What is a Duvet?

What is a Duvet? A duvet is a cover for your comforter. A Down comforter or an alternative Down comforter. The duvet covers your comforter, much like a pillowcase covers a pillow. It protects the comforter from dirt and moisture. It also protects it from allowing the down, feathers or man made fibers from sneaking out. Consequently, it lengthens the life of your comforter. I didn’t know the purpose of a duvet, or what it was, when I got my first down comforter. I thought that it was just for show and since I wasn’t trying to decorate with it, I didn’t think I needed it. After a couple of years the feathers in my down comforter were protruding way too much. I remember, vividly, my grandson jumping onto my bed, looking alarmed and getting off just as quickly. He had been poked by the feathers and the bed was made! He vowed that he wouldn’t do that again. That made me realize that it wasn’t just me. The protruding feathers were a problem. I took it to the dry cleaners, fully expecting that they would, normally, restore the down comforter to it’s original state. Wrong! It seems that the only way anyone can remove the protruding feathers is not to poke them back into the comforter, as I had expected, but to completely remove the feathers. That would produce a far inferior product than I, originally, had. The cost to have a down comforter dry cleaned is pretty hefty. I decided that to pay that much for an inferior product wasn’t a good idea. A new Down comforter and Duvet would definitely be worth my time and investment. You wash a duvet cover! No need to have the protruding feathers removed because they don’t protrude when encased by a duvet. The comforter doesn’t need to be dry cleaned anywhere near as often. That seemed like a bargain, so that’s what I did.
Other comforters, especially Alternative Down Comforters, even though the filling is man-made, can produce little particles of filling that sneak out of the comforter. I learned that after a few years with my Alternative Down Comforter. Yes, I have both. Alternative comforters can use a duvet for the same purposes of protecting the comforter from dirt and moisture and preventing lose of some of the filling. Duvets are definitely a good and practical idea. If you’re decorating with your comforter, they also serve to change the décor at any time.