How to read a tog, choose between down, wool and fibre, pick a pillow for the way you sleep, and get the size right first time.
Tog measures how much a duvet resists heat passing through it. It is a property of the finished duvet — fill, fill weight and construction together — and it says nothing about how heavy the duvet is. A 10.5 tog down duvet weighs about 1.6 kg in a 200 × 200; the wool duvet of the same warmth weighs 2.4 kg. Same warmth, different object. Wool duvets are not formally tog-rated, so we give the fill weight in grams per square metre and the tog it corresponds to.
| Warmth | Tog | Bedroom at night | Who it suits | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer | 4 to 5 | Above 20 °C | Hot sleepers; June to September; well-insulated flats all year | Anyone who is cold in bed in a heated room |
| All-season | 9 to 10.5 | 16 to 20 °C | Most people in most heated homes, October to April | A room that drops below 15 °C at night |
| Winter | 12 to 13.5 | Below 16 °C | Unheated rooms, old houses, open windows in January, people who are always cold | A modern flat; anyone who already kicks off an all-season |
| Four-seasons | 4.5 + 9 | All of the above | One bed that has to work from July to February | Anyone who dislikes a bulky cover in winter |
If you share a bed with someone who runs at a different temperature, the wool all-season is the compromise that works most often, because wool evens the two sides out. Failing that, two single duvets on a double bed is the Scandinavian answer and it is a good one.
Fill power measures how much space a given weight of down takes up: higher means lighter for the same warmth. It is useful for comparing two down duvets. It is useless for comparing down with wool, and a shop that quotes fill power without tog is telling you how fluffy the duvet is, not how warm.
| Down | Wool | Recycled fibre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight for the warmth | Lightest | Heaviest, about 1.5× down | In between |
| Moisture | Holds it; needs airing | Moves it away; stays dry | Does not absorb it; can feel clammy |
| Temperature evenness | Good | Best | Fair |
| Washing at home | Summer and all-season only, big drum | Rarely; wool cycle once a year | Yes, 60 °C, as often as you like |
| Allergies | Protector and clean covers usually solve it | Naturally mite-resistant | Hypoallergenic |
| Look | Lofty | Flat | Lofty at first, flattens over years |
| Life with care | 10 to 15 years | 10 years and more | 5 to 7 years |
| The drawback | Clumps without airing | The weight | Breathability |
| You sleep | You need | Buy | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| On your front | Very little under the neck | Goose down, Soft | Anything firm or high |
| On your back | Medium height, some support | Goose down, Medium; or the wool pillow with some fill removed | The buckwheat unless you like firm |
| On your side | Height to fill the shoulder gap, and firmness | Wool pillow at full fill; buckwheat if you want it firm and cool | The soft down |
| Every way | Something that adjusts | Wool pillow | — |
| Hot | Airflow | Buckwheat; wool second | Recycled fibre |
| With neck pain | Firm, exact support | Buckwheat | Soft down |
The buckwheat pillow rustles and weighs 3.5 kg, the wool pillow holds a shape rather than springing back, and the down pillows need a daily shake. All three facts are on the product pages, and the thirty-night trial is there for the ones you cannot judge from a table.
| Size | Mattress width | Sleepers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140 × 200 cm | 90 to 120 cm | One | Also the size for two singles on a double bed |
| 200 × 200 cm | 140 to 160 cm | Two | The common European double size |
| 240 × 220 cm | 180 cm and wider | Two | Generous overhang on a 180; the right size for a 200 |
Buy the duvet for the mattress, then the cover for the duvet. A cover with corner ties keeps a duvet from drifting; every duvet here has corner loops for them.
| Size | Where it is the standard pillowcase |
|---|---|
| 50 × 70 cm | Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands |
| 60 × 60 cm | Belgium, France, parts of Switzerland |
| 80 × 80 cm | Germany, Austria, parts of Switzerland |
Match the pillowcases you already own. Fill weights on the product pages are for the 50 × 70; the 60 × 60 has about 90 % of that weight and the 80 × 80 about 170 %.
| Size | Mattress | Skirt depth |
|---|---|---|
| 90 × 200 | Single | Fits 18 to 35 cm |
| 140 × 200 | Small double | Fits 18 to 35 cm |
| 160 × 200 | Standard double | Fits 18 to 35 cm |
| 180 × 200 | Wide double | Fits 18 to 35 cm |
Measure the mattress, not the bed frame. Two single mattresses pushed together take two single protectors; one double will ride up at the join. Toppers use the same sizes and sit under the protector, never over it.
