Down Duvets

Start with weight: lightweight (around 4 tog) for summer, mid-weight (7-9 tog) for spring and autumn, heavy (12+ tog) for cold winters. Then think about fill, since pure down is lighter and lofts higher, while down-feather blends are sturdier.

If you sleep hot, go lighter than you think. A down duvet that's too warm is harder to live with than one that needs a blanket on the coldest nights.

Synthetic duvets are filled with polyester clusters that mimic down. They're cheaper, machine-washable, and good for allergies. A down duvet is filled with natural plumage, which is lighter for the warmth it gives, plumper, and longer-lasting.

Synthetics last around five years before flattening. A good down duvet, looked after, lasts fifteen.

Tog measures warmth, not thickness. For most centrally-heated bedrooms, 9-10.5 tog covers autumn through spring comfortably. Buy a lighter one (around 4 tog) for summer and switch them at the season change.

Air it out weekly to keep the loft up. Wash it once or twice a year on a delicate cycle, ideally at a launderette with a large-capacity drum, since most home machines are too small.

Tumble dry low with clean tennis balls or dryer balls to redistribute the fill. Otherwise the down clumps and the duvet flattens.

Filled and finished in Portugal, in the same Lintexport mill we've been running since 1967. The shell is woven from our own Portuguese cotton. The down is sourced and washed to European traceability standards.

A good down duvet bought once is used for fifteen years. The maths beats every synthetic alternative, even before you account for how it feels.

Ours are made in Portugal, with cotton shells we weave ourselves and down filled to high fill-power standards. That's where the difference lives.

A well-made down duvet, properly cared for, lasts ten to fifteen years. A cheap synthetic flattens in three or four.

The cost-per-year of a good down duvet is lower than people think. You just pay it up front.