- 1. Know your togs
Ever wondered: what’s a tog… and why is there one in my new duvet? Tog is a unit of measurement telling you how much heat a duvet will retain. As a rule of thumb, you’ll want a 4.5 tog duvet for summer, a 9 tog for spring or autumn, and a 13.5 tog for winter. Don’t panic – no need to buy three. Get an All Seasons set of 4.5 and 9 tog duvets that pop together for winter.
- 2. Size up
To combat duvet-hogging, buy a size bigger than your mattress. Standard sizes are: Single - 135 x 200cm; Double - 200 x 200cm; King - 230 x 220cm; Superking - 260 x 220cm.
- 3. What’s under the covers?
Choose from a NATURAL or SYNTHETIC duvet filling. Natural Feather and Down is our most popular – it’s warm, soft, and breathable (but choose a duvet with a high ratio of down, because it’s lighter and warmer). Shake them out for comparison and you’ll easily see that goose is the lightest and best sort – followed by duck. Other NATURAL choices include wool, silk and cotton. They’re good at extracting body moisture and are naturally hypoallergenic (unlike feather and down). If you want a SYNTHETIC duvet, microfibre is the thing to look for. It’s really hardwearing and feels a lot like down, but it will get flattened a bit more quickly.
- Duvet care
Washing any duvet too much will weaken the fibres in the case and eventually cause the filling to leak. To combat this, choose high thread-count duvet covers to protect your duvet (and wash it less frequently). Air it every fortnight and give it a good shake daily to get rid of dust. When there’s nothing else for it, get your duvet professionally cleaned – especially if it’s a feather and down duvet. Make sure your duvet is properly dry through and through before putting it on your bed.
