How to Care for Duvet & Duvet Cover Sets

Duvet cover sets are essential parts of every modern bedroom. Gone are the days of heavy quilts and blankets. Duvets are what’s in now. And here’s why. They are comparatively cheap, they can easily be changed and they are easy to care for. The Mattress Warehouse stocks a wide variety of bedding and duvet cover sizes and in this blog post, we will tell you all about how to take care of your duvet set. So if you are looking for top tips on how to look after your duvet cover set, keep reading.

How to maintain a duvet & the duvet cover set

Taking care of your bedding means that it will stay fresh and cosy for longer. There is a difference between a duvet (or duvet inner) and its cover set. And because they are different, it makes sense that you don’t maintain them in the same way. To make it easy for you, we jotted down a couple of quick pointers on how to maintain duvets and duvet cover sets respectively.

The duvet inner

Made from feathers, down or some synthetic copy thereof, maintaining a duvet inner is fairly straightforward. Although, it can be time-consuming. This is what you need to do to ensure the longevity of your duvet inner:

• Every morning after you get out of bed, shake and fluff the duvet to keep the filling distributed evenly.
• Keep the duvet inner in a duvet cover. The cover will protect the inner from things like coffee spills and dust.
• Every 4 to 6 months, wash the duvet inner in a large washing machine with enzyme-free soap, so as not to break down any natural material that might be in the duvet.
• Dry the duvet on low heat with a gentle tumble. Shake it out at least once every hour while you dry it. A handy trick is to put 2 or 3 tennis balls in the tumble dryer with the duvet to break up the clusters of wet filling.
• To ensure that every ounce of moisture is out of the duvet, hang it up in the shade outside to air dry for 24 hours after you’ve tumbled it. If you put a wet duvet back in its cover, it will mould.
• Put the duvet in a fresh duvet cover to protect it for the next couple of months.

The duvet cover

This is way less time consuming than washing the duvet inner. And that is a good thing because duvet cover sets were specifically invented to protect duvet inners. Which means that they can take more wear and tear than the inner. Furthermore, cleaning them can mostly be done at home, in your own washing machine (more on that in a bit).

Tip: Having two duvet cover sets is quite handy as you can put a fresh cover on the duvet when you wash the dirty one.

Can you put the duvet cover in the washing machine?

Well, it depends on the type of cover you have. Things like fancy silk duvet cover sets should definitely not go in the washing machine! On the other hand, synthetics, linen, and cotton duvet covers can all go in the washing machine. Just read the washing instructions on the label carefully before simply chucking the cover set in the machine and putting it on the first, best wash cycle on the dial. As a rule of thumb (and if you can’t find the washing instructions anywhere) we suggest that you wash your various duvet cover sets as follows:

• Cotton: In a washing machine. You can put it on a hot or cold cycle, but hot is generally better because it kills more germs. Air dry.
• Linen: Wash on a lukewarm, gentle cycle in the washing machine or give it a good ol’ hand wash. Air dry in the shade.
• Silk: Take it to a reputable dry cleaner!
• Synthetics: Polyester and most other synthetic materials can be washed on a normal cycle in your washing machine. Air dry or tumble dry on low heat.

Now that you know how to wash your duvet cover, you might have some more questions. We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked duvet cover related questions below:

How often should you wash a duvet cover?

You should wash your duvet cover every time you wash your sheets (at least once every second week). Because it lies on top of your bed, duvets tend to pick up a lot of dust mites. Not to mention hair and food particles (especially if you have children and/or pets)! And hey, no one has ever complained about sleeping in clean sheets.

Should duvet covers be washed inside out?

It is not essential that you wash your duvet cover inside out. However, if you dry your washing on a line in the sun, consider hanging the cover inside out to keep the colours from fading in the sun.

How to put on a duvet cover in a few easy steps

Getting your duvet inner back into its cover can be ridiculously embarrassing! But what if we told you that there is a dignified way of completing the task? Check out this cool way of putting a duvet cover on a duvet:

1. Turn the duvet cover inside out and spread it out over your bed. If you dried the cover inside out, skip this step.
2. Spread the duvet inner over the duvet cover and make sure that the corners are aligned.
3. Tie the corners of the duvet to the duvet cover, if your duvet has built-in ties. If not, you can use safety pins to latch the cover onto the inner. But the corners don’t have to be tied for this method to work.
4. Note which side of the duvet cover is the open-ended side and take up your position on the other end.
5. Starting at the end of the duvet cover that is closed, carefully roll up both the duvet and the cover into a duvet roll (it will kind of look like a giant pancake).
6. Now the open end of the duvet cover should be on the outside of the duvet roll. Keeping the bottom lip of the opening against the roll, fold the outer lip over the entire roll so that the roll ends up inside the mouth of the duvet cover.
7. Button up all the buttons or zip up the open end of the duvet cover.
8. Making sure that you grip both the cover and the duvet inner, take a firm grip of the two outermost corners of your duvet pancake and shake out the duvet.
9. Spread the duvet over your bed and enjoy a good night’s rest under your fresh linen!

It may sound strange at first, but just give it a try. You feel immense satisfaction when your duvet settles nicely in place without you having to climb into the duvet cover set to make sure that the cover and inner are aligned.

Buy your duvet cover sets online at The Mattress Warehouse

Not only do we know how to care for our bedding, but The Mattress Warehouse also stocks a wide range of bedding. Like, for instance, duvets and duvet cover sets. If you think that you need an extra duvet cover to give your bedroom a fresh look or to keep the duvet inner clean while you wash the other cover, check out our selection of duvet covers for sale. And when you like what you see, you can go ahead and buy it online from the comfort of your couch (or wherever you find yourself).