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Roll-Invert-Unroll: An easier way to replace a duvet cover

pablobaz
73 replies
22h8m

My preferred technique is to also start with the cover inside out. Then put your hands inside the cyber into its corners. Then grasp two corners of the duvet through the fabric. A bit of shaking to turn the cover the right way out and you are done.

Semaphor
36 replies
21h58m

What other way is there? This is how I learned it from my mom and have done it ever since.

Edit: I guess there's this rolling method, which seems a lot more convoluted based on the videos.

pablobaz
29 replies
21h47m

IME lots of people just try stuff the duvet in and then shake it to get it in the right place.

chatmasta
22 replies
20h51m

Someone should write a book called Household Chores for Hackers: The algorithms your mother took for granted and forgot to teach you.

TheRealPomax
5 replies
19h15m

Grab any 1950's "how to be a good housewife" book, use a bit of scripting to replace "housewife" with "housekeeper" and "husband" with "partner", and republish.

denton-scratch
2 replies
7h43m

I never had a duvet until the late 70's. I had heard that Swedes slept under duvets, but we had to settle for blankets and sheets. I ws envious! Well, we did have what we called "eiderdowns", which were like duvet inners, but lined in a heavy satin. But they were used as throws for extreme weather; you still slept between sheets and blankets.

I think my parents' generation viewed duvets as unacceptably decadent, and thought all children should learn to fold hospital corners[0] to build character.

[0] https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Hospital-Corner

soco
1 replies
7h4m

I must also add that duvets were created for cold rooms and they're great for that: feeling so cozy warm when your nose is still chilled... However you get them as only choice in mostly any hotel nowadays, which also heat the rooms at 22C or more, so sweating and a general sleeping discomfort is guaranteed. Or shortly put: I hate you hotels with duvets.

Retric
0 replies
6h51m

Don’t use the entire thing and you can sleep comfortably.

Also, many rooms let you get the temperature to ~15C.

dan-robertson
1 replies
7h8m

The gender-neutral term I’ve seen (for eg an occupation for life insurance) is ‘houseperson’ which I always found pretty funny.

bckr
0 replies
4h44m

Oh god why not just stay at home partner?

hamburglar
3 replies
11h14m

I taught my mother how to fold a fitted sheet. A girlfriend taught me and I was floored at how elegant it is. Prior to that, they just made me angry and ended up in the closet in a wad.

cianmm
2 replies
10h45m

Please share!

beardedwizard
0 replies
4h0m

In which of the 21 minutes of tech talk does this person actually fold a sheet?

Here is a video of someone actually folding the sheet as the parent requested: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ckTCocBCUN4

brookst
3 replies
3h16m

What does the page on folding fitted sheets say?

nabeards
1 replies
2h0m

Tuck the corners into each other, fold up the rectangle.

brookst
0 replies
13m

I’ve tried that many times and it always ends in a wadded up ball of sheet, and tears.

smegger001
0 replies
2h14m

Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

etrautmann
2 replies
20h3m

The book “Algorithms to live by” comes close

seabass-labrax
0 replies
19h1m

Would also highly recommend! It's not quite exactly a practical handbook, and doesn't cover topics such as duvet cover changing, but it is considerably more relevant than most popular science/mathematics books. The very first chapter, for instance, covers the idea of explore/exploit choices, and does so in a way that is both general enough to be genuinely useful in everyday life (at least at a conceptual level) and mathematically rigorous enough not to throw you off should you want to read further.

dredmorbius
0 replies
16h53m

Or even ... life hacks.

</ducks>

boothby
1 replies
19h15m

folds sheets in the dark

addandsubtract
0 replies
18h2m

That's a dark pattern

Ldorigo
1 replies
20h37m

I would buy it.

ErigmolCt
0 replies
20h21m

I would invest in it

spuz
3 replies
20h30m

This is what I do. I take a corner of the inner and stuff it into the outer until I find the corner of the outer. Then I try to keep those two corners in place while I do the same with the other corner. Then I grab both corners from the outside and do a lot of vigourous shaking until everything lines up. It takes ages and doesn't always work. I think I will try starting inside out from now on.

zelphirkalt
0 replies
16h23m

IME neither inside out nor the method you describe work well and both are tedious. Inside out does not work well, because the cover doesn't obey gravity and refuses to fall down to cover the duvet completely. It is a secret power of bed sheet covers. That, or it has to do with other things like friction.

vladvasiliu
0 replies
9h5m

I do a modified version: I put all the corners in the right places, then a good shake by holding two adjacent corners straightens everything out. May not work so well for duvets much wider than your arm span.

