Duvet
A duvet (UK: /ˈduːveɪ/ DOO-vay, US: /duːˈveɪ/ doo-VAY;[1][2] from French duvet [dyvɛ] 'down'), usually called a comforter or (down-filled) quilt in American English,[3][4][5] and a doona in Australian English,[6] is a type of bedding consisting of a soft flat bag filled with either down, feathers, wool, cotton, silk, or a synthetic alternative, and is typically protected with a removable cover, analogous to a pillow and pillow case.
Duvets (known there as eiderdowns, in translation) originated in rural Europe[citation needed] and were filled with the down feathers of ducks or geese.
Originally called a continental quilt, duvets are commonly referred to in Australia by the generic trademark doona.
The Doona brand of duvets were originally manufactured by the Melbourne-based textile company Kimptons and became popular in the 1970s,[9] with the brandname eventually becoming a generic term in Australian English.
[11][12] Kimptons' adoption of the term "doona" is generally held to be from the Danish "dyne" (pronounced du-neh), meaning eiderdown, originally from the Norse "dýna".
Samuel Pepys slept under one on 9 September 1665 while visiting his friend Captain George Cocke,[18] whose wife was from Danzig.
Around 1700, he sent six-pound bags of down to his friends with instructions, warning that "the coverlet must be quilted high and in large panes, or otherwise it will not be warme".
[8] In the mid-18th century, Thomas Nugent, a Briton on a grand tour then passing through Westphalia, observed with surprise: There is one thing very particular to them, that they do not cover themselves with bed-clothes, but lay one feather-bed over, and another under.
[23] They are reported as being introduced to Britain by Sir Terence Conran who sold them in via his London Habitat store commencing in 1964; Conran had encountered them in Sweden in the previous decade and believed that they offered an alternative to the traditional, cumbersome British method of bed-making that involved a top sheet, blankets, with sometimes also a thinner (British style) "eiderdown" on the top for extra warmth.
[24] British users gradually came to prefer the style of sleeping under a duvet for the freedom of movement it offered and the reduced feel of weight on the body, in addition to the simplification of the bed making process.
[5] A modern duvet, like a sleeping bag, may be filled with down or feathers of various quality and cost, or silk, wool, cotton, or artificial fibers such as polyester batting.
Manufacturers rate the performance of their duvets in togs (10 °C difference between the outsides at 1 Watt), as a measurement of thermal insulation.
[27][28] Duvets/continental quilts/doonas are generally marketed as providing a more comfortable, wrap-around sleep experience, better freedom of movement for the sleeper, and easier/quicker bed making compared with the traditional "sheet and blankets" approach commonly found in the U.K. prior to their adoption.
