Choosing the right machine and the right temperature:
A duvet needs room in the drum: packed tight, it will be neither soaked nor rinsed through. Worse, over-compressed, it can be damaged during the wash or the spin. Choose our large 18 kg drum for a double duvet, where it will fill only two thirds of the space. A throw fits in an 8 kg machine.
As for temperature, follow the care label: 30 to 40 °C for most synthetic-filled duvets, sometimes 60 °C to sanitise, particularly if you are allergic to dust mites. Natural down and feathers are washed at low temperature with a gentle detergent, and no fabric softener, which would weigh the feathers down. The spin is the most important stage. An 18 kg machine is sometimes not enough for certain duvets: for the heaviest ones, prefer a dry cleaner, as their weight when wet prevents a proper spin.
Drying: the decisive stage:
Drying matters enormously: a poorly dried duvet keeps moisture at the heart of the fibres and can quickly turn musty. A laundrette dryer is built for the job. Some professionals add two or three tennis balls to the dryer: as they strike the filling, they break it up and restore its loft.
Dry at a moderate temperature and allow several cycles if needed; take the duvet out from time to time to shake it and break up any clumps of filling. It must be perfectly dry, with no cold or damp patch left, before being stored away.
How often, and why it matters:
A duvet should be washed once or twice a year, and more often in case of allergies. Between two full washes, a duvet cover protects the filling and is washed with the rest of your bed linen.
Washing your duvets in a laundrette means removing the perspiration, dust mites and dust that build up inside — a real hygiene measure for your sleep, and one that cannot be carried out properly in a small home machine.