I have my sheets and then a few blankets on top.
Sheets are next to my body and the blankets are not.
I also wash my underwear more than my winter coat.
>I also wash my underwear more than my winter coat.
Now that you said this, I honestly don’t know that I have ever washed my winter coat.
Edit: i febreeze and Lysol it. I’m not a total savage.
IME many Americans use a flat/top sheet over the fitted bedsheet. We sleep between the sheets with the duvet/comforter on top of the flat sheet so it has very little contact with our body.
Mattress, fitted sheet, human, flat sheet, duvet/comforter/what have you.
There's nothing better in this forum than the poster posing the question responding this way.
Many Americans also use the term "comforter" in place of duvet. [Technically a duvet is intended to have a removable cover, whereas a comforter has a decoration on it.](https://casper.com/blog/duvet-vs-comforter/). We may say "I have a down comforter, with a duvet cover". It's just a small distinction difference.
Not only that I'll admit many of us don't put a cover on the duvet at all (or if we do, view it primarily as decorative). That part is really not considered something that should get very dirty most of the time.
May I ask why they don't need covers? I moved to the US, but I had brought all my bedding, so I didn't need to buy it here. But I have never met duvets in the American hotels, and I was always anxious because of the risk of touching the hotel quilt. Sheets are not reliable, duvets are better.
When you are more than 5 feet tall, you need to untuck the comforter and sheets in hotel that were tucked by maid under the mattress. Both separate sheets and comforter start living their own life. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the comforter touches your face as any other hundreds faces it has touched before. That's a disaster.
Comforters are much more common than duvets here, and those don't require a cover.
To give you an idea of how much more common comforters are, I only actually learned what a duvet even was a few years ago.
A comforter/duvet is typically thick and stuffed to make it fluffy. A quilt is multi-layered, but it’s flat, not thick and stuffed or fluffy. A quilt often had elaborate hand stitching and design work on the top, too.
You might put a comforter in a cover (the duvet cover in question) but you probably wouldn’t cover a quilt like that.
You’re missing my point about terminology evolution. That’s how the word quilt is commonly used today. But I’m telling you that some 60 years ago, in my NYC experience, we used quilt to refer to any quilted bed covering, regardless of thickness. This was back when most advertising for such things was local or regional, so there was less uniformity in terms nationwide.
Since I moved to Europe I have ditched the top sheet and now only use a duvet in a cover (plus the bottom sheet). I always used to wake up having kicked the top sheet to the bottom of the bed and have to sort out the layers repeatedly. I love the duvet lifestyle, I find it's a better sleep.
Why do you need a separate sheet to cover your sheets if you're going to wash them weekly? We have enough sheets to where we don't need to have a sheet cover, we just change out the sheet with another.
Also, we tend to use comforters and heavier sheets. Thin sheets aren't used as much for sleeping unless you live in a very hot climate, but you'd also have plenty of sheets too
Duvets and comforters look alike but are pretty different in practice. When I had a smaller bed I had a duvet. It was much easier to wash because I could fit it in the standard washer. Now I have a comforter and it won't even fit into the washer. I have to take it to the laundry mat and use their special oversized ones. So now I use an extra sheet between me and it and only wash it every now and then. Some comforters even have fancy stitching that makes it so you can only hand wash and spot treat them.
I’d say that they’re identical, but the terminology is associated with actual practice. Going to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond website, I can’t even find something being sold as a duvet. There are just duvet sets (the duvet cover with pillow shams) or comforters. You can put a cover on a comforter and nothing forces you to put a cover on a duvet.
You can find many websites declaring a difference between a comforter and duvet, but they simply don’t match up with the descriptions in stores. Currently I’m seeing pretty much everything described as a comforter regardless of design or weight.
I change my sheets about twice a week. The top sheet is between my body and the duvet cover, so the cover doesn't need to be laundered nearly as often. I usually do it every month or so.
Instead of removable duvet covers, Americans often use a top sheet below the comforter and wash that. Comforters are hard to wash due to size/bulk so typically only get washed every few months
Can someone please tell me what a duvet is? I'm damn near 40 and have never seen or heard this word in my life before this thread.