Jare
0 replies
20h6m

I do that and while the shaking is unpredictable and often requires doing it from multiple sides, I find it a strong but strangely pleasant exercise for my shoulders.

Semaphor
1 replies
21h32m

That is fascinating. Just asked my wife, who's from another continent, she's as flabbergasted as me.

pablobaz
0 replies
20h38m

As a kid we didn't have duvets. It was all sheets and blankets. Duvets were a bit new-fangled so it's not surprising the knowledge wasn't passed down.

stephencanon
2 replies
21h21m

The rolling method is really exactly the same thing, but some people find it easier to think about reaching in for the corners after rolling, and you don't need to be tall enough to let it fall down into place (wife is 5'4" and rolls, I'm 6'4" and just reach for the far corners).

bootsmann
0 replies
20h58m

The duvet is like a parachute, you don’t need to shake it in from the top you can shake it in like a magician doing the table clearing trick.

Semaphor
0 replies
20h52m

If it's the same, then some people here posted really bad videos of it ;)

FWIW, my wife is tiny (160cm) and still does the reverse grip method

sunshowers
0 replies
20h38m

I use the rolling method for the joy it brings each time :)

jalk
0 replies
5h46m

If the cover is not already inside out, then grab two duvet corners in on hand and pass to one cover corner (inside the cover ofc.) use your free hand to pinch cover corner and one of the duvet corner from the outside. Now place the remaining corner inside the cover(keep pinching the other corner). Pull your arm out, pinch this corner, shake to align.

ErigmolCt
0 replies
20h22m

This is a skill that is passed down to us through "inheritance"

rSi
5 replies
20h13m

WTF!? I heard before that putting a cover on a duvet was a thing, a problem, a mystery... are ppl making this up? is this a joke I don't get invert, tie corners together and what not...

my family and everyone i know do it the way @pablobaz describes it. it's simple and effective. change sheets whenever you feel like doing it, because its easy and fast... endof story

dgfitz
3 replies
20h12m

Hard agree. Changing a duvet cover is not hard. Maybe we are just getting stupider as a species.

dzhiurgis
1 replies
10h6m

You are simply ignorant of how large duvets can get (taller than 99th percentile).

dgfitz
0 replies
6h4m

Maybe that is part of my ignorance. I am quite tall, probably in the 97%

uoaei
0 replies
16h29m

In terms of cultural knowledge, it does seem like certain things were taken for granted by previous generations and not handed down in ways that younger generations can manage.

devbent
0 replies
12h52m

I've only ever known cramming it inside and then crawling inside with it to try and get the duvet into place.

I grew up in a family that had (home made!) blankets and quilts, duvets were not a thing until I moved out on my own.

chatmasta
4 replies
21h50m

Yeah, I don't think there's a need for the roll. You just need to make sure you can hold it high enough in the air to shake the thing without letting the bottom rest on the floor.

I just think of it like a really big pillow case. I put the pillow case on inside out so I do the same for the duvet cover.

I don't remember where I picked this up either, but I do remember it caused an ex girlfriend to get irrationally angry and tell me I was doing it wrong... that's when I knew she wasn't a keeper!

globular-toast
3 replies
21h30m

I think it could be useful for shorter people who can't hold it up high enough. I just hold it up and shake it, though.

dzhiurgis
0 replies
10h9m

I’m tall but got super king sheets. I much prefer roll method which is just less faffing around.

Macha
0 replies
20h8m

As a short person, my strategy is to stand on the bed for extra height for this method. Or just be lazy and accept the slightly uneven distribution, which works itself out after the first night anyway.

Grustaf
0 replies
11h19m

Yeah there is no need to have it hanging down, shaking it like a whip has the same effect.

megadog3
2 replies
22h4m

I call this the ghost method, because you look like a ghost with your arms through the inverted duvet cover.

groestl
0 replies
20h22m

I do that with my kid. For funsies. Also high in the list: snake bites foot (to put on his tights).

