S l e e p e r

Do You Need a Duvet?

A reader writes:

Dear Sleeper,
Do you have a take on duvet covers?  We have bought a nice cotton one in a bright pattern that really makes the room, but as I'm spending money on an expensive down comforter that is designed to be lightweight, it seems  I'll be weighing it down with the cotton duvet cover. The comforter maker recommends finding a very light duvet cover to see the benefits of the light down comforter.  So... do you then have to buy a separate bedspread if your duvet cover is plain?  Does that then weigh the down comforter so it's no longer as "lofty"?  I'm trying to find a balance between getting the look and feel of a light, airy, cloudy bed and still having a bed cover that looks great from a design standpoint.

Puzzled in Duvet Land

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Dear Puzzled:

Here are the disadvantages of duvet covers:
1. Truly annoying to get the down comforter in and out of them.
2. Weirdly expensive, like certain other items in the world.
3. Bad design.

Here are the advantages of duvet covers:
1. They keep your down comforter clean.

Now, you do have to keep your down quilt covered, unless you live in a dirt- and dust-free, child-free, pet-free, food-crumb-free, human-free home. You shouldn't clean a down quilt more than more than once a year — no matter what the label instructions say — because it damages the tiny goose feathers and shortens the life of your investment.

You don't need to shell out for a duvet cover, though. You can use a lightweight blanket as a coverlet over the quilt, then tuck it and the comforter in around the mattress. Because there's just a top sheet between you and the quilt, you'll still get that fluffy feeling. (There are a lot of swell blankets out there now; Area's "Harry" blanket is pictured at right.) If you prefer the floaty feeling, you can buy a couple of lightweight queensize sheets (Donna Karan and Calvin Klein make nearly transparent sheets, often available at discounters) and have your dry cleaner stitch them into a duvet cover for a relatively cheap price. If the lightweight sheets are a plain solid color, you could drape a spread over the foot of the bed, or choose some knockout sheets and pillowcases to add design interest.

I never quite understood the appeal of the free-floating down comforter, though. To me, one of winter's chief pleasures is covering yourself with some heavy bedding. In New York in February, I would be oh so happy in a queensize panini press.

Yours amidst the sound of knocking radiators,
Sleeper

Down Comforter Advice

A reader writes:

Dear Sleeper,

I moved to a new apartment and I'm getting a new queensize bed. Unfortunately, my old down comforter was destroyed by water damage while in storage. I would like to buy a new one and was wondering if you had any advice. My price range is $200-$500 and I live in New York City, where the summers are hot and winters are cold, although I keep my thermostat around 65-70 degrees. I read your article on Plumeria Bay and was wondering if you recommend that brand, or maybe I should just buy a generic from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Also, how much "hang" should the comforter have over the side of the bed? If you have a standard-thickness mattress (9"-13"), a 90" wide queen comforter will only have a 2" hang off the end of the queen mattress. Is that enough? Or do you go with the king, which would leave 12" off the end and over the box spring, which might come dangerously close to the floor? I've noticed that most online stores cheat and have pictures of full/queen comforters on fullsize beds, which produces a perfect hang.

Thanks for your advice!

Best,
Uncomfortable New Yorker

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Dear Uncomfortable:

In your price range, I do like Plumeria Bay. I have the 800-fill tropical weight down comforter in queen ($546), covered with Lyocell, a fabric made from beech fibers. It's warm, but not too warm, and the material is soft and silky. Scandia makes a nice comforter, too. Their lightweight goosedown is a generous 102" wide ($550). I have found no down "leak" with either of these brands, whereas my old Company Store comforter trailed feathers (and was skimpy, but the company has since enlarged their sizes).

We have a platform bed, wth no box spring. So the hang, given the comforter's 92 by 92 inches, is ridiculously long. But here's the thing: I've started doing what our new housekeeper does — I tuck it in! I wondered whether tucking a down quilt would mush the feathers along the edge, but it doesn't.

I use a top sheet, then the comforter layer, then a light blanket on top. You tuck everything in, like wrapping a package.

If you use soft flannel sheets (my favorites are a cheap set the color of vanilla frozen custard, from BB&B), going to bed feels sort of like slipping into a padded mailing envelope. Mmm.

Now about those catalogues, with their dubiously fluffy comforters. One of their display secrets, besides, as you say, showing full/queen comforters on fullsize beds, is stuffing a king comforter into a queen duvet. You could do the same. But why pay for a king comforter, or a duvet cover? If you get at least a 92-inch wide comforter for a standard-thickness queensize mattress — or otherwise aim for at least 12 inches of hang — and use the layering trick above, you get around the whole duvet question. I think it's much nicer to snuggle into a tucked-in bed.

Sweet winter dreams,
Sleeper

Goosedown in Summer?

Just when I was wondering about summer blankets and feeling dissatisfied with our cotton quilt, which doesn't settle about the body but instead lies there on top of it, like a big thick crêpe, Plumeria Bay* asked if I'd review one of their tropical-weight down comforters.

If you live in New York — or Washington, Buffalo, Ann Arbor, Tokyo — it's a bit hard to get your mind around down in the hot months. If you think about it, though, goosedown pillows are great all year; they don't feel hot in July (or January, in Melbourne), especially if you use linen pillowcases. For our Brooklyn bedroom, Plumeria Bay recommended their 800 fill goosedown tropical-weight quilt: "I think you'll be surprised how warm, yet comfortable, it will be," said founder Steve Clay.

The comforter is covered in Lyocell, a fabric made from beechwood fiber. It's good for summer because it is softer and more absorbent than their cotton batiste, Clay explained. The queensize is a generous 92 inches square, compared with the old 77 x 82-inch full/queen winter comforter from The Company Store.

On a recent series of punishing city nights, the quilt was silky, breathable, and settled gently over the body, exactly as I'd hoped. But at about 3 a.m., I woke up, too warm. Turning the AC to "freeze" helped, but of course letting bedclothes govern energy usage is not ideal.

We brought the quilt up to the North Shore, in Massachusetts, for a few days. (Letting bedclothes govern vacation plans is a fine idea.) The nights were in the 50s and low 60s, with low humidity. There, the comforter was ethereal. It also was quieter than the cotton-covered down duvet in our cottage. Quieter, you say? Yes. If you're not the heaviest sleeper, and it's a hot summer night, the faintly crackly textural noise of cotton is vexing.

A duvet cover is really necessary if you have a dog or a child. Plumeria Bay carries luxurious ones sized for the comforter's 92 inches. Or your dry cleaner can always whip up a cover from a couple of queen flat sheets.

To sum up: Goosedown is lovely in summer. The feel of it is more substantial than a top sheet — I can't sleep with such scant weight on me — and lighter and floatier than a summer quilt. But if you live in a very humid climate, or tend to sleep warm, look around for the lightest weight option you can find. Plumeria Bay offers a 650 fill that would be cooler. The Company Store has a 550 fill, but you'll have to contend with the smaller 88-inch size, and it only comes in cotton. L.L. Bean carries a lightweight goosedown blanket, but again, it's cotton, which does feel heavy compared with the Lyocell.

Given the heat in New York apartments in January, I am sure this 800-fill tropic-weight will become our winter quilt.

*I discovered Plumeria Bay, a small company in Washington state, on my search for the perfect pillow, and have been impressed with their level of service and the quality of their products (plus the free shipping). Whenever possible, I research and buy from small companies. Supporting someone's dream, as opposed to being just a blip in a share price, is something to sleep on, I reckon.