Duvet covers vary in price, depending on materials, manufacturer and where they are purchased. They are priced starting at about US$45, and they go up from there. However, considering that they can be washed and replaced, they are worth the investment.

 

What are Duvet Covers?

To answer the question, "What are duvet covers," one first has to answer, "What are duvets?" A duvet is a bag filled with down, feathers, wool or other natural or man made stuffing to create a warm bed covering that takes the place of quilts, comforters & bedspreads.

Duvet is the French word for DOWN, as in down from birds. Duvets are rather like comforters, except that they have replaceable, washable covers - much like large pillowcases.

Duvet covers are useful because duvets usually cannot be washed. Water would ruin the stuffing. However, duvet covers can be laundered along with the sheets and pillowcases. This keeps the duvet fresh as well. Duvet covers button, zip or tie at the top to keep it secure. A shopper can find duvet covers in nearly any store that sells bedding, or online. They can be bought, like other bedding, according to the size of the bed. A duvet fitting a Twin or Twin-XLong Sized Bed needs Twin-Sized Duvet covers, Full or queen-sized bed needs queen-size, King or Cal-King Sized Bed needs King-Size for instance.

Another advantage of duvet covers is that they are changeable. Some are even reversible, with coordinating patterns or colors, so the home owner can change the feel of the room without having to completely redecorate. Duvet covers may be made out of any material comforters are made of: cotton, rayon, silk blends, microfiber, suede, etc. They can be purchased as part of a bedding set, in some cases, along with sheets, pillowcases and a bedskirt, all in coordinating patterns.

What is a Comforter?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

A comforter is a type of blanket. Comforters are intended to keep the user warm, especially during sleep, although they can also be used as mattress pads. Comforters are generally large and rectangular in shape, filled with natural or synthetic insulative material and encased in a shell/covering. Like quilts, comforters are generally used with a set of sheets.

Comforter sizes correspond with bed sizes:  twin, full, queen, king, and cal-king. Comforter sizes run slightly larger than actual bed sizes to allow for draping over the sides of the bed. Typical sizes in the United States for comforters are:

• Twin = 64" Width x 87" Length
• Queen / Full = 87" Width x 87" Length
• King = 101" Width x 90" Length.

A comforter is sometimes covered with a duvet (comforter) cover for protection and prolonged use. Duvet is French for "Down". Comforter covers are similar in principle to pillowcases, usually closed with zippers or buttons.

Construction

Filling - Comforters are filled with layers of material such as polyester batting, down feathers, wool, or silk. Comforters also can be made out of fur, usually with a backing of satin or silk. The loft of the filling determines the weight as well as the level of insulation. The comforter is stitched or quilted to secure the filling and keep it evenly distributed.

Shell/Covering - The outer shells of comforters are typically constructed using cotton, silk, or polyester fabrics or blends, of varying thread counts. Comforter shells vary in design and color, often designed to coordinate with other bedding. Washing a comforter should not be done with a top loader; minimum capacity to wash a comforter is 3.7 m³.

Generally, the best down comes from larger, more mature birds. When age and maturity are equal, goose down is better than duck down. However, down from a mature duck is better than down from an immature goose.

A high quality White Goose Down plumule will look like the above large illustration. A duvet, sleeping bag, or garment filled with this down will be very light and incredibly warm.

A poor quality White Goose Down will look like the above smaller illustration. It will not loft well as the more mature down. Even if there were more of this down by weight, it would not be as warm.

Down from immature birds not only tends to have poor lofting ability, it also tends to collapse in a relatively short time, because its fibers are so fragile. A duvet made with a mature down will be warmer, lighter and puffier. It will last much longer than one made with immature down.

What makes down such a good insulator?

Each ounce of high quality down has about 2 million fluffy filaments that interlock and overlap to form a protective layer of still air that keeps warmth in and cold out. It is these tiny pockets of air trapped by the down fibers that actually do the insulating. The more mature the down, the greater number of air pockets there are for more efficient insulating. Loft is directly related to insulating power. Because of its resilience, you can scrunch down up or flatten it out, and all it takes is a good shake for it to fluff up and bounce back.

Pillows were originally used mainly by the wealthy, and have been found in Angient Egyptian tombs. The difficulty of sophisticated dyes and sewing techniques led to the development of pillows as an art form, with highly decorated pillows becoming prized commodities first in China and Persia and later in Medieval Europe. In Tudor England, pillows became widely-used; it was believed only women giving birth should use one. The Industrial Revolution saw the mass production of decorated textiles and decorated pillows. Traditional Chinese pillows are often hard boxes made from stone, wood, metal, or porcelin instead of stuffed fabric.  Some ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made out of stone.

Pillows are a large cushion support for the head, usually used while sleeping in a bed, or for the body as used on a couch or chair. There are also throw pillows (also called toss pillows), which are pillows that are purely decorative and not designed for support or comfort. Outside the USA these are generally considered a type of cushion, with the term pillow reserved for the pillows on a bed.  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Construction and parts

Internally, a pillow comprises a filler made from foam, synthetic fills, feathers, or down. Traditionally straw was a filler, but this is uncomfortable and rarely used today. Feathers and down are the most expensive and usually the most comfortable; they offer the advantage of softness and their ability to conform to shapes desired by the user, more so than foam or fibre pillows. One of the disadvantages of a down-filled pillow is that a significant number of people are allergic to them. There are currently hypoallergenic varieties of down pillows to allow people sensitive to down to enjoy the comfort of feather or down pillows. In Asia, buckwheat  is a common filler, as are plastic imitations. Such pillows tend to be smaller than a standard pillow. In India, cotton  is also a common filler and is considered to be healthier than synthetic fills.

The fill is surrounded with a cover or shell made of cloth or silk,  known as the pillow case or pillow slip. Some pillows often have a fancier cover called a sham which is closed on all sides and usually has a slit in the back through which the pillow is placed. Rectangular bed pillows usually do not have zippers, but instead have one side open all the time. It is recommended that all types of pillow covers be laundered  periodically since they are the part that is in contact with a person's body. But even with regular washing, pillows tend to accumulate large amounts of dust  and vast numbers of microbes among the fill and it is recommended that they be replaced every few years, especially for those with allergies.

From Wikipedia