A Guide to Duvet Covers vs. Down Comforters

Understanding the Basics

600 Thread Count Long staple Egyptian cotton duvet cover.

Duvet covers are vital to protect your down comforters and duvets from everyday wear and tear. They shield fabric from dust, allergens and the oil produced by your skin and go easily into the wash. No need to worry about washing and drying your luxury down comforters if you protect them with a goose down comforter cover. Read ahead to see how to choose a duvet cover for down comforters.

What Is the Difference Between a Duvet and a Duvet Cover?

First, let’s answer: what is a duvet cover? A duvet cover is used to protect your duvet or down comforter. Duvet covers are the protective outer layer that you can zip or button your down comforter into. Your down comforter, or duvet, fits inside the duvet cover just like your pillow fits inside your pillowcase. They’re removable and washable.

The reason for all the confusion? "Duvet," a french word for 'down', is sometimes confused with the phrase "duvet cover" here in the United States. A duvet is a down comforter while a duvet cover is the protector of your down comforter. It's that's simple. They are very important to the longevity of your down comforter and how comfortably you will sleep at night.

Duvets vs Down Comforters: Is a Down Comforter a Duvet?

While a duvet isn’t always a down comforter, a down comforter is always a duvet. Down comforters are filled with down feathers, offering the height of luxury to those who enjoy them. Duvets don’t necessarily have to be filled with feathers: they can also be filled with wool, silk or polyester. However, the terms are usually interchangeable. Comparing a duvet vs down comforter qualities will find they have extremely similar benefits.

If you’re interested in down comforters, we have a complete guide for how to choose down comforters to suit your desired softness, temperature and more! Or, shop yourself in our down comforters collection. 

Do Down Comforters Need a Duvet Cover?

Technically, duvets and down comforters are a complete bedding piece and don’t require a cover. However, duvet covers are an important protection for down comforters. They shield your bedding from dust, allergens and the oil produced by your skin. Washing a duvet cover is much simpler than washing a duvet and will drastically extend the lifespan of your duvet. We recommend using a duvet cover with your down comforters to improve your experience.

The Benefits of Using a Duvet Cover

Although we covered some benefits of a duvet cover above, we’d like to highlight how much a duvet cover can do for you. Duvet covers provide:

• Longevity for your down comforters and duvets,
• Simple cleaning without getting the feathers of your down comforter wet,
• Helps prevent shedding issues for feather comforters,
• Improves texture, if you love your duvet but don’t love the texture of its casing,
• Low storage needs, folding up as easily as a sheet,
• They don’t add weight to your duvet - keeping it light and fluffy!
• Aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Features of Down & Feather Duvet Covers

Our goose down comforter covers are specially designed to pair with our Hungarian white goose down comforters. Made with the finest materials, our duvet covers provide the ideal sleep experience customized for you. Read ahead to see what makes our duvet covers the best on the market.

Egyptian Cotton

All of our duvet covers are made from Egyptian cotton. Egyptian cotton is considered the finest cotton in the world because of the length of the cotton fibers grown in northern Africa. These long staple Egyptian cotton fibers can be spun finer and thinner resulting in softer sheets and lighter duvet covers. Lighter is one of the most important reasons to only purchase high quality duvet covers.

Softer and Lighter

Using a lighter fabric like the long staple Egyptian cotton fabric used for our duvet covers allows you to sleep cooler at night. Remember, long staple Egyptian cotton fibers can be spun finer and thinner so your duvet cover is lighter so you sleep cooler. The thicker and heavier the cotton used to make your duvet cover the hotter you are going to sleep. The hotter you sleep the more you will perspire. Perspiration, moisture, is one of the enemies of down and will significantly impact the longevity of your down comforter, so the quality of your duvet cover can have a significant impact on how comfortably you will sleep.

Percale or Sateen

Percale and sateen fabrics are very similar and yet very different. One is crisp and cool with a matte finish while the other one is woven to create a silky smooth surface with a luminous shine. Percale is lighter in weight and more breathable making it perfect for bedrooms on the warmer side. While the sateen fabric has a silky smooth surface, vibrant sheen, and drape, but is a little thicker and more tightly woven making it perfect for bedroom on the cooler side.

Our Fine Goose Down Comforter Covers

Down & Feather Co is a premium manufacturer of made-to-order down and feather pillows and other luxury bedding. We source sustainably while using the finest and most expensive materials in the world. Check out our duvet covers below to match with our deluxe Hungarian white goose down comforters.

Lyric Collection

This silky smooth 500-thread count percale duvet cover is made from the same 100% long staple Egyptian cotton used in the finest hotels and resorts. A double row of hemstitching gives the Lyric a provincial look and hotel charm. Creamy to the touch, the Lyric is a sumptuous indulgence in the finest of luxury linens.

Virtuoso Collection

Luxury linens are one of life's greatest pleasures, and our silky smooth 600-thread count solid sateen duvet cover is pleasure defined. Available in 4 beautiful earth tones, this silky smooth sateen duvet cover is made from 100% long staple Egyptian cotton. Like the Lyric collection, the Virtuoso collection boasts a double row of hemstitching and a creamy texture.