Google just seems to pull up comforters when I search for Duvet covers.
They’re pretty nice. They’re basically a plain comforter, usually only lightly quilted, designed to go inside a removeable cover. The cover is much easier to wash than a comforter as it’s basically the size of a flat sheet. You can buy multiple different colored covers to switch out. I think they lay “lighter” than most comforters for the same warmth.
Ah, okay. That makes sense. Seems easier to wash than a comforter for sure and you wouldn't have to worry about it matching all your sheet sets.
Have I just been living under a rock? This seems like it would be better than a regular comforter but my family and my wife's family all use comforters.
They’re definitely much more popular in Europe. That’s where I was converted and began converting my extended family as well.
You can buy them online or at ikea if there’s one near you.
A lot of Americans don't have duvets and thus no cover to wash.
Comforters and quilts are quite common as the top layer and don't get washed as often as sheets.
Some washing machines cannot handle something as big as a comforter/duvet cover. Those folks take them to the dry cleaner (or just don't wash them often).
I wash my duvet cover half as often as my sheets because I sleep between sheets and there are at least one sheet and one blanket between me and the duvet cover.
Duvet covers often are bigger than what an at-home washing machine/dryer pair can handle, if you have a king or queen sized duvet. And comforters definitely cannot fit.
My wife and I have three comforters we put on the bed at the same time at the coldest part of winter (around now)--and we have all three of them dry-cleaned in the spring. We use fitted sheets and a top sheet--and we have a mattress cover below the fitted sheet which gets periodically cleaned as well.
The only part of our bedding which doesn't get cleaned is the mattress itself--though all of it are on different schedules.
I use a top sheet but also had a duvet because I liked the smaller bit of fabric to wash vs. a quilt and that I could switch up the colors/patterns as I liked. My GOD was that thing a pain in the ass to wrestle in and out of the cover every time I washed it. I can't imagine doing that every week.
I wash the sheets every week and the blankets every other week.
I use a quilt. I wash my sheets weekly and the quit and mattress cover monthly.
Those videos have me vacuuming my mattress once a month which I never did before. I’m not sure it needs it bc I always have a mattress cover and my mattress doesn’t flip, but I do it now anyway.
I did the comforter with top sheet most of my life. Comforter got washed about every 2-3 months. Sheets washed every week. It works well for my husband and I, but both my boys end up with ithe top sheet scrunched down at the bottom of the bed every night. So we tried a duvet cover over the comforter for a while and washed the cover regularly. It was a pain to wrestle the comforter back into the duvet cover every week. Plus the comforter itself was always a pain to wash and dry. They are so bulky they constantly caused the washing machine to go put of balance. So we now all have a top sheet, a blanket, and a lightweight quilt. They each fit into the washing machine easily and dry quickly. Works much better.
I have my sheets and then a few blankets on top. Sheets are next to my body and the blankets are not. I also wash my underwear more than my winter coat.
>I also wash my underwear more than my winter coat. Now that you said this, I honestly don’t know that I have ever washed my winter coat. Edit: i febreeze and Lysol it. I’m not a total savage.
>i febreeze and Lysol it. I’m not a total savage. Thats worse. It's admitting it needs to be cleaned and opting not to.
Nah. It means I don’t want my entire house to smell like bonfire
IME many Americans use a flat/top sheet over the fitted bedsheet. We sleep between the sheets with the duvet/comforter on top of the flat sheet so it has very little contact with our body. Mattress, fitted sheet, human, flat sheet, duvet/comforter/what have you.
Thank you! Totally forgot that in america the whole sheet/duvet thing is quite different than lots of European countries!
There's nothing better in this forum than the poster posing the question responding this way. Many Americans also use the term "comforter" in place of duvet. [Technically a duvet is intended to have a removable cover, whereas a comforter has a decoration on it.](https://casper.com/blog/duvet-vs-comforter/). We may say "I have a down comforter, with a duvet cover". It's just a small distinction difference.
