Duvet and pillows Buy your duvet one size bigger
than the bed - it looks more
luxurious and offers more to
snuggle up under. So, if you have a
double bed, buy a queen-size
duvet. Use two pillows per person; the
back of which should be a king
pillow (50 x 90cm) while the front
should be standard (45 x 70cm). Fine fillings Invest in a feather or down duvet
as it adapts to body temperature,
keeping you cool in summer and
warm in winter. Consider an ‘all
season' goose feather or down
duvet, which has two separate duvets attached to each other, and
so can be used separately. Feathers and down are natural
products that are excellent
insulators in winter and cooler than
polyester in summer. Some people are allergic to
feathers and down. However,
leading suppliers do treat their
fillings with an anti-allergenic
agent approved by the SABS, so
look out for this information on the packaging. Regularly hang your duvet out to
sun. Wash it annually in the bath
and flat-dry. Do not wash it in very
hot water, as the feathers have
already been pre-cleaned at very
high temperatures. Synthetic stuffing Synthetic fillings are more
affordable and ideal for people
who suffer from allergies, as hollow
fibre fillings trap air - hence their
puffy appearance. Those made
from polyester are flatter. Synthetic materials don't isolate as well as
natural fillings do. It is much cheaper than natural
products and ideal for allergy
sufferers and, if you buy a quality
product from a reliable supplier, it
can stay tip top for years to come.
Hollow-fibre also has insulating properties, making it comfortably
warm in winter. In the hotter parts of the country,
certain synthetic fillings may be too
warm or heavy in summer. Although many labels state
synthetic duvet inners are
machine-washable, it's safer to
wash it by hand and let it flat-dry. Bed linen Buy the best bed-linen you can
afford. Cotton percale is the
preferred choice, although there still
seems to be some confusion as to
the term ‘percale', which simply
refers to the quality of the weaving pattern in linen. Any fabric with a
thread count of above 180 (180
threads in a 2.5cm square) is called
percale. The standard thread count
is 180 to 200, while 300 and more
counts as top quality. The higher the thread count, the more comfortable
the linen is to sleep on. Look out for
100% cotton percale, as there are
many polyester/cotton blends on the
market.