Wool duvet

[Sergeant Pluck]

Any users of wool duvets? Interested to hear pros and cons.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Baaaaaad

(so, so sorry. Could not resist. Actually they sound rather lovely)

[Flite]

We have had wool duverts for a good few years, and really like them.
They are heavier that the equivalent synthetic, feel more like a woolen blanket, but they do snuggle round you in a comforting manner.
I find much better temperature control - don't seem to get too hot or too cold, and never sweaty like synthetics.
Ours come as 200 and 300 gm, and can clip together for deep winter (I don't actually need both, even though I normally feel the cold).
Not as much of an allergy problem as down (possibly a problem if you are allergic to lanolin, but I don't know).
Highly recommended.

[Canardly]

Oooh this has given me ideas as our primary duvet is in need of rapid replacement. Now then washable, or non washable?

[Basil]

Oooh this has given me ideas as our primary duvet is in need of rapid replacement. Now then washable, or non washable?

That's a good question.

[Sergeant Pluck]

It is a good question. One manufacturer, Dorset Duvets I think, recommends washing them in the machine and then just air drying them. Another one, Floks, which makes a very similar product, says never, ever try to wash them in a machine - dry clean only. I can also see reports of the odd shrinkage disaster with these duvets at the dry cleaners. This is one of the reasons for my uncertainty - longevity after a couple of washes, whatever the method.

Do they stay well lofted or do they get compressed after a while?

[Sergeant Pluck]

Ours come as 200 and 300 gm, and can clip together for deep winter (I don't actually need both, even though I normally feel the cold).

That's what I'm after - a light + medium that can be joined if needed.

[andrewc]

I've not got a duvet, but I've a couple of pillows from The Woolroom.   They do compress a bit in use, but a shake usually fixes that.


I've washed the entire pillow (with stuffing).  No ill effects but took ages to dry.   I've also removed the wool stuffing, put that into a carrier bag & just washed the cotton outer.


My most recent purchase was a mattress topper from Piglet in Bed, which is very comfy.  Not tried to wash that yet.  I suspect a sunny day will be needed for drying.

[fruitcake]

Noone talks about care of wool items, but it is different from the care of cotton and polyester. Wool needs washing less often but more carefully.

As a user of wool blankets and wool clothing, I find wool needs washing a quarter as often as synthetics, because wool doesn't develop odour as readily, and if it finally does smell that can dissipate with airing.

It is agitation and heat shock (caused by agitation and the cold rinse in a washing machines) that causes wool fibre damage and contraction (which causes shrinkage of wool garments). I'd suggest that a wash once a year should be more than enough for a wool duvet. That would control dust mites. To wash the duvet, I'd fill a tub and let the thing soak for 20 minutes. No wringing, no spin dry as that could pull the fibres apart. Line dry outdoors across multiple washing lines so that the thing is lying horizontal; choose a warm day with low humidity for all this and drying should be done in a day. Wool dries approx twice as fast as cotton in any case.

If you have a chest freezer, wool bedding can be freeze treated to keep it sanitary. You place the wool item in a bin bag and leave it in the freezer for a week or more. That will destroy any larvae of bed bugs and moths - and it's moths that are the real 'enemy'.

Washing and freezing as described here is good practice before putting any wool items into storage (e.g. for the summer) because moths refer dirty wool.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Useful advice fruitcake, thanks. We lack a chest freezer but outdoor airing is feasible.

[HTFB]

We have had one from, I think, John Lewis on our bed for, ooh, a lot of years now. From time to time I get hideous night-sweats -- independently of temperature -- and it copes well. I can't smell it, anyway, and it's stayed warm. It goes to the launderette every so often, and gets tumble-dried there. It's never been touched by the moths.

[Flite]

I bought ours in Darlington, but the brand name doesn't come up on google these days - plenty of others available now though.
We chose duvets made in New Zealand beacause at the time they were the only ones I could find that said they were washable.
Ours are 9 years old and I have to admit, I have never felt the need to wash them.
Wool is naturally hypo allergic and resists mites etc. They don't get sweaty and smelly like synthetic duvets, which I did need to wash. (I struggled to wean myself off HRT, severe night sweats - that's when I got the suggestion to try wool duvets).
Ours get thrown back to air every morning and I only remake the bed when I want to get in.
Good shake when we change the covers. Well aired before storage and whenever I remember - outdoors in the summer, on the rack in the kitchen or just laid on a spare bed in the winter.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I think I am going to go for it.

[fruitcake]

Next duvet I buy will have wool filling.

BTW an easy way to reintroduce breathability to a feather duvet bed is to use that duvet on top of a wool blanket. This allows a small amount of air to circulate near to the skin, which the feather duvet would prevent. You can also wrap wool blankets around mattress for similar effect. That overcomes the lack of breathability in a memory foam mattress. With both an underblanket and top blanket in place, you can sleep cocooned in wool.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Ordered. I am looking forward to seeing what they are like. Thanks for all the advice re care. 

Bedlinen next on the list.

[Flite]

I find 100% Cotton works well with the wool duvets.
High thread count is nice.
If you don't want to iron - go for seersucker or "textured" - they are meant to look like that!

[andrewc]

I have some lovely tactile linen bedding from Piglet in Bed.  Very spendy though.


I think Devon Duvets had a 50% off offer on their cotton stuff if you bought a duvet.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I have some lovely tactile linen bedding from Piglet in Bed.  Very spendy though.


I think Devon Duvets had a 50% off offer on their cotton stuff if you bought a duvet.

That’s who I have ordered from. They did have that 50% but I don’t really want all-white everything so passed on it. No big rush on making choices as the bed involved will not be here for weeks.

[Canardly]

Woolroom duvet arrived today in what is quite possibly the largest cardboard box that Amazon do. So here goes... We will see.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I can report that a duvet made of wool is a most excellent thing.

[Flite]

Pleased for you

[Regulator]

Any users of wool duvets? Interested to hear pros and cons.

Yep.  I've had one for about five years now.  They are excellent at regulating temperature (I don't like being too hot).

I wouldn't go back to a normal quilt.

The only downside is finding a washing machine that can take it (it becomes very heavy when wet).

[Wowbagger]

Jan and I ordered a "boxed set" from Devon Duvets yesterday. They should arrive tomorrow.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I think that’s what we bought - a summer duvet + a mid.

We have just switched from light to mid. We are very pleased with the switch to wool. It’s noticeably more breathable and I no longer feel that I alternate between too hot and too cold. I also feel somehow more at ease with being in close proximity to local wool all night rather than feathers of often dubious provenance.

[fruitcake]

Alternating between too hot and too cold is exactly my experience with feathers. I've always found feather/down duvets clammy. Perhaps birds don't sweat?