Tomte
0 replies
21h52m

My girlfriend insists that the your head does not go inside. But why would you forgo all that fun?

lagrange77
2 replies
21h59m

I think this is the official strategy, i've never seen someone using a different one.

worddepress
0 replies
13h15m

I used to do the shove it in and frantically thrash until it take shape. Then I learnt this system and it is much easier. For a king size: maybe just get someone to help.

eternauta3k
0 replies
12h26m

I googled this when I first moved to a duvet country and adopted this exact method.

n2j3
0 replies
1h1m

this is not the same technique - video involves vigorous shaking of the duvet

clnhlzmn
1 replies
21h21m

Yeah I find the rolling method is more work than it’s worth when the “grab the corners and shake vigorously” method works just fine.

dzhiurgis
0 replies
10h7m

Shaking is far more exhausting, dusty and not foolproof. Roll method is no brainer, esp on large sheets.

BrandoElFollito
1 replies
9h49m

I discovered this method in the early 80s as a kid on French TV.

There was a program with Jacques Martin about "incredible" stuff. I remember a hairdresser who used a flame and J Martin almost agreed to try, another one about the world record in going back and forth through a door.

That one was the world record in how many duvets you can handle in a given time IIRC.

Note that this was 80, 81 or around that. This was the only source for such stuff in France so it was a big show (for children at least)

rigid
0 replies
9h33m

I kinda miss the curiosity show.

It was a bit more science leaning but got kids to awe just the same way.

nabeards
0 replies
1h58m

Works well for pillowcases as well.

mynegation
0 replies
16h23m

That works but it is hard to use that technique on king size duvet. I essentially use the technique described in the article by starting with the cover turned inside out on top of duvet, tying all corners and then reaching through the cover opening for the far side and pulling it in instead of rolling and unrolling.

mlok
0 replies
20h15m

I was never taught this, but I ended up "reinventing" it a few decades ago, certainly because this is the most efficient way ? I have always used this technique since.

louthy
0 replies
20h25m

This is the way

karmakaze
0 replies
17h55m

Yeah when I read this, I thought the step of tying all the corners seemed more than necessary. You only have to hold two of the corners and pull/shake.

hoyd
0 replies
9h8m

My favorite too

bjackman
0 replies
9h27m

I always change the sheets in our house because my partner absolutely hates doing it. I recently realised this is because she has dramatically less upper-body strength than me, the "bit of shaking" is pretty exhausting for her with our heavy winter duvet. So this technique could be really useful for people with her build!

barbazoo
0 replies
20h11m

That’s how I learned it from my mama and that’s what ill teach the children.

apothegm
0 replies
5h53m

The shaking part requires a lot of upper body strength that not everyone has. I can get a nice whip-snap out of a down comforter on a double bed but not a king. I ended up with a new synthetic comforter on the double and can barely make the far end rustle now because it weighs like 5 times as much.

VagabundoP
0 replies
11h28m

Yup, this way and you're done in a minute or two.

Sprint9935
0 replies
14h22m

I use the same method. Although when reaching into the cover to its corners, I sometimes put my head in too. I stand up like some sort of inverted-duvet covered ghost and give the dog a fright. Then I continue the process again.

ErigmolCt
0 replies
20h18m

I remember how my parents used to do this together the same way you describe, and I was always getting in their way. It was a lot of fun.

Cthulhu_
0 replies
4h5m

It's how I do it but we have a very large and heavy duvet; this technique (that my mom showed me once and I then promptly forgot) is a lot less impactful, since the shaking kinda requires you to lift and shake the whole thing.

bhaney
36 replies
21h19m

I wasn't even aware duvets were still used outside of hotels. You guys don't just have sheets and a regular blanket on your bed? Is it a cultural/regional thing? They seem very annoying to deal with and I've never found them to be particularly comfortable, so I'm surprised so many people here seem to use them.

timbaboon
9 replies
21h14m

Haha amazing, I’ve now just discovered that some places don’t use duvets. I thought (naively) that it was worldwide…

tdiff
8 replies
20h42m

Exactly, living in Europe, I've literally encountered the sheet+blanket combination for the first time a week ago, in a hotel. Duvets with covers ARE the norm.

