There are lots of synthetic duvets on the market full of polyester and the like but even before I went plastic free I always preferred the cotton/feather covering. However I have become aware of other options.
Natural fillings include
Feathers
Silk
Wool
Cotton
There are all sorts of things you need to know when buying a duvet. What filling, pockets or channels, and what tog. all useful stuff and there are many good guides online which it is pointless to reproduce. I can recommend this one as covering all bases.
Duvets
Cotton Duvet John Lewis
BuyJohn Lewis Natural Light Cotton Comfort Duvet, 4.5 Tog, Single Online at johnlewis.com
£35.00 – £65.00
Country of Origin China
Cover material 100% Cotton; 190 thread count
Filling 100% Washed Cotton
ABOUT BAAVET
We are manufacturers of wool duvets, pillows, mattress toppers and natural fibre mattresses. Made in the UK with 100% British wool.
Medium Baavet Wool Duvet Double £111.00 Online or Local stockists HERE
Everyone mentioned on this page really exists
On British farms we don’t “factory farm” sheep, they are farmed extensively. “Extensive farming” could be described as ‘free range’ farming. The sheep have the freedom to roam the fields and hills of the UK, grazing naturally.
The busiest times on the farm are lambing in the spring and shearing in the summer. Sheep farming is practiced in the same traditional way as it has been for hundreds of years.
Your Baavet originates on the hills and in the valleys of British farms and the wool for our completely natural wool Baavets comes from British Sheep farmed on British farms by farmers we know.
So our story starts here down on farms like those of :
Will Williams, and Griff Williams who farm on the grass rich fields Lleyn Peninsular up here in North Wales where the weather is mild due to the influence of the sea.
After lambing the next big event in the year is shearing which normally takes place in early summer.The shearer carefully shears the sheep with electric clippers in one continuous process which results in a big fluffy fleece. This is carefully rolled up, tied into a bundle and put into a very large wool sack which can hold around 60/80 fleeces. These sacks are then loaded up and taken to a central loading place
It’s taken to our wool merchant’s warehouse in Halifax where the wool is graded.
Once the wool has been graded it travels to Dewsbury, to one of only two scourers left in the country, to be washed. Scouring is the term used for washing the wool
The washed wool now goes to a mill in Huddersfield where it is carded and quilted.
The carded wool is enclosed in the cotton fabric so it won’t ever move around. It’s a continuous process and the quilted material is being put onto a roll which is cut about every 30 metres , which is as big as we can handle. The rolls are covered in plastic and stored ready for their journey back to Wales where it all started.
Back in Wales under the ancient walls of Harlech Castle, discreetly hidden away in a small industrial estate, is Baavet HQ. Here the quilted rolls are made into the individual Baavet products. Your Baavets are then ready for packing and dispatch, from Ewe to You.
Devon Duvets, was born. The concept of handcrafting British wool duvets and wool pillows in England was largely unthought of at that time and we are delighted that there is now a re-discovery of British wool that helps to support British farms. Devon Duvets is the only company that Handcrafts products in their own workshops in England using only British wool, providing an unequalled quality and provenance that others cannot replicate.
WOOL DUVET DOUBLE SUMMER (LIGHTWEIGHT 300GSM) (200CM X 200CM UK SIZE)
Price: £125.00
Woolroom
British wool but I don’t know where they are actually made. will check!
CLASSIC WOOL DUVET – LIGHT
( was £49.99 )
£34.99
Our Classic Light Duvets are made with 100% British wool & medium thread count cotton. Suited to hot sleepers or night sweat sufferers.
SINGLE (137X200 CM)£34.99
DOUBLE (200X200 CM)£47.59
Our Light Classic duvet contains 250 gsm (3-6 tog) of 100% British wool filling and covered in a 200 thread count cotton outer to enhance breathability and aid thermoregulation.
From the
Feather/Down
The only choice I will talk about is cruelty free. Please do check that you feathers have been humanely harvested. There is a lot of abuse out there in the feather farms.
Down
Harvesting from goose down from live birds is an old practise. The harvesting of feathers and down from the breast of live geese is possible because between 9-10 weeks of age their mature down feathers, together with the other soft feathers, moult naturally. By timing the plucking process to coincide with the natural moult, the breast feathers and down can be harvested. Growing geese can then be plucked approximately every six weeks as this will coincide with each successive moult. The yield of feathers and down from the first plucking is approximately 80 g and for each subsequent plucking between 100-120g
The best feathers are those that have been harvested at times of moult. However in large scale factory units the feathers may torn out before the birds are ready. The kindest feathers are considered to be those those obtained post slaughter though the feather quality is not s good.
You might want to read this before you decide. Having read that you might not want a feather duvet at all That is the worst case as put by a vegan but it needs to be considered.
A good feather duvet and it will last you life time cutting down on consumption and petroleum / plastic related pollution, it is completely natural and can be composted when it finally does what ever old feather duvets do when they die. We are still using the duvet that we got given to us over 10 years ago and will be
Buy Ethical Feathers
So you want a supplier who can be trusted to source cruelty free feathers and provide quality goods. It’s off to John Lewis with their animal cruelty policy http://www.johnlewis.com/inspiration-and-advice/john-lewis-policy-on-feather-and-down-products
As ever, the kinder the farmer the higher the cost but imagine that cost spread over years.
If you cant afford JL you can buy second hand from for example Ebay. Down doesnt loose much over time so you will still be getting a good cover for half the price and you can let the original purchaser deal with the guilt.
Ikea
Ikea do lightweight feather double duvets for 25.00
Washing
you can wash feather duvets. The thinner the duvet the easier it is. http://www.heirloomlinens.com/duvetcleaning.htlm
Two thin douvets might be better then 1 thick one especially if you live in a seasonal climate.
My Fair Share
In 1994 the international trade reached more than 67 000 tons of raw feathers and down.
N.B.
lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x
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