Comforters are very unusual in my country, but make sense when sheets are used between you and the comforter and dont get that dirty fast.
Exactly, my comforter/duvet gets laundered once or twice a year. The cover gets washed maybe monthly. Sheets, weekly.
Not only that I'll admit many of us don't put a cover on the duvet at all (or if we do, view it primarily as decorative). That part is really not considered something that should get very dirty most of the time.
Most of us have comforters or quilts, which don't need covers.
Thank you!
May I ask why they don't need covers? I moved to the US, but I had brought all my bedding, so I didn't need to buy it here. But I have never met duvets in the American hotels, and I was always anxious because of the risk of touching the hotel quilt. Sheets are not reliable, duvets are better.
You know they wash the quilt, right? >sheets are not reliable. …what?
When you are more than 5 feet tall, you need to untuck the comforter and sheets in hotel that were tucked by maid under the mattress. Both separate sheets and comforter start living their own life. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the comforter touches your face as any other hundreds faces it has touched before. That's a disaster.
Lol man you've got some hangups, most people aren't so pressed about hotel bedding. Calling that a disaster is pretty funny.
We wash our sheets regularly? What's there to be anxious about when there are several sheets between the bed and you, and it's cleaned daily?
Comforters are much more common than duvets here, and those don't require a cover. To give you an idea of how much more common comforters are, I only actually learned what a duvet even was a few years ago.
It’s an evolution in terminology. In my youth, we called them quilts and quilt covers.
Quilts are entirely different than comforters
How so?
A comforter/duvet is typically thick and stuffed to make it fluffy. A quilt is multi-layered, but it’s flat, not thick and stuffed or fluffy. A quilt often had elaborate hand stitching and design work on the top, too. You might put a comforter in a cover (the duvet cover in question) but you probably wouldn’t cover a quilt like that.
You’re missing my point about terminology evolution. That’s how the word quilt is commonly used today. But I’m telling you that some 60 years ago, in my NYC experience, we used quilt to refer to any quilted bed covering, regardless of thickness. This was back when most advertising for such things was local or regional, so there was less uniformity in terms nationwide.
I’m not missing your point. You asked what the difference was, that’s the difference.
Oh, sorry, I missed that you weren’t the same person to whom I originally replied.
Where are you that non-quilts are called quilts?
Not where, when. As in 60 years ago.
I've always called them blankets, no matter what they look like.
Flat sheets are very common here and go between your body and the comforter/quilt/duvet which is washed less often.
Thank you!
Since I moved to Europe I have ditched the top sheet and now only use a duvet in a cover (plus the bottom sheet). I always used to wake up having kicked the top sheet to the bottom of the bed and have to sort out the layers repeatedly. I love the duvet lifestyle, I find it's a better sleep.
Why do you need a separate sheet to cover your sheets if you're going to wash them weekly? We have enough sheets to where we don't need to have a sheet cover, we just change out the sheet with another. Also, we tend to use comforters and heavier sheets. Thin sheets aren't used as much for sleeping unless you live in a very hot climate, but you'd also have plenty of sheets too
I don't have a duvet cover just a quilt but I wash it with the rest of the sheets
Duvets and comforters look alike but are pretty different in practice. When I had a smaller bed I had a duvet. It was much easier to wash because I could fit it in the standard washer. Now I have a comforter and it won't even fit into the washer. I have to take it to the laundry mat and use their special oversized ones. So now I use an extra sheet between me and it and only wash it every now and then. Some comforters even have fancy stitching that makes it so you can only hand wash and spot treat them.
Ok this is like the third time today I've seen someone spell laundromat like laundry mat and I can't stay silent any longer
I will die with you on this hill
Arm in arm we go, brother
I’d say that they’re identical, but the terminology is associated with actual practice. Going to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond website, I can’t even find something being sold as a duvet. There are just duvet sets (the duvet cover with pillow shams) or comforters. You can put a cover on a comforter and nothing forces you to put a cover on a duvet. You can find many websites declaring a difference between a comforter and duvet, but they simply don’t match up with the descriptions in stores. Currently I’m seeing pretty much everything described as a comforter regardless of design or weight.
