Best duvet 2019: sleep comfortably, even when it's chilly

In the market for a new duvet? The best duvet for year-round comfort is all you need. The duvet shopping essentials that are essential to get spot on? The duvet’s filling; its tog rating and its size. Get these right, and you’ll have a comfortable night’s sleep.

Other features to look out for? Modern duvets come in materials that allow for temperature regulation and have antibacterial properties, and fillings that range from polyester to bamboo and even plastic bottles (yes, that's a thing). Below, we've provided tons of duvet buying guidance, plus the best duvets you can buy. 

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What is the best duvet?

We think the best duvet you can buy is the Panda The Cloud Duvet. It's eco-friendly and cruelty free, it's made from bamboo and also features temperature regulating properties. Some may think it's expensive, however, a good duvet can last more than five years, so for a super king size, that's just £32 a year you're spending for a cosy sleep every night. 

In a hurry? Here's our at-a-glance list of the best duvets you can buy:

• Best duvet: Panda The Cloud Duvet
• Best duvet for allergy sufferers: Slumberdown Allergy Protection 10.5 Tog Duvet
• Best duvet for all seasons: Slumberdown All Seasons 3-in-1 15 Tog Combi Duvet
• Best luxury duvet: The White Company Deluxe Down Alternative Duvet
• Best eco-friendly duvet: The Fine Bedding Company Eco Duvet
• Best down duvet: Soak & Sleep Duck Feather & Down Duvet
• Best wool duvet: Woolroom Natural Hypoallergenic Duvet
• Best one-size-fits-all duvet: John Lewis Active Anti Allergy Duvet
• The best partner duvet: The Nanu Hot&Not Duvet

THE BEST DUVETS FOR YEAR-ROUND COMFORT

If duvet quality and durability are priorities, this is the best duvet for you. It features temperature regulating properties to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and most of all, it's antibacterial for those who have sensitive skin or allergies. The duvet itself is very light and fluffy, and also soft to the touch. It features loops on each corner to hold your cover in place. Our favourite features? It's cruelty-free... and we love the 300 thread count outer cover which is made from 100 per cent rayon, originating from bamboo. You can feel the luxury. We think this is the best duvet you can buy, bar none. It has a two year warranty, too.

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Do you suffer with hay fever, asthma or dust mite allergies? This is the best affordable duvet for you. It comes with a seal of approval from Allergy UK; inside, it's filled with polyester and Allergy Protect fibres that have been specially treated to provide asthma, allergy and dust mite protection. It's a mid-weight 10.5 tog, meaning you can use it all year round without getting too hot or too cold. It's both machine washable and tumble dryer friendly, and our favourite part is that it's super lightweight and has a 100 per cent cotton cover. The best duvet for allergy sufferers and those who want a buy that's cheap yet very cheerful, we think.

Shop more Duvets at Argos

Are you someone who really feels the change in seasons? Thanks to this three-in-one Slumberdown duvet, there's no need to store a different duvet for different room temperatures, as it can be a 4.5 tog duvet one minute, then, with the 10.5 tog duvet clipped on, a 15 tog duvet the next. Both the 4.5 and 10.5 tog duvets feature a hollow fibre filling, which is both washing machine and tumble dryer friendly. The best of both worlds.

Find more Slumberdown bedding at Amazon

Always wanted a down duvet but don't like the idea of how it's made? This down alternative duvet from The White Company is the closest thing you'll ever get. It comes in three tog choices: 4.5 tog, 10.5 tog and 13.5 tog, and it's filled with Smartdown – a super-fine recycled fibre. It has everything you could ever want in a duvet as it's plump, great for allergy sufferers and it comes with a five-year guarantee. The cover is made from 280-thread-count cotton-percale, and each duvet can be attached to another duvet in the range to increase the overall tog rating if need be.

Shop more duvets at The White Company

On the hunt for an eco-friendly duvet? This is the first ever duvet made from 100 per cent renewable energy. On average, 120 PET plastic bottles fill each 10.5 tog duvet to offer weightless warmth like nothing else. Among other things, the duvet is also breathable, hypoallergenic and washable at 30°C – it's not tumble-dryer friendly but it does dry fast. The best duvet for those who are eco-conscious.

Find more of The Fine Bedding Company products at Amazon

Available in a range of togs and sizes, this Soak & Sleep down and feather duvet is similar to the  Slumberdown All Seasons 3-in-1 15 Tog Combi Duvet in the way it features one duvet that's 4.5 tog and another that's 10.5 tog. You can use them separately or together to create a 15 tog duvet, depending on the season. Inside, the duvet is filled with 85 per cent duck feather for bulk and 15 per cent duck down for extra cosiness and insulation. It's completely breathable and fluffy, and the cover is made from soft cotton. The best duvet you can buy if you're after a down option, we think.