vundercind
7 replies
20h28m

Wait… you don’t use a sheet under a duvet? What do you wrap under yourself? Not the duvet, that’d be too thick, surely.

tdiff
3 replies
19h34m

I meant a second sheet between you and a duvet. Ofc there is another one covering the matress.

mrbadguy
1 replies
11h49m

The duvet cover is, in effect, the second sheet of which you speak ;)

tdiff
0 replies
7h36m

Technically it is, but the ux is very different :)

331c8c71
0 replies
12h10m

What? Heresy! ;)

Jare
2 replies
20h0m

A sheet covering the mattress, then we lying on top, then the duvet covering us to varying degrees of area and precision depending on temperature and activity while asleep. My son snakes over and under the duvet several times along his body.

vundercind
1 replies
18h52m

“Fitted sheet” (sheet with elastic on the corners, a little smaller than a same-nominal-size sheet) that covers the mattress, regular sheet, optional light blanket, comforter, optional quilt or something like that if it’s very cold. That’s standard bedding around here (US Midwest). This duvet-only (not counting mattress cover) stuff is wild to me. May have to try it.

wlindley
0 replies
3h42m

With just one quadruple-thick blanket ('duvet') you are either broiling or freezing, with no ability to peel back or add just one layer at a time. Can't understand how anyone can be comfortable with that.

zoklet-enjoyer
4 replies
21h12m

Most of the people I knew in Australia 10 years ago had duvets. I never even knew what a duvet was until I went to Australia. Moved back to the US and got one. I can only think of one other person I know here who has a duvet

edward28
1 replies
21h3m

Also we call them doonas.

zoklet-enjoyer
0 replies
16h42m

Haha yeah I knew it as a doona before I knew it as a duvet.

Grustaf
1 replies
11h27m

What do others use then?

zoklet-enjoyer
0 replies
4h18m

A comforter. It's like a duvet except you can't take the cover off.

bgnn
2 replies
9h48m

I've never seen anyone using a sheet and blanket to be honest. In Europe at least, duvet is the obly thing people have.

timthorn
0 replies
9h6m

I grew up with sheets and blankets in the UK. Can't beat that tucked in feeling.

Al-Khwarizmi
0 replies
7h54m

Depends on which part of Europe. In Spain, duvets weren't even a thing in the 80s, at least as far as I know. Everyone used sheets and blankets and/or conforters. The first time I met duvets was in foreign hotels, later Spanish hotels started using them too, and even later, laypeople started using them.

They quickly gained traction (Ikea probably had a big role there) and now both alternatives are common, although I'd say maybe duvets are already the most common.

The Spanish words for duvet and duvet cover (edredón nórdico, funda nórdica) are a testament of the fact that they used to be a foreign thing, here associated (I don't know if accurately or not) with the north of Europe.

Macha
2 replies
20h1m

I take it you're in a warmer climate, a regular blanket is insufficient for many months of a year here. Like growing up, I had multiple blankets and a duvet, and had similar in some less well insulated houses I've lived in. My current house is better insulated, so a duvet on its own is generally sufficient.

bhaney
1 replies
17h30m

I don't know what you consider to be a warmer climate, but I'm in the midwest US and it goes from around -10°F to 110°F here throughout the year. The temperature outside has pretty much nothing to do with my choice of bedding though, because it's always within 1° of 67°F inside my home unless my HVAC system is broken.

I know a lot of places aren't as into complete climate control as we are around here, so it makes sense that those places would have different priorities when making bedding choices, now that I think about it. Thanks for sharing.

test1235
0 replies
9h40m

Here in scotland, uk, in winter, the interior temp of my house will drop to 16 or 17°C overnight, from its regular temp of 20/21°C during the day when the heating is on.

Outside temperature range round here is maybe -6°C to 24°C

I don't know what standards the RoW uses, but we have a TOG rating here for our duvets ... we have a 4 for summer, and 13 for winter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tog_(unit)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Scotland#Temperatur...

wrp
1 replies
20h57m

I think it's regional. Growing up in the western USA, I never saw a duvet with a removable cover. Living in Japan/Korea, I've never seen people use the sheets+blanket arrangement in the home.

