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Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Old Nov 10th 2017, 10:33 pm
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Default Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Right, my Fellow Brits will understand me here. I want to talk about Duvets! Over here it seems you can't get the same as we are used to (a duvet with removable covers) and instead they have 'comforters' which you put on top of a top sheet. I aim to find a way eventually to get back to a UK set up (even if it means shipping a set or two over) but for now I want some advice on comforters.

There seems to be nothing like a tog rating here as we have n the UK. Not I bought a bed 'set' a few months ago for friends visiting and it was just fine, but the comforter part isn't very warm. I have looked in stores and they all seem to be the same. How or where do I find bedsets with a heaver/warmer comforter?

Thanks!
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 10:42 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!

Originally Posted by Harveyspecter
Right, my Fellow Brits will understand me here. I want to talk about Duvets! Over here it seems you can't get the same as we are used to (a duvet with removable covers) and instead they have 'comforters' which you put on top of a top sheet. I aim to find a way eventually to get back to a UK set up (even if it means shipping a set or two over) but for now I want some advice on comforters.

There seems to be nothing like a tog rating here as we have n the UK. Not I bought a bed 'set' a few months ago for friends visiting and it was just fine, but the comforter part isn't very warm. I have looked in stores and they all seem to be the same. How or where do I find bedsets with a heaver/warmer comforter?

Thanks!
Yes you can buy duvets and covers...Target, IKEA, department stores. No tog rating though. You can buy down, feather and down, feather or man made fiber duvets.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 10:47 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Duvets and comforters are different beasts. A comforter is stitched through so it is a kind of held together in a solid rectangle overall, whereas the duvet filling is contained within pockets and can shift around when fluffed. As JG said, they are not hard to find. There was another thread on the topic a few weeks ago with lots of recommendations if you do a search.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 10:50 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Duvets and comforters are different beasts. A comforter is stitched through so it is a kind of held together in a solid rectangle overall, whereas the duvet filling is contained within pockets and can shift around when fluffed. As JG said, they are not hard to find. There was another thread on the topic a few weeks ago with lots of recommendations if you do a search.
When we moved in 1996 I had a heck of a job finding duvets. IKEA was the only store and their covers were made of very thick hard cotton...yuck. Glad to say both duvets and covers have greatly improved and are much more available.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 11:18 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
When we moved in 1996 I had a heck of a job finding duvets. IKEA was the only store and their covers were made of very thick hard cotton...yuck. Glad to say both duvets and covers have greatly improved and are much more available.
I always found them at Macy’s and Bloomingdales since the late eighties.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 11:18 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

To me a 'comforter' is an eiderdown without the eider down filling but some other sort of filler. It is placed over a sheet and a blanky.

A duvet needs a duvet cover.

One of my pet annoyances is that here in NZ the duvet itself is called a duvet inner.

Can you not get M&S to ship to you?
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 11:26 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

M&S do free shipping to the US. The bed sizes are slightly different so not a good idea for fitted sheets but duvets hang over the edges anyway. I find that the U.K. King Size is just right for our Queen bed here in terms of duvets. It hangs over the edge just a little more than it would normally but who cares? I need my warmth! We have had snow since October 11 here and several cold months to go. I can't sleep with the heating on. Debenhams also does free shipping to the US for orders over (I think) $75.
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 12:57 am
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Duvets (as known to Europeans) - white cotton/polyester rectangle filled with feathers/down or polyester fillings. Good duvets are stitched into squares to stop the filling from moving. In Europe, one buys duvet covers so these can be removed and washed. You sleep with the duvet next to your skin, without another top sheet.

Comforters (as in the US) - Filled and puffy quilts in various designs and colours. Usually comes as part of a bed set with matching pillow, sheets.You sleep with a comforters on top of your top sheet. There is no comforter cover.
Not usually rated for warmth.

Duvets can be bought from most department stores. They are usually tagged as light, medium, heavy - have not see 'tog' values in the US. I have always found duvet covers to be very expensive compared to European prices, which I have never understood.
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 1:13 am
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

I bought an Ikea duvet at first, but all of my duvet covers were from the UK (because bedding is way cheaper there, and there's far more of a selection of duvet covers) and there is a size difference - the duvets didn't fit properly inside the covers. I ended up ordering duvets on Amazon.co.uk. Many places will ship to the US fairly inexpensively (e.g. this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...KL5A1OLE&psc=1 - which I put in my cart as a test and found the shipping charge to the US is £4.95)
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 12:52 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

They tend to use terms like 'fill power' rather than tog, and they are sometimes called duvet inserts rather than duvets.

I got mine at overstock.com and am v v happy with it. I.think it was this one

Last edited by Jerseygirl; Nov 11th 2017 at 1:32 pm. Reason: Link out in Spoiler Tags as it reduced the text
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 2:00 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by kins
They tend to use terms like 'fill power' rather than tog, and they are sometimes called duvet inserts rather than duvets.

I got mine at overstock.com and am v v happy with it. I.think it was this one

Got my newest duvet cover there -- a good place to look for all bedding.
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 6:34 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Got my newest duvet cover there -- a good place to look for all bedding.
We used to call them quilts in Australia. I went shopping for one after moving to Liverpool UK, and found that 'quilt' has an entirely different meaning here
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 6:41 pm
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 7:26 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
Duvets (as known to Europeans) - white cotton/polyester rectangle filled with feathers/down or polyester fillings. Good duvets are stitched into squares to stop the filling from moving. In Europe, one buys duvet covers so these can be removed and washed. You sleep with the duvet next to your skin, without another top sheet.

.
you can do, but in both UK and US, we always use a top sheet. Much easier to change that often, and change the duvet cover less frequently
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Old Nov 11th 2017, 7:47 pm
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Default Re: Duvets...I mean "Comforters!"

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
In Europe, one buys duvet covers so these can be removed and washed. You sleep with the duvet next to your skin, without another top sheet.
My husband does this, just a bottom sheet and the cotton duvet/doona/quilt cover next to your skin with both being changed once a week. Drives me mad, I'm a 'hot' sleeper and throw the covers off numerous times, but I like a top sheet to cover me. But since he does the bed making and washing, I won't complain
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