THREE Duvets Blog

After many years of speaking to customers about their various sleep issues, the main cause of restless nights is overheating. Overheating can be very disruptive to sleep quality as it will often lead to waking up more during the night. Based on feedback when talking to customers, we’ve listed below the most common causes of overheating at night.

SOME MEDICAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE OVERHEATING

This includes the well-known ‘night sweats’ when experiencing peri menopause and menopause - and can continue for a few years after menopause. Other medical conditions can include stress, infections and cancer. It may be worth seeking advice from your GP if you are suddenly or consistently overheating at night.

CHECK YOUR ROOM TEMPERATURE

We all lose moisture at night, and it is natural to sweat a little. However, research has shown that a warm bedroom can lead to overheating, and humidity can magnify this by reducing your sweat’s ability to evaporate. To fall asleep, your body temperature needs to drop slightly, so try keeping your bedroom a little cooler than the rest of the house and an open or ventilated window can help.

MEMORY FOAM MATTRESSES CAN TRAP HEAT

These are very popular mattresses and are well-known for their comfort. However, they can be very solid and dense. The result is that warm air can build up throughout the night and is unable to escape as it is trapped between your body and the mattress. This can lead to overheating, especially in the warmer months. A wool mattress topper can help to dissipate the heat, especially if it is 100% natural wool and encased in 100% cotton. You can find out more about individually handcrafted British wool mattress toppers here on our sister company, Devon Duvets’ website.

TRY TO AVOID SYNTHETIC FIBRES IN YOUR DUVET, PILLOWS AND BEDLINEN

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Christmas provides many of us with the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. It’s a break from work but we often find ourselves running around, doing all those last-minute preparations that we haven’t had time for earlier in December. Whether that’s ‘panic’ shopping, present wrapping, food preparation and cooking, it can sometimes take over our much needed ‘me time’ after a year of working hard. As many in one in three Brits suffer from sleep problems and the excitement (and stresses) of this often eagerly awaited holiday can exacerbate this.

So, here are some tips that will let you have fun but also still get the sleep you need.

ME TIME…

Put aside some time aside to relax – even if there is lots to do. If you are stressed and over-tired you will be less efficient at getting things done in time. Take an hour out each day to read a book, do some yoga or perhaps treat yourself to a nice relaxing bath about 45 minutes before bedtime. Use your favourite bubble bath or light a scented candle. Or wrap up warm and head out for a walk; it takes a lot to beat a crisp, sunny winter’s day and it’s good for your circulation, blood pressure and general wellbeing. We’re know we’re exceptionally lucky to be so close to Dartmoor for walking but a good stroll around your local park will invigorate you! Exercise will also help you to sleep better.

FESTIVE GOODIES…

Sugar seems to be the main ingredient in many Christmas treats, and many of us find it hard to resist. However, too much sugar can impact on sleep because it triggers insulin production in our bodies, which in turn increases cortisol levels – the hormone that gives us that ‘energy rush’ and will stop us going to sleep if we indulge too close to bedtime. Generally, eating late and then trying to sleep on a full stomach is both uncomfortable and can lead to indigestion or reflux. It’s best to leave the sweet stuff to earlier in the day and try

A few weeks ago, we mentioned that we'd be sharing some of our customers' Sleep Stories in a series of mini blogs. Our first one was posted in July and showed how we helped find the perfect duvet solution for one couple. This next blog tells the story of another couple, who had several factors to take into consideration. Here's how we helped!

Sam and Penny live in a well-insulated, modern flat in London. Penny is experiencing menopausal hot flushes and night sweats and so she and Sam have been sleeping underneath a synthetic low tog duvet. However, despite sleeping under this for most of the year, she is still too hot because synthetic duvets are not breathable and can trap heat. The duvet isn’t quite warm enough for Sam in the colder months and he doesn’t like sleeping under synthetic fibres, however, can’t sleep under feather or feather and down because he has a dust mite allergy. They have been considering sleeping under separate single duvets but wondered if there was an alternative. They called us to discuss options and decided that our unique shared duvet solution would work well for them! For her half section, Penny chose our natural 100% plant-based duvet filling, Botanic, which is moisture wicking and so will help with her temperature fluctuations, and went for the ultralight option (2 – 4 togs). Sam opted for our lightweight 100% British wool filling (4 – 7 togs) for his section. Wool is naturally dust mite resistant so this will help alleviate his symptoms as a result of his dust mite allergy. They have since purchased a further lightweight wool section for Penny to ‘mix and match’ with Sam’s lightweight wool section for the winter.

If you would like to talk to the team about your Sleep Story and need help to guide you through possible options, then please get in touch.

