sensitive. I don't like a lot of weight on me when I sleep and especially on my feet. The duvet /comforter, just for show.

I like top sheets so much that the lack of them in hotels is one of my top complaints. (That and the pillows that don't offer neck support)

I've always had a top sheet but my 2 sons both don't like them. This has been going on since they moved from crib to bed. They always kicked it to bottom of bed. I thought they were unusual but I guess not.

It seems to me that people are confusing duvet covers -which are cotton bags that the duvet (feather, wool, silk, polyester padded blanket type thing) with bedspreads which are decorative covers for the bed that coordinate with the decorative shams. The bedspread is removed or folded back from the top when the person is sleeping. The duvet with cover is used instead of cotton or wool blankets to keep the sleeping person warm. The duvet cover is removed and washed when the sheets are washed. The duvet cover will fade as will your bottom sheet and pillow cases as you wash them. The bedspread (long) or coverlet (short) is not really anything to do with sleeping, it is simply for decor. As it is removed for sleeping it only needs to be drycleaned occasionally so will last a long time.

Kathleen for president!
I hope after this people will understand that having duvet covers is not worse or colder ..... than having a top sheet.
When I make my bed in the morning I just cover it with bedspread and /or coverlet.
Here is the article
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/coverlet-duvet-quilt-comforter-whats-the-difference-stsetivw-vs~1084803

HATE the top sheet! What a pain in the arse! Everyone should sleep under a light as air but sumptuously thick Canadian goose down duvet once in their life. They would never go back to piles of unruly blankets and sheets and whatever else people heap all over themselves. And those silly top sheets? I turn them into duvet covers! Easy peasy.

After traveling through Germany and staying in hotels my husband and I decided to sleep in our king size bed using two different weight single duvets. We do not use a flat sheet. Each loves having control of our own cover, kicking it off, feet out or under etc. It is also really easy to make in the morning. Unfortunately I don't like the appearance of the bed and am thinking of buying a bedspread? That has to removed every night, thrown on the floor along with all the decorator pillows. Any suggestions?

I wouldn't want to use only a duvet over me because most of the duvet covers are made of rough fabric and not smooth like my flat sheet.

I think we use the bed coverings in all different ways.
Those with decorative comforters can be for show only ... or ... not removed or rolled down and used as a warm blanket/duvet for sleeping.

The decorative comforter(duvet) is not taken off the bed or rolled down. It is used for warmth instead of an added duvet for warmth. The top sheet protects the comforter/duvet from getting soiled.

850 Egyptian cotton love!! :0)

But...never tucked in! Too confining.

We prefer duvet covers because they stay on the duvet, no matter how much the sleeper tosses.

This is obviously a topic that depends on where you grew up or live. We hate top sheets, and if we have to use them in hotels or vacation rentals in the U.S., we use baby pins to keep them on the comforters. Otherwise, we'd wake up with the comforter on bare skin - which is disgusting.

midmodfan, you are brilliant!!! pins go in my travel case from now on.

Duvet covers come in different thread counts, just like sheets. Find a good quality one - I'm sure there are 850 Egyptian cotton duvet covers - and it won't be rough.

Something I love in high end hotels is the double flat sheet technique. The duvet is sandwiched between two very soft crisp high thread count flat sheets. Not sure exactly how they manage it, but the sheets are folded over the duvet in such a way that they stay put. Would love that at home, but too much work, even if I could figure out the technique.

Actually, hotels don't use fitted sheets at all - with dozens or hundreds of beds to be made and sheets to be laundered every day, it is more efficient to only have flat sheets and to tuck a flat sheet in for the bottom sheet.

I've always been a restless sleeper . . . with my sheets either in a pile on the floor OR all wrapped around me. As an architect I finally woke up and solved the problem with my new 'patent pending' innovation www.tuckmeingoodnight.com . It's TOTALLY solved my problem and all my family and friends that I've shared it with. One main problem with your 'standard bedding' is that the majority of sheets and blankets are NOT long enough so we tug them out at the bottom so the top is where we want it to be. SO . . . I also offer specialized bedding that's 10" long than standard . . . the sheets and blankets now come up to the chin where they should be. It also allows for some room at the bottom . . . so while you're 'tucked in', your feet have room to move. An added BONUS is that making the bed in the morning is a breeze!

I use the double flat sheet same as hotels, in winter i swap the top outer sheet for a fluffy blanket, much easier than a duvet cover In Australia we call duvet covers quilt covers.

On many nights, the down-filled duvet is too warm, even though it's covered in a sheet-like material. I'm always glad to have the option of a top-sheet. Also, a flat sheet "moves" with you better, in those moments when one wants to flail about like a landed flounder while still being covered, lol.

As a top sheet I love it...it makes the blanket last longer in between washings and I love the way it feels.

I don't use a duvet...or a cover.

I'm usually a warm sleeper. Don't care for anything too heavy. I have a quilted cotton beadspread....over my top sheet...in the winter.

Flat sheets were considered a luxury in the thirties. My mom was scoffed at as a freshman at OSU when she arrived w no top sheet. Old practical approach resurfaces as a new trend.

