h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I signed up to help update some of the older entries, and picked Duvets as my first one. It's more funny than sensible, so I'm a bit worried I'm making it very boring, but I'll do my best.

In doing a bit of research, I find I've dragged my own (and my son's) duvets' lives out by around 3 times what they should be, and pillows possibly by 5 times. This is partly due to them being anti-allergy yes you can wash me at 60 I love it so was worried about losing that as Bannamite have gone out of business, but also not realising they don't last forever like snuggly blankets (which possibly also don't last forever as I believe but DAMN IT I have more important things to be thinking about).

Anyhoo, I rang John Lewis last night and ordered £200 of new duvets, pillows and a set of new bedding each. So I intend to lounge around in bed as much as possible once they arrive.

I should have done this in winter, but never mind! I would have ordered new mattresses as well, as at least mine is overdue by a couple of years, but there's the whole 'getting it up the stairs' thing and my bedroom is currently a bit of a junk/storage rooom for dog stuff that's spilled out of the cupboard and hasn't gone back because Beauty's bed is in the way and I can't move it for all the dog stuff on the floor, etc etc etc so there's hardly room to get the door open to let me out, let alone a mattress anyway I'm really just rambling now, so must have said everything I wanted to.

I read a survey somewhere that said a good proportion of people only washed their duvets every six months. Ha! I thought. I do it more often than that. Then I re-read it - not 'washed their duvet cover', actually 'washed their duvet'. Ours has never been washed.

We're still alive though.

Modern duvets are a huge improvement on what they once were though; I've had this duck down and eiderdown duvet now for quite a while, and its never* lost a single feather, I remember the old ones were terrible for that : I just wish I'd found out years ago that the whole allergic to feather thing was a load of twoddle... :- it is the fungi that grows in teh sweat on the feathers that people were allergic too (well the spores of the fungi that grows on the sweat and dead skin inside and on the feathers inside the duvet/pillwos), the modern ones have a lot better outter matterial so not so much gets inside the duvet... I've got pillow protectors for the pillows and they're brilliant, and I swear I never slept properly until I invested in these hundred quid a pair pillows (natch I got them when in the january sales so didn't cost me quite* that much), but seriously, I find it so difficult to sleep now when I have to use synthetic pillows as they just can't support the head/neck the same way the natural filled ones can

My duvets were washed about every 3 months, at 60 to kill the dustmites, but I don't think I'm allergic to the bloody things anyway. I'm allergic to going into somewhere hot after I've been somewhere cold (ie places with swimming pools or tube trains in winter) and traffic.

I had been wondering why I started needing a bedcover a few years ago, and this last two years I've needed two - the duvet is clearly completely DEAD. Can't wait until I get my new ones on Saturday.

Don't think I've ever washed pillows or duvets, just like I've never cleaned an oven in my life. I should probably do it before the tumble dryer gives up the ghost

Can I have your old duvets, Mina or will they all be, disappointingly for me, covered in dog hair and have an aroma of wet

At home all our duvets and pilows are down filled. Dry cleaning is the only solution. What we tend to do is wash the covers weekly at least, and hang the duvets out the window on fresh summer days to air.

Sadly they are already spoken for - they go to a mad old lady who pulls all the insides out and makes dog beds. Mine will be ideal for dogs with dust mite allergies.

My pillows and duvet are down/feather (seem to recall they were some kind of blend of duck feather and eiderdown or something like that...) I'm sure they can* be washed... I've never tried they're too big for my machine... I plan on buying a new set soon, and then taking the old ones to the dry cleaners and having them as a secon/spare set... mind, I've a spare double duvet and single duvet that are just relaly for guest, but they're both synthetic ones and arn't too bad I guess, but mainly they're alright as they've only ever been used a few dozen times by guests so stay pretty good I guess The pillow protectors have I think made a big differnce on the feather/down pillows I have; I wash the pillow protectors once a week, at the same time I wash the sheets/duvet cover/pillow cases, so they're always pretty clean, and the pillws then come up as good as when they were new once I put the pillow protectors and pillow cases on them... Wish I'd gotten the duvet protector at teh same time, but I just didn't have the even in the january sale when I got them, the 2 pillows and the single duvet for my bed cost more than I think I'd ever spent on bedding in my life before, ever, put together
I turn the matress once a week too, when I wash the bedding, and asides the pillow protectors (why do I have only one set?), the duvet cover, sheet, and pillow cases I have in three sets for my bed, so they get rotated round on a three-weekly basis, then of course i've the seperate set of bedding for the spare/guest room which I periodically wash as it just needs freshing up after its been sitting in the cupbaord unused for months

Every time I go to my Father's I throw away at least one of his pillows/duvets; I'm sure some of them would class as 'antique' I'm going to have to buy a set of pillow/duvet for there, next time I visit as last time I was back I just couldn't sleep with the terrible pillows he had there, and the awful worn out duvet

hmm, don't come round here in that case, as my 'spares' are even older than this lot! I'm gonna chuck them all out.

I didn't fancy feathers, just didn't seem right for some reason!

They have arrived! Well, all but one pillowcase, nothing is every easy! I did get some free dust though.

Trouble is, do I use both duvets, cos I was still sleeping under both my old ones *and* a doubled over blanket *and* a bedcover, or do I put that down to the old duvet being pretty much dead and only use the 9tog spring duvet. hmm...

Dont' want to be hot, on the other hand, don't want to be either.

How many tog is the new one? I think one oughta be enough....

13.5 together, which is one 4.5 and one 9, I would think just the 9 would be okay, but ever since I had the loft insulation doubled this house is colder than it used to be!

That was definitely too hot!

At least it means I can dump these sodding pyjamas and go back to sleeping as nature intended!

Yes! dump the pyjamas... I can't remember the last time I wore pyjamas... Oh, yes, I can... when I was in hospital

I only have them for camping, in case of an emergency in the night! It was so cold this year (and of course duvet was dead) I had to dig them out of camping gear!

Sadly Fred's ginger hair really shows up on my duvet covers.

Ahh, well you should have bought ginger coloured duvet/sheet sets

No ta! I bought black!

He's had a good brush today, and a warning not to shed on my bed. Not until I put my old covers back on anyway.

I think I know what I'm going to be spending my birthday money on this year. New bedding sounds bliss! And maybe I'd better go for the ginger covers because of the cat. does like to snuggle up.

It was like sleeping in someone else's bed! At least I know now that they should be replaced regularly. It was lovely, will be having an early night tonight!

It does make such a differnce doesn't it... and now your making me wonder jsut how long ago I bought my current duvet and pillows, the sheets and duvet covers are newer I vaguely remember that much... Perhaps its time soon for me to replace them again Oo If I look through my Emails I'm sure I should still have the Email from when I placed the order