When our owners, Dick and Pauline Beijen, founded Devon Duvets, they were living on a smallholding on Dartmoor, having given up their busy international careers to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

By the time Monty Don featured them in ‘My Dream Farm’, and the handcrafting of our award-winning duvets was underway, their two children, Anna Rose and Jake, were still young and at Primary School - but old enough to hear all about how beautiful British wool can be turned into duvets, toppers and pillows. Sitting at the kitchen table, they would listen to Dick and Pauline talk to local farmers, the British mill that would clean and prepare the wool and to customers who wanted to chat about their ‘sleep stories’ and find out how wool could help them to sleep better.

Fast forward 12 years and Devon Duvets is still proud to be individually handcrafting duvets, toppers and pillows made from natural, sustainable materials, including our recently launched and innovative, patented THREE Duvets range.

Although no longer based at Dick and Pauline’s home, our workshops are tucked away in an eco-friendly building at the end of a wooded valley on the edge of Plympton, complete with our talented, highly skilled seamstresses and our dispatch and customer care teams.

Anna and Jake initially started out by helping every so often, such as during the school holidays, but now having reached 21 and 20 respectively, they made the decision to join their parents and learn all about the business.

Jake is learning the ropes on the management team and works with Dick on planning production each week, liaising with our brilliant suppliers in ensuring our materials continue to be sustainable and responsibly sourced. Jake also studied IT and so

ARE YOU A NIGHT OWL OR A MORNING LARK?

Recent research about sleep and sleep behaviours was carried out by the British Wool organisation, and with some surprising results.  Here’s a few things they discovered:

• On average, Brits wake up three times a night. There are many reasons for this, including being too hot; 48% polled specified this issue as the cause for a disrupted night’s sleep.
• 48% of us find it difficult to ‘switch off’ with 22% worrying about work and what we need to do at the office the next day.
• Of those asked as part of the study, 78% of Britons insist on sleeping on the same side of the bed each night.
• Almost two thirds (62%) confessed that they snore at night – with 12% admitting they do it all the time!

The study also revealed that Britain is home to a nation of night owls, with six in ten Brits saying that they go to bed late and like to sleep in, compared to 40% who describe themselves as morning larks or early birds.

Morning Larks tend to go to bed early, wake up early and feel their best as the day begins. They also tend to have less energy in the late afternoon and evening, resulting in them finding it hard to stay awake past a certain hour. Research has shown that early risers tend to have an easier time adjusting to standard daytime schedules, which can make it easier to function at workplaces that operate during the day or have an early start.  Morning Larks are also known as ‘early birds’, a term which has its origins in a 17^th century proverb – ‘the early bird catches the worm’.

Night owls tend to stay up late and enjoy sleeping in. They feel their best later in the day and have more energy at night. The downside to this is that they often feel tired after waking up early and can have a hard time staying alert during the day. As most of society is structured aroun

Everybody has their own Sleep Story - and we speak to customers every day about theirs. At Devon Duvets we want our customers to achieve a better quality of sleep, and this is why we put so much love and care into responsibly sourcing each element that goes into creating our handcrafted THREE Duvets range, here in our Devon workshops.

We will be sharing some of these stories in a series of mini blogs as you may find that you have a similar Sleep Story and can see how our 100% natural, filled bedding products can help.

MIKE AND GIULIA’S STORY

Giulia is from the south of Italy but moved to the UK, two years ago, when she met and married Mike. Having lived in a warmer climate for most of her life, she feels the cold and especially at night. Mike likes to sleep with the window open all night, and even more so now because their current high tog feather and down duvet keeps Giulia warm, but he is still overheating and wakes up several times each night. When they contacted us, we suggested they choose one lightweight half section (4 – 7 togs) for Mike and one medium weight wool half section (8 – 14 togs) for Guilia, which can be joined together, using our patented simple joining system, to create one full sized duvet. This way Mike and Giulia  were able to both have the duvet they need but without either having to compromise or resort to two separate single duvets. Giulia can also purchase an extra warm wool half section (which has an added layer of wool) if she needs to top up on the togs in the winter. This gives both Mike and Giulia the option to ‘mix and match’ sections as required, throughout the seasons.

If you would like to talk to the team about your Sleep Story or need help to guide you through possible options, then please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

New research, conducted by British Wool to mark its ‘In Bed With The Menopause’ campaign, found that 64% of women didn’t know the menopause could affect sleep until going through it. The research also looked at the wider effects of the menopause and the symptoms women were experiencing.

These included hot flushes (68%), night sweats (62%), difficulty sleeping (58%) and experiencing low mood or anxiety (53%). Lack of sleep was highlighted as a big issue in terms of the impact it could have on daily life, causing a feeling of exhaustion all the time. Those taking part in the research said they had tried various ways of tackling the problem, including sleeping with the window open, sleeping naked and trying lavender pillow spray. However, eight out of ten (81%) had no idea that using wool duvets, pillows and toppers can help regulate the body’s changing temperature, and therefore help with sleep. Wool is breathable and so can dissipate heat and, although it can’t stop flushes, can help to manage them so that you don’t keep waking up.

