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Duvet covers

(90 Posts)
watermeadow Sun 19-May-19 21:00:04

I know how to change the beastly thing but I hate doing it. I’m wondering whether to go back to sheets and blankets or, if I have a flat sheet under the duvet, how long can I leave the duvet cover unwashed?
My ideal would be a light quilt on top of me, without a removable cover, which I could wash every week.

DanniRae Thu 23-May-19 22:13:43

I do the same as lilypollen - change bottom sheet and pillowcases every week and turn over the duvet for the 2nd week. I hate changing the duvet so I do the easy job of bottom sheet and pillowcases and my husband puts on the clean duvet cover.

Mebster Thu 23-May-19 21:57:21

I recently stayed at a guest house that had two top sheets with the duvet in the middle. It protected the duvet but with the comfort of a cover. It looked and felt wonderful.

boat Thu 23-May-19 21:42:14

My MiL had problems putting a duvet cover on so she picked open the top and one side seam and replaced them with press studs. It worked very well. I've been wondering if I could do something similar but use very long zips instead

NotSpaghetti Wed 22-May-19 14:08:53

I hate the sheet-under-duvet solution with a passion!
Like M0nica it tangles me up as I like to have my feet out!

Shizam - I suggest you do what my mother-in-law did a few months after my father-in-law died - she was sick of the massive empty bed speaking so obviously of her loss and bringing with it all the problems of huge duvets etc.
She bought a new single bed for herself, new bed linen and duvet. She said that although she felt a bit odd about it, it was “sensible”. Now she loves it. It has certainly made SO much more space in her bedroom.

moggie57 Wed 22-May-19 12:17:54

wash each week...dust mites get in everything....

grandtanteJE65 Tue 21-May-19 16:19:27

When I was a child we slept with top sheets and a duvet in a cover. The sheets and pillowslips were washed every week the duvet cover once a month, unless we had been ill.

M0nica Tue 21-May-19 15:32:45

I have tried having a sheet under the duvet, but I am a restless sleeper and keep waking in the night with the sheet and duvet all tangled together and wrapped round me like a shroud.

sodapop Tue 21-May-19 13:20:32

Yes Shizam I remember the eiderdown and counterpane. I also loved the feather mattress that enveloped you and made it so hard to get out of bed on cold mornings.

Tweedle24 Tue 21-May-19 09:01:23

My father used a top sheet under the duvet and I now do the same. I just wish we could still get the fitted top sheets. Since the advent of duvets. They seem to have disappeared from the shops. I really struggle to lift the very heavy mattress to tuck the flat sheet underneath.

stella1949 Tue 21-May-19 03:27:50

I dislike having a top sheet as well as the duvet - I like being able to kick the duvet off my feet when they get hot. I just use a duvet cover and wash it once a week, same as the bottom sheet. I've never had a problem with changing the cover, I use the "inside out" method and find it easy.

lilihu Mon 20-May-19 22:06:06

Have always used a top sheet which gets washed every 8/10 days. The duvet cover doesn’t get dirty and it’s never next to any skin so just needs a refresh whenever I think it needs one. Really can’t be faffed washing and drying duvet covers. Plus, sometimes it’s nice to pull the duvet down and just have the sheet for a light covering.

Shizam Mon 20-May-19 21:34:49

I hate changing duvet on my unnecessarily large bed! I’m now missing my single bed from childhood with sheet, blanket, eiderdown and counterpane. Get that for an old-fashioned words!

Marmight Mon 20-May-19 20:45:25

I don't have a husband any more to hold the ends while I shoogle, so I just get on with it. Like everything else in life, you manage. It's amazing how you cope when you have to! I just lay the (King size) cover on the bed, stuff the duvet into each far corner then the near corners, grab them and shake like mad and Bob's yer Uncle. Job done. Simples. hmm

lilypollen Mon 20-May-19 20:34:37

I put a set on the bed. a week later wash pillowcases and bottom sheet and turn over the duvet. Sadly this is only possible since we lost our four-legged friend who was allowed on bed for morning tea.

Sara65 Mon 20-May-19 20:25:04

I personally dislike duvets, always sheets and blankets, tried it once, and felt like I was being suffocated

All the guest beds have duvets though, and I don’t really mind changing them, but no matter how long I spend fiddling about with them, they never look neat

M0nica Mon 20-May-19 19:55:34

I have never had a problem changing the covers on a single duvet. All double/kingsize duvet changing is a 2 man/woman job, with DH and I working in concert.

NotSpaghetti Mon 20-May-19 19:46:53

I too shake my duvet over the banister JackyB - it seems to work well even with a super-king sized one.

sarahellenwhitney Mon 20-May-19 19:46:30

Another blessing, like sliced bread, has to be the polycotton duvet cover.Take it off the duvet then into the washing machine, hang on the washing line or put in the tumble dryer and it can be back over the duvet by bedtime.

sodapop Mon 20-May-19 19:27:59

Thanks charleygirl I live in France so unfortunately Dunelm is not a possibility for me.

Destin no need to read the threads which don't interest you rather than be rude to those who are interested.

annep1 Mon 20-May-19 19:25:35

I change my pillow slips much more often than the duvet cover.
Teatowel - clean one every day.

Witzend Mon 20-May-19 19:18:50

I stopped ironing duvet covers/sheets ages ago. TBH the creases soon disappear.

I recently bought a William Morris print duvet cover for a spare room king size bed. It's the strawberry thief pattern, in dark blue. Brilliant! Because of the pattern and colour, creases never show at all!
I do usually iron the (plain) pillowcases for guests, but that's it.

Our own duvet is a superking - bed is between K and SK - and I usually get dh to help me change the cover. But since he was away last time I tried the inside-out method, and it's certainly easier, though still a bit of a hassle with a monster duvet..

SueDonim Mon 20-May-19 19:12:19

I used to have clean bedding every day. I don't now, though.

Gonegirl I don't like to be all wrapped up in the duvet. When I stay at hotels I hate waking up feeling smothered. My dad used to sleep with his head underneath the bedding - I don't know how he even managed to breath! grin

Gonegirl Mon 20-May-19 19:10:55

You just take each of the two top corners, go inside the cover with them and aim for the two top corners of the cover. Then shake it down. It's really not difficult.

chrissyh Mon 20-May-19 19:08:15

For those of you who find changing a duvet difficult, hope you enjoy the following:
The most common ghosts are the ones that appear, dressed in a white sheet, with flailing arms. These are people who died whilst changing their duvet covers and are condemned to wander in bedrooms for ever, trying to find the corners.

Gonegirl Mon 20-May-19 19:05:58

paddyann start saving the planet a bit.