Any opinions on these duvet covers? Wondering what to buy.

[Deleted User]

I usually have a good look around the CS first before buying duvet covers, I picked up a gorgeous John Lewis one for my spare bed for £5.00 and it was almost as new. Dorma stuff I would highly recommend as I have a pair of candy pink striped single Dorma sheets that I bought for my DD when she went from her cot to a single bed in 1969 and they are as good today as when I bought them and she is 50 next year :):)No point buying heavy things that take ages to dry I like ones that will wash and line dry easily or at least if damp dry I can put them on the clothes horse in the conservatory to get dry enough to iron.

Pollycat

ripplyuk wrote: »

I've had my current two duvet covers for over 13 years and they're now threadbare, see-through and starting to fall apart. I've decided it might be time to replace them but I'm wondering whether to buy cheap stuff or if that's false economy, and I should get something more expensive.

I've seen this which is nice:
http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Harriet+Hare+Plain+Jacquard+duvet+cover/227815541,default,pd.html
It says jacquard and I'm wondering if that means it will be durable and last a long time? I've googled this but it just says it's a 'fine' fabric with raised areas etc. I'm also wondering if jacquard would be heavy feeling and perhaps take forever to dry?

I also like this:
http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Linea+Egyptian+cotton+duvet+cover/228379792,default,pd.html
Much cheaper. But maybe it wouldn't last as long?

Or should I go really cheap with polyester types? Whatever I get needs to be able to cope with at least 60 degree washing and repeated tumble drying.

Any opinions or recommendations would be appreciated. I know it's only bed linen but I'm not the type to spend money regularly buying new stuff. I want it to last a very long time.

I love the feel of freshly washed 100% cotton bedding.

But I do iron it, so if you don't want to do that maybe cotton is not the best choice.

Years ago I bought some 'Hotel' bedding - sheets, pillowcases & duvet cover - from Dunelm.
It looks and feels wonderful but the instructions said 'do not tumble dry'. :eek:

I have 2 sets of Wilko 'best' bedding
http://www.wilko.com/duvet-covers/wilko-best-duvet-set-sateen-stripe-cream-double/invt/0326839

Washes well, can be tumble dried and is crease resistant (I still iron it though) and looks classy.
Also available in white.
At £34 for a duvet cover plus 4 pillowcases, it's a good price compared to your choices.

ripplyuk

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've noticed that everything says to wash at 40 degrees, or even 30 in a few cases. I'm hoping this is just the manufacturers covering themselves. Surely it's common to wash bedlinen at 60?

Would a polycotton one be less likely to shrink than pure cotton?

My old duvet covers are white, but I was considering getting coloured ones this time as the white is very plain. White does seem to be the most popular though and might last better with hot washes than coloured.

Has anyone used a seersucker fabric one? I've just read that because they're textured they won't wrinkle as much and don't need ironing. It would look a bit more interesting than a plain white fabric.

Houseplant26

Thanks Pollycat for the note on wilkinson range. I need to pop out to get a new duvet cover as we now have two duvets on bed for winter and only 3 covers, all old and cheapy. Washing takes ages to dry for me in my rental flat - no tumble dryer, no garden and line and one electric heater. So need spares for when in wah and drying!

Slowly57

Used Jackyann's link and invested in some brushed cotton bed linen - so will let folks know how that goes. I went for this set which was 60% off and they were doing a discount code for another 15% off today
http://www.justlinen.co.uk/justlinen/catherine-lansfield-stripe-brushed-cotton-blue-bedlinen.asp

With delivery, it came to just under £25 for a king size duvet cover and two pillowslips (apparently each set comes in its own fabric laundry/pyjama bag too). Brushed cotton is supposed to be cool too in summer according to the blurb (science).

My old faithful, threadbare candystripe sheets have gone to the great ragbag in the sky lol.

Dclutterchique

ripplyuk wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've noticed that everything says to wash at 40 degrees, or even 30 in a few cases. I'm hoping this is just the manufacturers covering themselves. Surely it's common to wash bedlinen at 60?

Would a polycotton one be less likely to shrink than pure cotton?

My old duvet covers are white, but I was considering getting coloured ones this time as the white is very plain. White does seem to be the most popular though and might last better with hot washes than coloured.

Has anyone used a seersucker fabric one? I've just read that because they're textured they won't wrinkle as much and don't need ironing. It would look a bit more interesting than a plain white fabric.

Unfortunately, it may not be. I use to have 100% cotton fitted bottom sheets on my bed and they were always washed at 60. Yes, they did start off 'oversized' to allow for shrinkage, but after one or two washes they settled down to their final size and didn't shrink any more. They then wore out (after a number of years) and I replaced them with new ones that were also 100% cotton and 'oversized'. These were also washed at 60, and like the old sheets shrunk to fit. But unlike the old sheets they kept shrinking on the 3rd, 4th etc washes so they no longer fitted the bed. When I looked at the washing instructions it said to wash at 40. As they were now only long enough for a toddler bed I tried washing at 40 and found they didn't shrink any more. I have therefore reached to conclusion that something different is being done with the cotton, whether growing, processing or what ever and bed linen cant stand up to being washed at 60 without shrinking. This probably explains the rise of laundry bleaches to be added to the detergent to kill off the germs and bacteria at a low temperature. I have now replaced the 'toddler sized' bedding with cotton/polyester 60/40 that is designed to be washed at 40 and it still fits after multiple washed. Just to clarify with all 3 types of sheets they were washed in the same machine with the same powder and either dried on the line outside or if the weather was bad in the tumble dryer on a low setting for approx. 40-60 min depending on how much other stuff was being dried at the same time.

Regarding the question about polycotton shrinking less than cotton, I think the answer is if they are laundered in the same way they will both shrink (or not shrink) at the same rate.