BTW, I first heard the word "duvet" as a teenager watching British comedy on PBS. I had to look it up in the dictionary.

vundercind
0 replies
20h34m

Grew up in the Midwest. Unusual in my family and circles. I’ve known what they are since some time in my teens (there’s… a chance the film Fight Club’s actually the first time I both encountered the word and put together some idea of what it specifically meant, though I’d heard it before and thought it was just a fancy word for “comforter”) but we never had any, I’ve never put a cover on one, and I’ve never seen someone putting a cover on one.

fnordpiglet
1 replies
21h12m

You can have a much higher quality material for both inside and outside, and washing the cover is easier than a full comforter. You wash the inside more rarely with a duvet cover. You can also have one inside and many covers for variety of styles during seasons without having an entire room of the house for storing comforters

fshbbdssbbgdd
0 replies
19h23m

Vacuum bags are good for storing that kind of stuff compactly. My duvet and duvet covers semi-permanently live in one! The only kind of blanket I’ve found that is not too warm is gauze.

vcxy
0 replies
14h50m

I didn't know what a duvet was until I was an adult. Grew up with sheets and quilts in Appalachia.

thenoblesunfish
0 replies
11h26m

Very common in Europe

rsynnott
0 replies
5h42m

Hah, this is definitely a cultural thing. Except that I’ve visited the US, I wouldn’t even be aware that blankets were still a thing; when I was a kid in the 90s duvets had already largely taken over (Ireland is a blanket -> duvet country).

Someone should make a map colour coded with this.

n1b0m
0 replies
13h35m

It’s pretty common in the UK. Maybe to do with the colder climate.

logro
0 replies
18h37m

Dude, a toasty hot duvet in a freezing cold bedroom far in the northern hemisphere is something you're missing out on.

laurent_du
0 replies
9h36m

That's funny, hotels are the only places where I see sheets and blanked being used.

Unbeliever69
0 replies
21h1m

My absolute favorite items in this world are my down comforters and duvets. I have a thick one for winter and a thin one for summer. Sometimes I have them both on the bed and use one as a snuggle blanket. Every night when I crawl in bed it is a form of catharsis like a cat making biscuits.

Nition
0 replies
20h37m

Duvets are really warm, good in winter for cold houses without good insulation. Often they're as warm as three or four or even five woolen blankets, but much lighter. Four blankets on top of you is heavy.

I find them annoying in hotels though, where the rooms are usually pretty warm. They use relatively thin inners but they're still usually way too hot for the conditions.

KerrickStaley
0 replies
20h8m

None of the apartments I've lived in for the past few years have had a washer large enough to wash a king-sized comforter, so I use a duvet instead.

napoleongl
16 replies
22h0m

” Imagine replacing your duvet cover in minutes” When i was 18 and begun my career I hospitality, we’d change a twin bed completely in like 3-4 minutes. How do you spend minutes with just one duvet (excluding disabilities but that’s quite obvious). Also, this is why Swedish duvet covers have holes in the upper corners, just reach through them and grab the liner and pull it in, shake a bit, and you’re done.

nvy
4 replies
21h52m

How do you spend minutes with just one duvet

Ours is supremely irritating because the duvet gets folded over or bunched up inside the cover and shaking it does not fix this.

So I have to get bodily into the fucking cover and stick each corner in place. It's infuriating and I hate duvets for this reason.

noduerme
2 replies
21h32m

I once zipped my girlfriend up inside a cover while she was doing this, it was quite funny.

ignoramous
1 replies
21h28m

gzipped.

vundercind
0 replies
20h41m

God damnit. Now I’m bound to someday call it “girlfriend zip” out loud at work and it’s gonna be a whole thing.

napoleongl
0 replies
20h52m

I guess I’ve been lucky in which duvets and liners I have met in my life. Only time I’ve met opposition is with flannel covers, but those are just horrible in all other ways except for starting fires.

narag
3 replies
21h17m

I do it in fifteen seconds at most, stuffing it without any consideration just keeping two corners in one hand, then matching them with two cover's corners and gently shaking.

Also genuinely baffled about the article, but to be honest, not the first time that I hear someone hating the procedure and describing some problem that I don't understand.

sundvor
2 replies
19h19m

Maybe 30s here, but I'm not claiming to be the fastest; I'm wondering if body length is a factor. As a somewhat tall person (189cm) in my 50s I never had any issues changing doona covers.