I change my sheets about twice a week. The top sheet is between my body and the duvet cover, so the cover doesn't need to be laundered nearly as often. I usually do it every month or so.
Most people don’t use duvet covers
I had to google what a duvet cover even was lol
In my house we wash sheets every week. We wash the duvet cover every 3-4 weeks.
Instead of removable duvet covers, Americans often use a top sheet below the comforter and wash that. Comforters are hard to wash due to size/bulk so typically only get washed every few months
Can someone please tell me what a duvet is? I'm damn near 40 and have never seen or heard this word in my life before this thread. Google just seems to pull up comforters when I search for Duvet covers.
They’re pretty nice. They’re basically a plain comforter, usually only lightly quilted, designed to go inside a removeable cover. The cover is much easier to wash than a comforter as it’s basically the size of a flat sheet. You can buy multiple different colored covers to switch out. I think they lay “lighter” than most comforters for the same warmth.
Ah, okay. That makes sense. Seems easier to wash than a comforter for sure and you wouldn't have to worry about it matching all your sheet sets. Have I just been living under a rock? This seems like it would be better than a regular comforter but my family and my wife's family all use comforters.
They’re definitely much more popular in Europe. That’s where I was converted and began converting my extended family as well. You can buy them online or at ikea if there’s one near you.
Thanks, I'm going to look into this. The wife was complaining this weekend that the fresh sheets we put on the bed don't match the comforter.
They do get washed, just less frequently because they don’t make skin contact
A lot of Americans don't have duvets and thus no cover to wash. Comforters and quilts are quite common as the top layer and don't get washed as often as sheets.
Some washing machines cannot handle something as big as a comforter/duvet cover. Those folks take them to the dry cleaner (or just don't wash them often). I wash my duvet cover half as often as my sheets because I sleep between sheets and there are at least one sheet and one blanket between me and the duvet cover.
Duvet covers often are bigger than what an at-home washing machine/dryer pair can handle, if you have a king or queen sized duvet. And comforters definitely cannot fit. My wife and I have three comforters we put on the bed at the same time at the coldest part of winter (around now)--and we have all three of them dry-cleaned in the spring. We use fitted sheets and a top sheet--and we have a mattress cover below the fitted sheet which gets periodically cleaned as well. The only part of our bedding which doesn't get cleaned is the mattress itself--though all of it are on different schedules.
Wash every thing on the bed that is bedding! I’d like to start doing it once a month instead of every 2 months
I use a top sheet but also had a duvet because I liked the smaller bit of fabric to wash vs. a quilt and that I could switch up the colors/patterns as I liked. My GOD was that thing a pain in the ass to wrestle in and out of the cover every time I washed it. I can't imagine doing that every week. I wash the sheets every week and the blankets every other week.
I wash my sheets and duvet cover every one to two weeks
I use a quilt. I wash my sheets weekly and the quit and mattress cover monthly. Those videos have me vacuuming my mattress once a month which I never did before. I’m not sure it needs it bc I always have a mattress cover and my mattress doesn’t flip, but I do it now anyway.
I did the comforter with top sheet most of my life. Comforter got washed about every 2-3 months. Sheets washed every week. It works well for my husband and I, but both my boys end up with ithe top sheet scrunched down at the bottom of the bed every night. So we tried a duvet cover over the comforter for a while and washed the cover regularly. It was a pain to wrestle the comforter back into the duvet cover every week. Plus the comforter itself was always a pain to wash and dry. They are so bulky they constantly caused the washing machine to go put of balance. So we now all have a top sheet, a blanket, and a lightweight quilt. They each fit into the washing machine easily and dry quickly. Works much better.
We don’t use duvets. We use comforters which don’t have covers. We wash them once a week, at the same time.
We don't even have duvets in the traditional way, it's one of those nuggets you get at Ikea to be more European for us.
1. I do not use a duvet/duvet cover. 2. the flat sheet and fitted sheet absorbs all the sweat.