Having my duvet laundered

Sign of the throw away society i am afraid.

My new duvet cost £55!

I had the same problem a few years ago and at that time there was a night hostel for homeless people in a nearby town. Our duvets were in very good condition but just needed freshening up and the hostel was very happy to take them as they had a large capacity machine they would wash them in. It was a win, win situation as it was cheaper for me to replace them than have them laundered and the hostel benefited too. I have since found a launderette with a very large capacity machine and am happy to pay £6 or £7 per duvet to wash and dry them. Hate the idea of just chucking them when they only need freshening up, but I'm sure that's what happens to a lot of them.

Our laundrette will do a service wash for a king sized, feather and down duvet for £12.

Does no one air them regularly on the line or out of the window?
Plenty of hot sunny days, or crisp, sunny winter days to keep them fresh.
I do it weekly weather permitting.
Wash once a season.

I have enough problems getting them in the covers - I don't think I could get them over the washing line to air them weekly!

I too have often wondered why it's cheaper to buy a new duvet than have the current one cleaned. My nearest launderette has now closed, so will have to take duvet to supermarket cleaners, where it costs more to have it laundered than to buy a new one. I hate the thought of duvets going to the tip, so it will either be the night-shelter or the cleaners.

With washing machines now getting bigger, surely it's no problem to wash them yourself these days. I've always done it, then draped them over the clothes dryer by the fire to dry.

If you don't have a new-fangled washing machine with a big drum, maybe one of your friends or neighbours does, and you can borrow theirs for the price of a bunch of flowers or bottle of wine.

Quality down/feather duvets are warmer and I would never pay as little as £11 for a duvet. It’s like buying cheap clothing. You know what they say buy cheap buy twice.

Me too Willow500, I think this sums it up

I have bought my most recent duvets at Tesco. There is no need to buy expensive ones, unless you want down and feathers. My duvet is lovely and warm. I got rid of my feather and down duvet years ago as all the feathers migrated to the bottom and had to be shaken up every day to redistribute them. With arthritic shoulders, I couldn't do that now.
A hotel local to me has a laundrette, they charge £4 per wash. The dryers are a bit small, so I bring my duvet home and DH puts it over the washing line to dry.

Go on to YouTube and search -putting on a duvet cover.
Should make your life easier Willow 500.

I'm with Lazigirl. We had our first duvet nearly 50 years ago - I have just bought our 3rd one. Makes much more sense IMO.

I use my summer 4.5 tog in winter and summer which makes it easy to launder in my washing machine.In winter or any chilly night I have a cellular blanket that can go on top of my duvet. But then I don't share my bed so do not have to contend with objections to my methods.

There are now plenty of duvets on the market which are suitable for washing in a domestic washing machine - even the older smaller capacity machines. Plus you can get them in "All Seasons" format a 9 tog and 4.5 tog which can be used separately or clipped together. I got mine from the Fine Bedding Company, king size washes perfectly in my 6kg capacity washing machine.

Recently I had a 13.5 tog single duvet laundered and it cost £16. (I'm passing it to a family member and wanted to be sure it's clean. I didn't want to risk overloading - and breaking - our washing machine.) I was a bit surprised at the cost of cleaning but I would far rather carry on using something (even at this cost) than throw it away and buy a new one. Also the £16 was paid to a local business - the launderette - and not to a national chain, so at least it's "keeping things local".

Whenever the weather is fine, I hang my duvet out of the bedroom window to air. It's out there today. I do wash them when I change from winter to summer, my 8kg machine will take the summer one, but not the winter one, which I take to the local laundrette for about £7 and dry it on the line.

I wish we had a local launderette. You'd think they'd be fairly accessible here in the West Mids conurbation. But no, they're like hens teeth.

Food for thought! I hadn't thought of buying a new duvet rather than having it cleaned. I'm sure the charity shops would be glad to take old duvets.

I have down duvets which are well over 30 yea4s old. I hang them in the windows every second day if there’s no rain as the sun kills off any mites in there, then at end summer or winter wash and dry them in the local launderette.
Putt8ng them out in the sun using bedroom window, is done in Germany and Austria. ! Daily, if not raining. It works. The6 are fresh and free from wildlife.

Near us there is an animal sanctuary which welcomes old duvets as bedding for the pets..

Our local branch of Dog's Trust are only too pleased to have second-hand duvets passed on to them. That's where the charity shop that I work in sends them when they're not quite 'good enough to sell on'.

Also consider the PDSA for any old/stained Cot Bedding.

I have very little room to store a thick winter duvet over the summer, so I always buy a new 'budget' one the following season and pass the old one on to the local dog shelter, who are always grateful. Also the homeless hostels here are always happy to accept them. I can however make my summer one last a little longer as it will go in my washing machine and takes up less room! I do always try to buy ones with cotton or cotton mix covering. Those ones with shiny, slippery fabric coverings feel horrible and never seem to stay in place. I don't do feathers.

Hahah. 3 posts mentioning dog rescue centres in quick succession!