Henrietta Lilley

Duvets have been around a lot longer than most of us realise. This is probably because it took a while for them to become popular in the UK and they have been through various transformations throughout their history.

Some archaeological digs have suggested that an early form of duvet was used in China, as far back as 3,000BCE. In Ancient Rome, patrician Romans used both blankets and quilts on their beds (lecti cubicidates) but the first documented use of a duvet dates back to the Viking era. Many of the largest and most richly equipped Viking burial mounds discovered contained beds with several types of bird feathers and down from pillows and duvets. This has included down from the Eider duck and feathers from the Eurasian Eagle Owl, the largest owl in northern Europe. The luxury of owning a pillow and duvet was reserved for the wealthiest in Norse society.

In the mid 18^th century, Thomas Nugent, an Englishman on a tour of Europe, passed through Germany

Winter is a wonderful time of the year – cosy nights in front of the fire, hot chocolate, comfort food and frosty days with bright blue skies.  We can also feel a bit more tired and less energetic - and there’s a reason for this change. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are tilted away from the sun as part of the Earth’s natural orbit, and this is what makes the daylight hours shorter and darker hours longer. It’s colder too, as a result, making it harder to leave your cosy bed! All of this makes us want to sleep longer.

Sunlight helps our bodies to make vitamin D, which is essential for good health, so we notice a difference when we don't get enough. Less sunlight also causes our brain to produce more of the hormone melatonin, which makes you feel sleepy. These changes in daylight and melatonin levels have an impact on our internal clock, also known as our circadian rhythm. As a result of the darkness our brain tells us that we should be tucked up and sleeping more. Althoug

Although we’ve been famous for our individually handcrafted 100% British wool duvets for over 11 years, more recently we’ve developed our range of alpaca duvets. We only ever use high grade, natural white 100% British alpaca wool that’s been approved by the British Alpaca Society and we receive a limited amount each year, so once it’s gone, it’s gone – until next year’s shearing!

Alpacas are from South America, and it is thought they were originally domesticated in the Puna region of Peru around 6,000 years ago. They are a member of the camel (Camelidae) family, although they are not strong enough to be ridden. They were first imported into the UK in the mid 1800s but did not arrive in larger numbers until the early 1990s, when they became popular for their appealing looks and luxuriously soft wool.

Ellie, one of our customer services team, has done some research and has found some facts that are less well known about Alpacas.

• Just your type: There a

Having a great night’s sleep is very important for health and wellbeing – and, of course, we know that 100% wool filled bedding will aid a better night’s sleep. Wool’s temperature regulating properties, combined with its resistance to dust mites and the build-up of micro bacteria means that it not only helps you to maintain a balanced core body temperature whilst you sleep, but it’s also more hygienic - and great for asthma sufferers.

However, we often forget that investing in a good mattress is also a vitally important part of creating the right environment for a restful sleep. There’s nothing worse than tossing and turning all night because you just can’t get comfy or waking up with backache because your mattress sags and dips, so doesn’t give you the right support whilst you sleep. There’s also the hygiene aspect to consider too. A mattress used over an 8-year period can accumulate 23,000 hours’ worth of sweat, dead skin…and dust mites. It makes us all feel a bit squeamish to re

We are all increasingly aware of the importance of doing what we can to help protect our beautiful planet. So, in the spirit of building a more sustainable life, we can all do our bit to be more eco-friendly this Christmas season. With that in mind, we’ve found some great ideas to share - all of which will help give planet Earth a gift this Christmas.