Shop more duvets at Soak & Sleep

If you're looking for a wool duvet, there's no other place to go than WoolRoom. With several different fillings (including alpaca) to choose from and different weights, we think the best all-round duvet is their light one, which ranges from 3 to 6 togs and features approximately 250 grams per square metre. Due to the fact that wool is known to retain heat better than other duvet fillings, and wool duvets are a lot thicker, this duvet tog is plenty for year-round comfort. Made with 100 per cent British wool and covered with medium thread count cotton, the duvet is especially suitable for those who suffer with night sweats and any hot sleepers out there. That's not to say that the other options on their site aren't worth a look, believe us, they are. However, if you're looking for a premium quality wool duvet and don't want to spend the earth, this is your best bet. 

Shop more WoolRoom products at Amazon

This all-seasons offering from John Lewis is our pick for best year-round duvet. Split into two duvets (one 9 tog, one 4.5 tog), you have the option to sleep with just one, or put them together with the handy onboard poppers when the temperature drops, making this a great-value versatile buy for continued use. It also gets an honourable mention as best anti-allergy duvet on our list, with its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti dust-mite fibres, to keep you happily sleepy rather than sneezy. 

Shop more duvets at John Lewis & Partners

The Nanu Hot&Not duvet is a split tog version of their classic duvet, which is filled with light clusters of microfibre (made from recycled bottle, so it's eco-friendly, too). We like the super-easy process of choosing the different tog combinations online, although there is the caveat that you can only go up or down by up to two tog levels from your partner's side. It's machine washable at 40ºC, making it a hygienic and easy-care choice. We do wish that this duvet same in a super king size too. 

How to buy the best duvet

Duvet tog ratings

A duvet’s filling will determine how light or heavy it is, but its tog rating indicates how warm it will feel. The higher the tog rating, the warmer it will feel. 

Summer duvets fall between 1 and 4.5 togs; spring/autumn duvets between 7 and 10.5 togs; and winter duvets between 12 and 13.5 togs. No one (we know) would want to buy three duvets to cover all seasons, so it’s worth buying an all-season duvet: this comes in the form of two lighter-weight duvets (one spring, one summer), clipped together to make a higher tog (winter) duvet. 

The majority on our list are 10.5 tog, however, the Slumberdown All Seasons 3-in-1 15 Tog Combi Duvet features two different duvets: one at 4.5 tog, another at 10.5, which can be clipped together to make a 15 tog duvet or used separately in warmer weather.

Couples who prefer different levels of night-time warmth can be catered to with duvets with different tog ratings on either side. Or, you could sleep like the Dutch, and have two single duvets on the same double bed.

Duvet fillings

There are so many duvet fillings to choose from: synthetic, microfibre, feather, down, cotton, silk and wool, and each feels different to sleep beneath. Here's a rundown:

Natural duvet fillings feel luxurious to sleep beneath. Duvets with a high feather content feel warm, heavy and enveloping, but are breathable, so you won't feel sweaty. You can check the feather content levels (it's called ‘fill power’) on the label: the higher the fill power, the warmer it will be. Check, too, that the feather or down comes from a certified farm to ensure the duvet is of good quality. Allergy sufferers should also ensure these natural fillings have been treated and that the duvet cover is woven tightly to avoid dust mite allergens. Wool, silk or cotton fillings, feel soft and comfortable to sleep under, but like other natural fillings are more expensive than synthetic ones. 

Synthetic duvet fillings are usually more affordable than duvets with natural fillings. Made from hollowfibre or microfibre polyester, which are non-allergenic and feel lighter than feather or down, they're still warm to sleep beneath. The White Company's Deluxe Down Alternative Duvet is another synthetic option, and if you're looking for an eco-conscious duvet, we have one on our list that's made from 100 per cent PET plastic bottles. Don't judge until you try! Other things to love about synthetic duvets? They can be machine washed, which is another tick in the box for allergy sufferers.

Duvet size

You need to shop for a duvet with your mattress measurements to hand. Too small for the bed, and you'll feel the draughts; too large, and the duvet will feel uncomfortably heavy.

Machine washable?

Duvets should be laundered every few months. If you don't want to lug yours to a dry cleaners, look for one that's machine washable and tumble-dryer tolerant.

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