Down Duvets v synthetic

[annie0000]

We've always had synthetic duvets - we all usually only have 4.5 tog all year round though the kids sometimes chuck a blanket over theirs in winter. Tend to be cheap and cheerful, you can chuck them through the washing machine and we replace them 1 or twice a year. Need to replace the kids ones and now that they are older, and less inclined to puke or pee on them, thought we might get them some down/feather ones as they look so much more cosy and comfy

So, question is, if we got a warmer one, (say a 10.5 tog) because they are more natural, are they less likely to make you too warm in the summer the way a synthetic one does? Don't want to buy both summer and winter one and the seasonal ones where you get 2 different togs are a bit out of my budget.

TIA :)

[nungate]

I've found in the summer months when it gets hot (obviously not this year!) if I take the cover off the duvet it seems cooler - don't know if it's purely psychological but it seems to work, I always use a top sheet though.
Our duvet has a pretty high tog if I remember rightly, somewhere around 13 or so.

[wolf63]

I don't know about the togs but I bought a cheaper down duvet from Amazon. It is good and is cosy (it is about 12 tog) but I am sure that it was cheaper because it was only half full of feathers.

I had a feather pillow that was lovely - the lad in my avatar 'killed' it with a little help from his sister.

I paid about £50 for my king sized quilt - the prices get really silly.

My remaining feather pillow is good - it is a silentnight pillow.

[annie0000]

God that would roast me nungate - our current one is only a 3 :).

[askyourgran]

I prefer the synthetic ones, I can't stand feathers, they seem to creep out of every small place and I don't know if you could wash them, I imagine the feathers would just clump together. We have a summer/winter one which is more or less always on the winter tog, so I may as well have got the 10.5 tog and be done with it paid £60 for that. The other one is also synthetic, cheap but just as good.

[annie0000]

wolf - i've seen some single ones reduced to from 40 to 20 quid. can only get a 4.5, 10.5, 13.5 or 15. I think a blanket is harder to keep on top of a down duvet so don't really want the 4.5 but think the 10.5 will probably be too warm :/

[nungate]

I used to like being warm - but these days I seem to have my very own central heating system and we have a fan whirring all night as I now get too hot! There's no happy medium at an awkward age

[annie0000]

gran, yes we have always had synthetic and because of my OH allergies we will probably stick with that for us. I need to replace the kids ones anyway as they are flat as a pancake - been through the wash loads - and when I was babysitting for a neighbour, her boys had down ones and they looked and felt really nice.

[annie0000]

lol nungate - I know exactly where you are coming from - I am either duvet on and roasting and when I chuck it off I am freezing!

[starone]

They are very warm annie. Too warm I reckon. And if you are allergic to them they will affect your breathing, as you probably already know. I would stick with the tried and true.

[nungate]

I consider changing jammies twice a night a good one! Just as well I kick off the duvet as I share with a "duvet hogger!" If I ever get past this menopause thing I foresee trouble ahead as I will want my share of the duvet again!

[annie0000]

thanks starbuck - can't afford to make a mistake nowadays.

[annie0000]

I don't wear jammies :)

[nungate]

They have their uses Annie - they stop the sheets getting too damp for starters

[joggerjayne]

Feather and down duvets do wrap around you more cosily. They are definitely more snuggly than synthetic ones.

[annie0000]

true - but then you cool really quickly when you chuck the duvet off so don't really get damp anyway. i tend to wake more cos I realise it's freezing after I have obviously felt too warm when sleeping and tossed the duvet.

[annie0000]

Hmmm maybe if I go for the 4.5 tog ones then and just get cosier jammies - no2 son has been eyeing up a onesie :)

[Ann]

We use a 4.5 tog synthetic one (not good with feathers) all the year round with a fleece blanket over the top in the depths of Winter. I'm still roasting hot some nights so tend to throw blanket off. I think its the memory foam mattress which makes me hot (hubby is fine, doesn't feel the heat) but the bed cost us such a lot I'm stuck with it! I have sort of hot flushes in the night, but it can't be change of life as I'm nearly 65! I also wear thin strappy cotton nighties, couldn't possibly wear pyjamas I would die of heat! and there only seems to be PJs selling in all the shops now ..............we also have a fan running in the room, like nungate, as I feel I need more cool oxygen all the time .........

[annie0000]

that's what the boys do Ann - 4.5 tog duvet and if they are cold then they chuck a blanket on top - we never go warmer than a 4.5 and try to have a cooler one than that if poss - no blanket, no jammies, windows on the latch - when it was -16 I did stick an old t-shirt on as it was a wee bit nippy but okay once you were snuggled in.

[Ann]

Yes annie, on the very odd occasion on icy Winter nights, if I am cold before getting into bed, I snuggle up with a lovely hot water bottle but it soon hits the floor with a "thud!"

[annie0000]

lol