Wrap your presents with recycled paper or fabric

While we all love glittery wrapping paper (although not the vacuuming after using it!), most of it isn't biodegradable or recyclable, so you can probably imagine how much is left to sit in landfill after every Christmas. Try the scrunch test to see if your paper is recyclable or not: scrunch the paper in your hands and let it go - if it stays scrunched, it's recyclable, if it unfolds, it's not. You could re-use old wrapping paper (iron it out on the reverse side if it’s looking a bit crumpled!) or use plain brown paper that you can decorate yourself and then tie

We are now discussing menopause openly at last and bringing the discussion into the mainframe, but there’s a part of it that is often misunderstood – and that’s perimenopause. Perimenopause is the first stage of the menopause process and can start several months, or as much as 8 – 10 years, before menopause. Symptoms of perimenopause start before your periods stop - and can begin earlier than you would expect. For most women this starts in their 40s, although it can be earlier. Menopause is the point where a woman no longer has menstrual periods for at least 12 months.

Because perimenopause can start several years in the lead up to menopause, many of us don’t realise or recognise that our symptoms are associated with perimenopause, and instead attribute what we are feeling to ageing, stress, anxiety or depression.  Some of the symptoms, like ‘brain fog’ can leave us feeling as if we aren’t coping at work (concentration can be tricky on some days!) and so we start to lose c

One of the biggest causes of allergies are dust mites, those tiny insects found in household dust. According to a report by the charity Allergy UK, they are the UK’s most common indoor allergen. The report has also revealed that there could be as many as 12 million of us who have a reaction to them, in varying degrees. Signs of an allergic reaction to dust mites include sneezing, runny nose, coughing, itchy eyes and congestion. Dust mite allergies can also aggravate the symptoms of asthma. What’s more, if you also have eczema, a severe allergy reaction can cause a flare-up of the condition. 

The report has also found that over half of indoor allergy sufferers said their symptoms were worse in the bedroom, with allergic reactions leading to disrupted sleep, which in turn will exacerbate the symptoms. Continued disruption to sleep patterns will eventually impact on daily life. It’s hard to concentrate on those all-important tasks at home or work if you are feeling tired and g

We’re all aware of ‘fake news’ and so-called ‘experts’ giving advice on social media. There are quite a few myths about sleep – and we’ve found eight common ones that we’ve tackled below!

Myth One: You Swallow Spiders While You Sleep

This myth claims that you will swallow about 8 spiders a year whilst you sleep! This is very unlikely, as spiders are very wary critters and the noise and vibrations you give off whilst you sleep are more likely to keep spiders away.

Myth Two: Sleeping On Your Front Is Bad For You

This is often blamed for increasing facial wrinkles and contributing to neck aches. According to research, there is no significant difference between sleeping on your back, side or front. A slide sleeping position is best for snorers though. Whichever way you prefer to sleep, it’s important to ensure that you have the right pillow to provide support for your head and neck. At Devon Duvets, we do a

When we were small, bedtime tended to be a well organised routine! Bathtime, maybe a glass of warm milk…then 7pm, up to bed! Brush teeth, wash face and if you were lucky, being read to for half an hour.

However we get older, those routines change and certain habits creep in, such as checking your mobile in bed, bingeing on the latest box set or eating late. Not ‘winding down’ before bedtime can lead to sleep problems like insomnia, which in turn affects our ability to perform our daily and/or work tasks. Without enough sleep, the brain cannot function properly, impairing your abilities  to concentrate, think clearly, and process memories. Over time, lack of sleep leads to anxiety, and stress, whereas sleeping well helps you to wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

Sleep is also an essential function to keep physically healthy. This is the time that your body goes into ‘repair’ mode, as well as keeping your immune system in good shape. Lack of sleep makes us

Here at Devon Duvets, we’ve always been committed to a Zero Waste policy and we’re very close to achieving it! We wrote a blog last year about how some of our fabric ‘waste’ is used by other companies to create products -  and now we’ve found a wonderful local business who can turn our old pallets into fabulous garden furniture and a range of useful household items.

Keith & Keith Restoration was founded just down the road from us in Devon by Alan O’Livey, just before the pandemic in 2020. Having always enjoyed watching programmes about furniture restoration and upcycling, he was inspired to start his own business doing the same thing. He started out small, working from home, and using old pallets to make garden furniture, coffee tables and benches.

The business has grown rapidly in the past 18 months, and so Alan now has a workshop based in Pl