Devon Duvets Blog

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 further afi

Many of us have a mattress topper because we want that extra layer of ‘sink into’ comfort on top of our mattress. It also helps to provide some protection to our mattress. So if you’re considering getting your own slice of extra comfort, it’s worth bearing in mind that a wool mattress topper offers so much more because it has another beneficial function - to keep you cool in the warmer months, as well as keeping you warm when it’s cold.

Wool is an amazing product, not only is it beautifully soft but it is also naturally anti-allergy as it resists dust mites, and because it is naturally breathable it can also help to stop the build-up of micro-bacteria. So it’s a healthy choice and particularly for those who suffer from asthma or other allergies.  

The other benefit of this wonderful natural product is that it is temperature regulating and so, it can either dissipate heat away from your body if it’s hot, but also keep the warmth in its fibres to keep your body warm when it’s

Keeping bedding clean and hygienic is very important – and especially when it comes to pillows, which have contact with our heads and faces every night.

This is where our unique, patented folding wool pillows come in!  Wool is a wonderful natural fibre that is breathable and heat regulating, transferring heat and moisture away from your skin. This creates a less susceptible environment for the development of micro-bacteria, making your pillow more hygienic. It is also dust mite resistant, making it an excellent choice for those needing a pillow to ease the symptoms of allergies and asthma in order to get a more restful night’s sleep.

We only ever use certified 100% British wool to fill our folding pillows. Our wool comes from British farmers who have the highest standards of animal husbandry, with the sheep only being shorn in Spring and Summer, the times when they would naturally need to be relieved of their wool. The wool is then milled in British mills - cleaned witho

There’s nothing more distressing that seeing your little one in discomfort and not able to sleep properly at night, due to an allergic reaction. According to The Children’s Allergies website, approximately 10% of children will produce antibodies in reaction to a dust mite allergy, resulting in an allergic reaction such as asthma.

The problem is that dust mites love the damp, bacteria-friendly environment of our beds and the bedding on it. There is a plethora of synthetic bedding options to try and combat this but as we are all increasingly aware of our responsibility to the planet, these end up being a problem for the environment when it’s time to change the bedding, for the simple fact that they are not biodegradable. So how can we ensure we are getting comfortable, hypoallergenic bedding for our child as well as doing the best for our planet? 

At Devon Duvets we’ve spent years in developing the perfect natural al

There are so many things about the menopause that no one tells you about, so when it happens, some of the symptoms* can be quite a nasty surprise. Everyone is different but these can range from hot flushes to brain fog (remind me why I went into the kitchen again) to difficulty in concentrating, and from achy joints first thing in the morning to heart palpitations. Even crying for some bizarre reason over what appears - to everyone else - to be a totally innocuous TV advert.

Probably the worst thing of all is suffering from those debilitating ‘keep waking up every hour’ night sweats. So, it might surprise you to know that the type of bedding you sleep in can make a huge difference in helping you to get a more restful night. Synthetic bedding can make you feel even more uncomfortable, so we’d always recommend choosing 100% natural bedding. The last type of bedding that you might expect to be of help is…wool. 

Most people associate wool with the colder months and, of c

Most of us associate wool with cold weather – and certainly our fabulous, super soft, high tog duvets are perfect for snuggling in the Winter months. However, the great thing about wool is that because it is a 100% natural material, it is breathable and therefore temperature regulating.

In a nutshell, wool has the remarkable ability to keep you cool in the hotter months, as well as keep you warm when it’s cold. 

This makes it the perfect filling for the lightweight duvets we handcraft for use in the Spring, Summer and even into Autumn. In fact, as a natural material, it is so efficient at temperature regulating, that for those of us who sleep in a warmer bedroom, or who suffer from the dreaded night sweats, a lightweight wool duvet will often be the ideal choice year-round. Even better, we’re delighted to have won awards from two national newspapers and Prima magazine included our lightweight wool duvets in their March special feature on the menopause.

Wool is ver

Wool is a remarkable 100% natural product. It’s sustainable, environmentally-friendly and has a number of beneficial properties that make it a wonderful filling for our 100% natural bedding products. Sheep are farmed for the production of wool all over the world - but we never use anything other than top grade, certified 100% British wool.

We do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, British wool has always been considered to be of very high quality. The British wool manufacturing industry dates back to around 1900 BC and when the Romans arrived, they so valued the Britons’ wool weaving skills that in 50 AD they established a wool plant in Winchester. In mediaeval times, many towns across Britain increased their wealth through the wool trade. In fact, by 1660 two-thirds of England’s foreign commerce was based on wool textiles.

Today, sheep farming and wool production in the UK is governed by strict animal welfare regulations. These are set by DEFRA (the Department for E

According to The Sleep Council* we sleep an average of just over 2,372 hours annually. That’s a lot of time spent sleeping. So we obviously want to ensure that not only do we choose the best duvets and pillows to snuggle up in, but also soft and comfortable bed linen that will work with our bedding, to help us to get the best night’s sleep.

There’s a lot of bed linen out there to choose from but what goes right next to your skin is important, which is why cotton, with its smooth texture and natural breathability, is so enduringly popular. There are three main types of cotton, American Upland, Egyptian and Pima, with 90% of cotton bedding made from American Upland, which has short fibres. Both Egyptian and Pima cotton have long, silkier fibres that produce a luxurious, soft fabric that is also stronger and more resilient. Pima cotton was first developed in the Southwestern part of the USA by the selective breeding of Egyptian cottons. As a result, Pima cotton is considered to be

At Devon Duvets we are committed to making and selling natural products that are responsible and ethical. Products that don’t end up in landfill and will either biodegrade or are recyclable.

This means that we’ve had to work hard on not only ensuring that our products fulfil our criteria but also finding the right sort of packaging to fit the same bill. Our packaging is all recyclable, but it doesn’t have to be discarded; it can also be reused in all sorts of useful ways to help with storage around your home, particularly our inner bags. We’ve all put our heads together to come up with some suggestions and we’re sure that there are lots more that we haven’t thought of – but you will!

Rotating your winter or summer clothes

Our inner bags will fit several jumpers and other winter clothing, or a stack of T-shirts and shorts. Once sealed, you can pop them on the top shelf of a cupboard, under your bed or anywhere else that’s dry, such as inside a suitcase, rea

It’s that time of year again – when we promise that we’re going to try and live a healthier lifestyle. We read about the latest diet craze (hopefully one that doesn’t involve two meals a day of nothing but boiled cabbage!), browse the internet for our nearest slimming club, promise ourselves that we’ll do more exercise and sort out our ‘work/life’ balance. But how long do these resolutions last?

Interestingly, we often forget that getting a good night’s sleep is a really important part of achieving a healthy lifestyle - something that can be a New Year Resolution that lasts years longer than the latest diet fad. Lack of sleep over a sustained period can have a detrimental impact on all aspects of your life, including work, time with the family and your overall sense of well-being. 

Restless nights can be caused by any number of issues, however, when we’ve spoken to those customers who wanted our advice, one problem that kept coming up was body temperature and how this was i