Duvet buying guide
Size
You have a king-size bed so you should buy a king-size duvet, right?
Well yes, but have you considered the added comfort and inviting look that might come with the next size up?
The difference in your night’s sleep – particularly if you share your bed with an active or light sleeper – could be immeasurable.
Duvets from SW Living conform to standard UK bed sizes, as listed below:
| NAME | Dimensions / cm (width x length) |
|---|---|
| Cot bed | 120 x 150 |
| Single | 135 x 200 |
| Double | 200 x 200 |
| King | 225 x 200 |
| Superking | 260 x 220 |
Tog ratings
What do tog ratings mean?
Essentially, a tog rating is a gauge of how warm your duvet will be, based on the thermal effectiveness of its filling and, therefore, its ability to retain warm air. The higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet will be.
Why time of the year is important
The goal with tog ratings is to achieve just the right balance between the ambient room temperature and the warmth generated by the sleeper/s beneath the duvet. At colder times of the year, it is inevitable that you will require a higher tog rating to achieve a comfortable level of warmth and an uninterrupted night’s sleep. A lighter duvet will be much more appropriate during a warm summer, for example, but which specific tog rating will suit best?
Filling materials and weight
It is worth bearing in mind that duvets filled with natural materials can achieve higher tog ratings using less filling than their synthetic counterparts. This effects the weight of the duvet – another important consideration for the comfort of the sleeper/s – and, therefore, we would recommend you consider both filling material and tog rating in tandem, when choosing your duvet/s.
Tog suggestions by season
Everybody is different, so there is no hard and fast rule as to which duvet will be most suitable for a particular person in any given season but, as a guideline, we would suggest for adults:
- Summer: a lightweight duvet, between 4.5 and 7.5 tog
- Spring and Autumn: a medium to heavyweight duvet, between 9 and 10.5 tog
- Winter: a heavyweight duvet, between 13.5 and 15 tog
A duvet for all seasons
For the ultimate in versatility, SW Living offers a dual pack comprised of two duvets of varied tog ratings, each suited to a particular season. The 4.5 tog duvet is ideal for the hot summer months while the 9 tog duvet is perfect for the ‘in-between’ spring and autumn months. During the cold winter however, the two separate duvets can be joined back-to-back to one another using snap studs, creating a toasty 13.5 tog duvet – sufficient for all but the coldest of environments.
Babies and children
Under 12 months
It is recommended that babies don’t use duvets, quilts or pillows until they are at least 12 months old. Besides the risk of overheating, there is a chance that they might pull the duvet over their head, panicking them and impeding them from freeing themselves. We suggest using a cot bed duvet for children under the age of 12 months and – as per the recommendation of many health professionals – an ambient room temperature of no more than 18°C.
If you are still concerned that your baby is not warm enough at night, wrapping them in an extra blanket or investing in a purpose-made baby sleeping bag are both safer alternatives than prematurely providing them with a quilt or duvet.
Toddlers and children under 10 years
When choosing a duvet for children under the age of ten years, the most important thing to remember is the same duvet will provide
more warmth for them than it will you. Starting from a cot bed duvet of tog rating 4 for babies, you should slowly increase the thermal efficiency of children’s duvets as they get older, reaching a tog rating of 9 or even 10.5 as they reach the age of ten years.It is always more advisable to give children a blanket over the foot of their bed,which they can pull up if cold, than a duvet of an overly high tog rating that will make them too hot and uncomfortable.
Children over 10 years
For children past the age of ten years, a higher tog-rated duvet – 10.5 tog, for example – can be a more reasonable proposition for colder times of the year. We would still recommend however, that providing them the opportunity to regulate their own temperature by supplementing a lower tog rating duvet with an optional throw or blanket is the best option for a comfortable night’s sleep.
Pillow buying guide
Washing and drying pillows
Hollowfibre-filled pillows are the most practical choice for regular washing as they dry out more quickly and easily than pillows filled with natural materials. For this reason, we recommend taking naturally filled pillows to a professional laundry for both washing and drying.
To wash pillows effectively, they should have the maximum available space to circulate in the water – either by using a large capacity machine or washing just one pillow at a time. The wash temperature should be at least 60˚C – the heat at which dust mites in the pillow will be killed.
Simple pillow upkeep
To prolong the life and comfortableness of your pillows, we recommend plumping them on a daily basis so they retain their original shape. A brief spell in a tumble dryer – say 10-15 minutes, once a week – will help to keep your pillows fresh and fluffy, and kill any latent dust mites.
Pillow protectors provide a simple means of keeping your pillows clean. They are easily removable and much more practical to wash than the pillows themselves.
When to give your child a pillow
There are various schools of thought on when it is first safe for a child to sleep with a pillow. We recommend that babies should be at least 12 months of age before being allowed a pillow and, more commonly, that you wait until the child has moved from a cot to a bed before introducing a pillow – normally around 18 months of age.
The reason many parents choose to wait longer to give their child a pillow is simply that they sleep well without one. Indications that your child might be ready for a pillow can include:
- restlessness at night
- difficulty sleeping without a head support
- propping their head on a soft toy or blanket
- propping their head on a pillow or cushion when lying on the sofa or in your bed
- their shoulders are now broader than their head
Choosing pillows for babies and children
When choosing a pillow for a child it is imperative to find the right blend of comfort and support. A baby’s first pillow, for example, needs to be soft enough to be comfortable, and not so thick that it strains their neck.
A good comfort check is to press down on the pillow, then ensure it returns to its original shape – if not, it is too soft and could present a risk of suffocation. Conversely, you should avoid pillows that are too firm as they won’t be comfortable enough to support a good night’s sleep.
Allergies are known to develop during childhood, so many parents choose to obviate such risks by buying anti-allergy pillows and duvets for their children from day one.