Throws come in 130 × 170 cm, which covers one person on a sofa or the foot of a single bed, and 150 × 200 cm, which covers the foot of a double or a person who wants their feet in. Lamp shades are sold by diameter: 20 cm for a lamp base up to 25 cm tall, 25 cm for a base up to 40 cm, 30 cm for anything taller or on the floor. Height equals diameter on the drum; the pleated shade is about 70 % of its bottom diameter high.
| Product | Warmth / class | Fill | Made in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goose Down Duvet, Summer | 4.5 tog · summer | 90 % goose down | Poland |
| Goose Down Duvet, All-Season | 10.5 tog · all-season | 90 % goose down | Poland |
| Goose Down Duvet, Winter | 13.5 tog · winter | 90 % goose down | Poland |
| Duck Down Duvet, All-Season | 10.5 tog · all-season | 70 % duck down | Poland |
| Four-Seasons Down Duvet | 4.5 + 9 tog · buttoned | 90 % goose down | Poland |
| Wool Duvet, Summer | Summer · 250 g/m² | 100 % washed wool | Sweden |
| Wool Duvet, All-Season | All-season · 450 g/m² | 100 % washed wool | Sweden |
| Wool Duvet, Winter | Winter · 600 g/m² | 100 % washed wool | Sweden |
| Recycled-Fibre Duvet, All-Season | 10.5 tog · all-season | Recycled polyester fibre | Portugal |
| Goose Down Pillow, Soft | Soft · front sleepers | 90 % goose down | Poland |
| Goose Down Pillow, Medium | Medium · back sleepers | Down outer, feather core | Poland |
| Duck Feather & Down Pillow | Medium-firm · all sleepers | 85 % duck feather, 15 % down | Poland |
| Wool Pillow | Medium · side sleepers | 100 % wool balls | Sweden |
| Buckwheat Hull Pillow | Firm · neck support | Organic buckwheat hulls | Austria |
| Recycled-Fibre Pillow | Medium · guest rooms | Recycled polyester fibre | Portugal |
| Quilted Cotton Mattress Protector | Fitted · 35 cm skirt | Cotton wadding | Portugal |
| Wool Mattress Protector | Fitted · temperature-evening | Washed wool | Sweden |
| Membrane Mattress Protector | Fitted · waterproof | Cotton terry over a polyurethane membrane | Portugal |
| Wool Mattress Topper | 5 cm · firm-to-medium | Layered washed wool | Sweden |
| Down & Feather Mattress Topper | 7 cm · soft | Duck feather base, goose down top | Poland |
| Pillow Protectors, Pair | Pair · zipped | None - a woven barrier | Portugal |
| Stitched Cotton Quilt, Chalk | Light · 2 tog | Cotton wadding | Portugal |
| Linen-Cotton Summer Quilt, Slate | Light · 1.5 tog | Cotton wadding | Portugal |
| Fine Wool Throw, Fog | Woven · 420 g/m² | 100 % fine wool | Lithuania |
| Boiled Wool Throw, Walnut | Felted · 560 g/m² | 100 % wool, boiled | Lithuania |
| Knitted Cotton Throw, Cream | Knitted · 480 g/m² | 100 % combed cotton | Portugal |
| Recycled Wool Throw, Check | Woven · 500 g/m² | 70 % recycled wool, 30 % mixed fibres | Italy |
| Silk Sleep Mask | Silk · 22 momme | Silk floss | Portugal |
| Padded Cotton Sleep Mask | Cotton · blackout | Cotton wadding | Portugal |
| Weighted Linen Sleep Mask | Linen · 180 g weighted | Flaxseed in channels | Portugal |
| Linen Drum Lamp Shade | Drum · linen | None - a rolled-edge fabric shade | Sweden |
| Pleated Cotton Lamp Shade | Tapered · pleated | None - hand-pleated cotton | Sweden |
Email hello@duvetandshades.com with the bedroom temperature at night, how you sleep and the mattress width. We answer with a tog, a fill and a size, and we will say if the cheapest option is the right one.