Summer duvets
A summer duvet is designed to help you sleep well in warm weather, with a low tog rating of 2.5 tog to 4.5 tog, which will provide less insulation and is lighter in weight and a natural filling, like goose down, which is temperature-regulating and sweat wicking.
In our in-depth guide, we cover everything you need to know before buying a summer duvet; plus our top 10 tips for sleeping well during the summer months.
What to consider when buying a summer duvet:
- What type of duvet is best for summer?
- What tog should a summer duvet be?
- What is the best duvet construction for summer heat?
- What is a lightweight duvet?
- Thin duvets for summer
- What sizes do summer duvets come in?
- Washing your duvet and bedding in the summer
- Top 10 tips for sleeping well during the summer months
What type of duvet is best for summer?
Natural duvet fillings, like goose down, feather, wool, bamboo and cotton are the best type of duvets for summer as they are more breathable and sweat wicking than synthetic filled duvets. A natural filled duvet will help you avoid poor sleep and waking up feeling sticky and tired.
A high percentage goose down duvet provides 3-4 times more air circulation than a synthetic duvet.
Make sure your summer duvet casing as well as your summer bed linen - duvet cover, sheets and pillowcases - are 100% cotton not synthetic as cotton is both temperature regulating and sweat wicking.
It's also important to make sure that your summer duvet and summer bedding are easily machine washable as you may want to wash it more often. Check the care label carefully for washing details.
What tog should a summer duvet be?
A 2.5 tog duvet to 4.5 tog duvet is the ideal tog for a summer duvet. The lower the tog rating, the less insulation the duvet provides so it will be cooler to sleep under during warmer weather.
- 4.5 tog duvet - Our 4.5 tog Hungarian goose down duvet will ensure you enjoy a blissful night's sleep throughout the warm spring and summer months. We also recommend this duvet for hot sleepers during the cooler autumn and winter seasons.
- 2.5 tog duvet - Our 2.5 tog Hungarian goose down duvet is designed for high summer nights and year-round hot sleepers. It's a lighter weight, breathable duvet that will ensure you have a comfortably cool night’s sleep.
- 7 tog all seasons duvet - Our 2.5 tog & 4.5 tog duvet all season set comes with a handy cost saving. Two duvets which can be used individually or easily fastened together, providing three warmth options. The ideal all season duvet for year-round warm sleepers or if you live in a well insulated home.
What is the best duvet construction for summer heat?
The construction of a summer weight goose down or feather duvet can also help you manage your body temperature as you sleep. A pocket construction, such as Box or Baffle stitched, ensures that the goose down duvet filling is evenly distributed across the whole duvet and that all the filling doesn’t sink down to your toes. It also gives the goose down duvet filling more space which increases fluffiness and breathability.
Lightweight duvets
Lightweight duvets and bedding can help you to have a better night’s sleep if you find a heavy duvet uncomfortable to sleep under, especially in the summer. A lightweight duvet won’t weigh you down awkwardly and should help you sleep much more comfortably so they are ideal if you have restricted movement due to age or injury or if you’ve had a recent operation.
To work out how lightweight a duvet is, check the duvet 'fill weight', which is the weight of the duvet filling. Duvet fill weight is usually measured by ‘gsm’ which means the weight of the filling within a square metre. Therefore, the lower the fill weight, the lighter the duvet. It is worth noting however, that in down or feather duvet fillings, it is 'fill power' not 'fill weight' that measures the effectiveness and quality of the insulation provided.
Down-rich duvets are a great choice as a lightweight duvet as they provide superior breathability and temperature regulation. Goose down has a larger number of fluffy filaments than duck down or feather which means it is a more lightweight duvet filling.
Read more in our guide to fill power and fill weight.
Thin duvets for summer
Duvet thinness measures how thin or thick the duvet is which depends on the amount of filling used and maybe also the thickness of the duvet casing.
