Devon Duvets Blog

We’re proud to say that our award-winning certified 100% British wool duvets are handcrafted here in the beautiful county of Devon. If you’ve ever wondered about the journey that our wool goes on - from the sheep all the way to providing you with a better night’s sleep - then let us fill you in.

Our wool only ever comes from live sheep bred by British farmers and we only accept wool that has been shorn during the spring and summer. This is when the sheep require shearing to keep them cool and happy during the warmer temperatures. All of our wool is certified by British Wool so we know we’re helping to support British farmers.

The wool is then scoured in British mills, without using any chemicals or bleaches, to ensure that all of the natural properties are left intact. This means that when you snuggle up at night in our bedding, you can be confident that it’s just as nature intended and kinder on your skin.

We all need to sleep, it’s a fundamental part of our lives and essential to keep us happy and healthy. However, sleep is especially important for children, as it directly impacts their physical and mental development. There are many studies that show children who sleep well each night are better equipped to handle the day ahead, with improved attention, memory and behaviour.

As children flock back to school for the new term, now more than ever, you’ll want to ensure that your child is tucked up and sleeping as soundly as possible. The amount of sleep recommended for children varies depending on their age, so be sure to check out how much sleep your little one should be getting in order for you to choose the perfect bedtime for them.

The NHS recommends that a relaxing bedtime routine should be followed each night, such as giving your child a warm bath, dim lighting to settle the

At Devon Duvets, we’ve been making beautiful, handcrafted certified 100% British wool mattress toppers for over eight years and for thousands of customers who wanted that extra little bit more comfort on top of their mattress. 

Strange though it may seem, as well as being gorgeously soft and comfy, our wool mattress toppers can also help to keep you cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold - and this is down to the fact that wool is breathable and works with your natural body temperature as well as the temperature of your bedroom.

That got us thinking about beds in recreational vehicles. Our owners, Dick and Pauline are keen travellers and have their own converted VW Transporter. They wanted to make their sleep experience even better whilst travelling, so asked one of our experienced seamstresses to create a mattress topper that would fit their customised bed unit. 

In addition to crafting a special size topper, the seamstresses had to include specially cut are

We’re understandably proud of our certified 100% British wool duvets because we know how much care and attention goes into the making of each and every one. Firstly, we choose our wool from British farmers, who are known to have some of the best looked-after sheep in the world. 

We get our carefully selected wool cleaned (known as ‘scouring’), without the use of bleach or chemicals, at British mills. The cleaned wool is then needled, with plenty of ‘loft’, to make it into super soft layers. 

Our experienced seamstresses, based at our Devon workshops, then handcraft each duvet, encasing layers of wool into beautifully soft, 260 thread count, 100% natural cotton.

So, it makes all the hard work even more worthwhile when we win a ‘Best Duvet’ award from a national newspaper, not once, but for two years running! The Independent 

Our thousands of happy customers know that we are committed to responsible sourcing when it comes to our wool bedding products. Some of our customers ask how we ensure that our wool comes from farms where the highest animal welfare standards are followed.

The answer is that 100% of the wool we use is British wool and British sheep are some of the best cared for sheep in the world. In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the government department responsible for many standards to do with environmental protection, food production and animal welfare. They exercise very strict controls over farmers and often visit unannounced to inspect animals in their care. Any farmer not considered to be upholding these standards would be banned from keeping sheep.

Additionally, in Britain, the practice of ‘mulesing’ is a banned and illegal practice, whereas in many countries this is normal. By purchasing British wool, we are not only supporting Bri

Sleeping patterns vary hugely from individual to individual but at the moment, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are reporting big changes in the way that they sleep.

A recent survey carried out by market research company Ipsos MORI and King’s College London has suggested that whilst some people are sleeping more than usual, nearly two thirds of the public have reported some negative impact on their sleep, with more than half of the UK population struggling with sleep during the lockdown. Additionally, previous research reported patterns of disturbed sleep, insomnia and vivid dreams.

This is entirely understandable, when everything is so unsettled. Many people are worried about their jobs, their families and their finances and we all know that stress can be one of the major causes for lack of sleep and this becomes a vicious cycle, with people becoming more stressed as a result of a lack of sleep. The survey was carried out in late May with 2,254 residents in t

At Devon Duvets, we have always been committed to responsible sourcing. It has been at the heart of what makes us tick, since Dick and Pauline Beijen founded the company over 10 years ago as we feel we all have a responsibility to help protect the world for future generations.

For our award-winning wool bedding, we only ever use certified 100% British wool, from British farmers who only shear in the Spring and Summer, when the sheep naturally need to lose their winter fleeces. Our wool is then cleaned and milled in British mills, without the use of bleaches or chemical treatments before being individually hand stitched into 100% natural cotton casings by our expert seamstresses, here in Devon. 

Our plant-based Botanic duvets are made from fibres containing TENCEL™Lyocell, made from sustainable wood sources through an Eco award-winning process. As with our 100% British wool duvets, each of our Botanic duvets is handcrafted by our seamstresses at our Devon workshops. Al

We’ve been curious as to why, just recently, and all of a sudden we’ve started to get a lot more enquiries about our certified 100% British wool duvets from across the pond in the United States. At first, we thought our customers had friends or family in the USA and were spreading the word… however it turned out to be something entirely different!

Many of our long standing customers will remember that in 2010, Monty Don featured our owners, Dick and Pauline, in the first ever episode of his Channel 4 series ‘My Dream Farm’. Dick and Pauline had decided to leave their busy international careers and settle down to a life on the land, having purchased a smallholding on Dartmoor, in Devon.  They quickly set about working on a number of craft-based projects, got a flock of sheep, learned about beekeeping and also started to talking to other local sheep farmers about making products using wool. It was at this point that they were discovered by Monty Don and the journey began to st

You spend an average of 7-8 hours out of every 24 in bed and so what you sleep under is incredibly important if you want to be sure of a restful night’s sleep.

At Devon Duvets we take sleep very seriously and our seamstresses at our Devon workshops take great care in handcrafting our certified 100% British wool duvets. Wool is such a beautiful natural and sustainable product that we want to keep it as close as possible to the way nature intended. 

Wool has many wonderful features, including being naturally breathable and temperature regulating, helping to keep you cool when it’s hot, yet lovely and snuggly when it’s cold. As it is dust mite resistant and also resistant to the build-up of micro bacteria, it is naturally anti-allergy, which means it is the perfect bedding for those suffering from asthma or other allergies. It is also naturally fire retardant.

We only ever buy top quality 100% British wool from British farmers, who have the highest standa

At Devon Duvets, our professional, time-served seamstresses have been making individually handcrafted certified 100% British wool bedding products, at our Devon workshops, for 10 years. 

Our range includes wool duvets, mattress toppers and pillows in a selection of standard UK and EU sizes but did you know that, because everything is handcrafted, we are able to make bespoke items to customers’ exacting requirements? 

We’re not restricted by large scale automated factory systems or machine sizes, so that makes us more flexible and our work that much easier when it comes to making something unusual. Also, because we make them here in Devon, we are able to quickly make any necessary adjustments on the spot, as required. We don’t have to wait to hear from a large scale operation unable to make just one specially sized product and who are based either inside or outside the UK – or even furthe