Give me a tight fitted bottom sheet and a soft cotton top sheet before pulling up the down :) Yawn. Zzzz

For y'all who are having trouble with the top sheet coming un-tucked at the bottom, here's a tip; you're doing it wrong. See, what ya need to do is take the top sheet and comforter off the bed. Then tuck the bottom end of the sheet in the top end of the bed(that's right... the part that goes under the pillows). Then you gently stretch out the sheet until straight and smooth. Now fold it up towards the top end of the bed, leaving the normal gap that you would if it were tucked in at the bottom. Put the comforter back on the bed(along with the nine decorative pillows if you are that kind of person) and you're done. The sheet will never un-tuck again, and you'll be ready for a short night!

I live in the tropics, so I use linen sheets. usually the top sheet is the only layer on the top of the bed. A blanket is rarely needed or used. I get my very high quality linen sheets from a woman in No. Caifornia, who does not make fitted sheets! The sheets are oversized so I just put them on, tuck the bottom sheet in at the head of the bed and let the other 3 sides hang on the sides and foot of bed.

I hate it,it always ends up by my feet in the morning

Oh, also, I absolutely hate putting the comforter back inside the duvet cover after it's washed. If I didn't have a housekeeper doing that chore for me every week, I wouldn't have as clean a duvet! ;)

no flat sheet? ick! body secretions, sweat, oils and dander (we shed little bits of skin just like pets do) all over the duvet or blanket..much easier to wash sheets.

of course, if I had a housekeeper doing all the laundry, I wouldn't care, lol

This is all new to me , is this a part of the fast society ? Fast food and fast bedding. Flat sheets where always used and will be used by me duvet or not

Love a flat sheet, on our bed we have 2 ... My husband is a sheet hog!

whatttt? I used both together . I thought that's how it was supposed to be

Learn something new every day! (At my age, that's amazing.) I never considered NOT using two sheets!

Like kristinaandreau, we use a linen flat sheet for the bottom sheet, and a linen "summer cover" year round for the top sheet, no duvet, a couple of throws for each of us if chilly, a blanket if it gets cold. The linen sheets are from Rough Linen, the same place kristinaandreau got hers. The owner sews the linen into various products. She is getting quite a wonderful reputation with designers and bloggers. Expensive, but for us, worth saving up for. They will outlast us! We have had other linen sheets, RH, Garnet Hill, but they have not held up well.

And for those of you who have trouble with keeping the top sheet tucked in, here's what you do....don't tuck it in! Leave it hanging all the way around the bed. If you have more sheet than bed (the bottom end drags on the floor), and have a footboard, fold the sheet up a foot at the bottom, accordion style, and tuck the ends between the footboard and mattress, leaving most of the sheet free. I broke my leg and ankle, and having a tucked sheet was very, very painful. Have never gone back.

never realized it was an option or that people WOULDN'T want to use one!

Both, emphatically. In my room, no top sheet because husband hates them. In the guest room (where we have paying guests over half the summer) top sheet to keep the cotton blankets clean(er)... I think it makes the guests feel more confident in the cleanliness of the space, having the top sheet "protect" them.

It is rather useless and hard to manage at times. Unless you are doing something clever like this:

Either way, I'm OK. During the summer I only use the flat sheet for cover so I don't make the bed up any further than that. However, I'd be OK with any other lightweight cover. I'm not tied to the sheet idea.

If you're talking about how you were raised...You'll all love this! My mom used flat sheets, and still does to this day, for BOTH of the sheets on the bed. The woman can use a flat sheet on the bottom, tuck and fold with "hospital corners" and somehow that sheet stays put for the week! She also ironed all the sheets and towels after each weekly wash and before putting them in the linen closet.

I use a flat and fitted sheet and always did so on my kids beds. But both my son and daughter never liked the top, flat sheet and I'd find them stripped off each of their beds. So eventually, I just stopped using them for the kids' beds :) Why bother if they don't care for it...and it does make the bed much easier to make, especially when they were younger!

Nothing better than sleeping under cool thin sheets on a hot summer night!

I still use two flat sheets sometimes, since I have extra white ones. I think sheets were used to protect the heavier quilts or blankets, as those were a huge PITA to wash before the days of automatic washers or even running water. With clean water supplies dwindling and water rates constantly going up, we may need to reconsider bringing back such common-sense conservation in our day-to-day lives.

This (see image) works for me. Don't like to be restricted in my movement. Our duvets are cool on one side and warm on the other.

I don't think this really has to with culture as some people have mentioned, I think it's more personal or maybe even household preference. I personally hate flat sheets, but other people I know like them. Since I was a kid I've always just kicked it to the end of the bed and I recently (now an adult) had one again and I'd still be kicking it away or twisting it around me in my sleep every night until one morning when it was a ball on the floor and I got annoyed with it and left it there for a few days until I decided to just wash it and fold it and put it away forever (until maybe summer if it's really hot and use it instead of a comforter or duvet).

As a self admitted bed Natzi I can't imagine not using a top sheet. everything has to be tucked in just right and in the morning its so easy to make.

I will use one like the person above in the summer if there is no A/C for some reason. I just change and wash my cover everting I change my bed and have the same two sets in moss and white. They’re amazing from eBay . All different colors and so soft you would think they were very expensive