The thickness of a duvet directly relates to how much filling it contains. Our 4.5 tog duvet consists of approximately 38% more filling than our 2.5 tog duvets. While our 9 tog duvet has approximately 64% more filling than our 4.5 tog duvets.
A thin duvet may still feel heavy depending on the filling used. Denser fillings such as wool, low quality down or large feathers can be squashed together resulting in a less breathable and hotter duvet. Man-made duvet fillings such as hollowfiber and microfibre, may feel thin and light but won't be very breathable, so they can still cause you to be hot and sweaty while you sleep.
Thin duvets are also less bulky and therefore easier to wash at home. All scooms duvets are machine washable.
What sizes do summer duvets come in?
Summer duvets come in all the normal duvet sizes. Here are the standard UK sizes that we sell on scooms:
Do I need to wash my duvet and bedding more in the summer?
You may want to wash your duvet and bedding more often in the summer months if you find yourself getting hot and sweaty at night. Check that your duvet and bedding is easily machine washable when you buy it rather than having to be expensively dry cleaned.
However, if you have the right tog summer duvet made with naturally breathable materials, such as a goose down or feather filling and cotton casing, that doesn't make you feel uncomfortably hot while you sleep, then you shouldn't need to wash it more than usual during the summer months.
See our guides on How to wash your bed linen and How to wash your goose down duvet.
If you have a synthetic fill duvet, it will trap more moisture when you sweat at night providing a breeding ground for nasties and so you may want to wash it more frequently. Remember though, that synthetic duvets made from microfibre, hollow fibre or 'soft as down', are all filled with a form of plastic which will release microplastic pollution into the water system during washing.
If you can, we recommend that you dry your duvet and bedding outside during the summer as the sunlight acts as an antibacterial force.
Make sure you wash your bed linen such as sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases once a week. See our guide to How often to change your bed linen.
Top 10 tips for sleeping well during the summer months
- Breathable bedding - natural materials are sweat wicking and temperature regulating - choose cotton sheets or linen sheets and goose down duvets, feather duvets or wool duvets.
- Lower tog natural filled duvet - look for a low tog rating for a summer duvet, pick a 2.5 tog to 4.5 tog duvet with goose down, wool or cotton filling.
- Ideal room temperature - the best sleeping temperature is 17 to 18 degrees. Try shutting your curtains during the day to keep the temperature down.
- Air your room - keep the window open or use a fan for a cooling breeze while you sleep.
- Cotton nightwear - wearing cotton next to your skin allows air to circulate and will absorb any sweat.
- Avoid drink or food too close to bedtime - stimulating caffeine, alcohol or a big meal will all keep your body working throughout the night increasing your body temperature.
- Cool down before bed - a cold or warm shower will cool you down before sleep. Warm showers will trigger your body's natural cooling response.
- Drink water - keep a cold glass of water by your bed to sip when your mouth feels dry.
- Cooling tips - fill a hot water bottle with icy water or store your pyjamas or pillowcase in a cold environment for an hour before bed.
- Avoid body contact - sleeping too close to someone else's body heat can increase your own body temperature!
Top summer duvet FAQs:
What type of duvet is best for summer?A summer duvet should be lightweight and breathable with a tog rating of 4.5 tog or lower so that it is less insulating. A natural duvet filling like goose down, wool or bamboo will help regulate your body temperature and wick away any moisture so you can sleep more comfortably during warmer weather. What tog is a summer duvet?A summer duvet has a low tog rating, ranging from 2.5 tog to 4.5 tog, providing less insulation so that it will be cooler to sleep under. What is the best duvet for summer heat?Choose a low tog, lightweight duvet made with naturally breathable, moisture wicking materials. We recommend goose down for the duvet filling and 100% cotton for the duvet casing. It should also be easily machine washable. What is a lightweight duvet?A lightweight duvet should be light enough so no weight bears down on your body enabling you to sleep more comfortably in hot weather or if you have restricted movement. Check the weight of the duvet before you buy. |
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