British Wool’s Head of Sleep, Julia Robinson, said that British Wool’s research had shown that many women still suffer in silence but that making small changes, like using wool bedding can help. Diana Danzebrink, founder of the not-for-profit community interest company, Menopause Support, said that everyone in the UK will be affected by symptoms of the menopause at some point in their life, whether that’s directly or indirectly. She added that there are over thirty psychological, cognitive and physical menopause symptoms, many of which can be debilitating for some. She stressed the importance of educating ourselves and each other to ensure that those experiencing menopause don’t feel alone.

The research also revealed the top life lessons according to women over fifty and what they would like to share with the younger generation. Top of the list was to mak

We’ve all been there - trying to change our duvet cover and wondering if there is an easier way. Single duvet covers are manageable, but when it comes to a King, Super King or Emperor size then it becomes far trickier - especially if you have having to do this by yourself!

According to research carried out by Which? magazine, there are several methods, including  the ‘inside out’, ‘the roll’, the ‘all in’ and ‘the ghost’. The easiest, but slowest, way is the ‘roll’ and the fastest is the ‘inside out’ method, taking an average of 1 minutes and 23 seconds, but this needs a certain level of stamina!

FOR THE 'INSIDE OUT' METHOD:

1. Lay your duvet flat out across the bed.
2. Turn your duvet cover inside out and put your arms inside it, reaching for the two furthest corners of the cover (away from the fastenings).
3. Still ‘wearing’ the duvet over your arms, with your hands holding the two corners, reach down to the duvet and grab the two closest corners of the duvet up towards you.
4. Lift your arms up and shake the duvet cover down over the top of the rest of the duvet.

Each one of our THREE Duvets sections - whether it’s made from British wool, British alpaca wool or our 100% plant-based Botanic filling - is individually handcrafted by our wonderful seamstresses at our Devon workshops. So whichever section or sections you choose, you can be confident that they will have natural and sustainable fillings, and the beautiful 100% cotton fabric we use for our casings is made from 260 thread count BCI cotton. BCI cotton is

Experiencing a great night’s sleep is important for body and soul and what you sleep under or on can have a big impact on that. As THREE Duvets is the sister company to Devon Duvets, we know all about duvets and that’s why we’ve made sure we know exactly what goes into ours, down to the last stitch! In fact, thanks to years of research and experience, you can say we know our duvets inside and out - and this goes back to the time when our products were just a twinkle in the minds of our founders, Dick and Pauline Beijen.

It all started when they left their busy international careers to live a more sustainable lifestyle in Devon but, being the creative thinkers that they are, it wasn’t long before they wanted to find a way to make beautiful, handcrafted duvets that would not only be sustainable and eco-friendly but would also support British sheep farmers. So, the search began…

The key part of this was knowing the journey of every part of our duvets and making sure we chose to work with farmers, cotton growers and mills that shared our commitment to responsible sourcing. This required a lot of research to find high quality wool, the right mill to wash our wool, the best and most ethically produced cotton fabric and the best seamstresses to work their magic in our workshops on the edge of Dartmoor.

Our wool has always come from British farmers, whom we know have the highest standards of animal husbandry. Our wool is also certified by the British Wool organisation and is fully traceable from farm to duvet. We were the first soft bedding company to pioneer the British Wool organisation’s traceability programme, and our farmers receive above market value for their fleeces. We also only ever use wool from live sheep and from Spring and Summer shearings, when the sheep need to lose their heavy

Sustainability and responsible sourcing have been at the heart everything that we do, even since before we were even making our products, so we wanted to write a bit about the cotton fabric that we use for the casings for our THREE Duvets sections.

Our goal was to find a cotton fabric that was made with cotton grown as sustainably and ethically as possible. As cotton growing techniques and practices vary around the world, we also needed to find cotton that came from growers who were committed to good socio-economic principles and work conditions.

Our research led us to the Better Cotton initiative, the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton. A non- profit organisation that was founded over 17 years ago, its mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. Education and support for these communities now means that nearly two million farmers, in 23 countries are now licensed to sell their cotton as ‘Better Cotton’.

Here’s how Better Cotton works:

HELPING COTTON FARMERS BECOME MORE SUSTAINABLE: farmers who take part in the Better Cotton initiative are given the knowledge, support and resources to grow cotton more sustainably. This includes improving soil health, better water management, and cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.

HELPING FARM WORKERS: The Better Cotton programmes and producer organisations make farmers and farm workers a priority, helping to improve working conditions and achieve higher standards of living.

HELPING FARMING COMMUNITIES: Better Cotton’s education and social programmes help to confront inequalities and empower women.