Had a much shorter girlfriend at one point who simply said "that's not fair" when she saw me do it.

thom
0 replies
18h48m

Not sure you have to be tall, you can do this flat on a bed just by shaking from the bottom instead.

goodlinks
0 replies
44m

When i got a superking bed i realised what others had been complaining about.

toxik
1 replies
9h36m

Also, this is why Swedish duvet covers have holes in the upper corners, just reach through them and grab the liner and pull it in, shake a bit, and you’re done.

Just as an FYI, this is going away. At least IKEA stopped doing this. From what I heard, people complained thinking the holes were made in error. Stupidity wins again.

jalict
0 replies
4h53m

Luckily should be pretty easy to modify to get the same result!

spuz
1 replies
20h21m

I can think of lots of reasons. My double bed is in the corner of a small room so I only have access to one side of it. Lifting the mattress to put on a fitted sheet is very awkward and pretty strenuous. This also means that there isn't much room for laying out both a duvet and duvet cover. Typically I lay them both on the bed at the same time because I don't want either to touch the floor which makes inserting the duvet into the cover even more awkward. Next is the fact that a double sized duvet is almost but not quite square. It's quite easy to grab a corner of the duvet and match it with the wrong corner of the cover. Lastly, I only do this about once a week not 10 times a day so I haven't had a need to find a better method so far.

madaxe_again
0 replies
9h7m

Ours is against three walls - you can only access the bed from the foot. It’s also four feet up in the air as we put a closet under the bed.

Turns out you can put on a fitted sheet while you’re on the bed really easily - just lift the head, bending the mattress and the corners in slightly, get the corners on, then off you hop and pull the corners onto the foot - takes 30 seconds at most, and there’s no walking around or lifting the entire mattress.

dzhiurgis
1 replies
10h5m

I hope you are not sleeping with same duvet since you were 18…

napoleongl
0 replies
7h33m

Not quite, but the liners are some 20 years. Changed and washed twice a year in 90 degrees and still fresh. Save for the buttons that fell victim to our stone mangle, the covers of the same age are as new as well. That said, none of them are ikea, it’s sort of work place injury from the hotel business to use high quality linen.

lifeisstillgood
10 replies
22h19m

Not only am I going to try this, I think it’s a YouTube sensation in the making

karaterobot
3 replies
21h34m

Interesting that this is referred to as Japanese shirt folding. This is how I learned to do it decades ago, and there was no Japanese attribution at the time. I wonder if it is claimed (by whom?) to have been invented in Japan, or if it's just because the video is in Japanese.

dist-epoch
2 replies
20h40m

I learned about it from the Superdry brand which is a Japanese brand.

n4r9
1 replies
20h7m

Superdry is a UK brand. They just make use of Japanese aesthetics.

seabass-labrax
0 replies
18h49m

And even that is suspect, considering that the Japanese text is nonsense and the clothing is of course not produced in either Britain or Japan[1]. Kudos to them for actually specifying their factories though!

[1]: https://corporate.superdry.com/media/mswf3cml/public-factory...

mderazon
0 replies
19h45m

T-shirts are the easiest thing to fold. The real nightmare is the wife's pile of clothes. Every piece of clothing is unique and different in shape and size. Some of them I wouldn't even know how to wear let alone fold

vundercind
0 replies
20h21m

Exact same video where I first saw this. I love the audio.

nodoodles
0 replies
8h55m

and folding plastic bags into triangles for storage

ninkendo
0 replies
19h42m

I remember learning this and thinking it was so cool. Then I realized how much effort it takes to lay a shirt so flat and straight on a flat surface in the first place, and I went back to my “grab the shoulders, shake the middle away from me, bring them together, tuck sleeves in while folding in half” way I’ve always done.

Half the work of shirt folding is getting the shirt to a known orientation anyway, I much prefer letting gravity do the work here.

spurgu
8 replies
21h41m

Where I'm from we have holes in the top corners of the cover. Just put your arms in there, grab the duvet and pull it in, shake it a bit, done (additionally you might need to fix the bottom corners and shake again). I was surprised when I went to other countries where you have to fiddle with only a bottom opening.

Permik
4 replies
21h6m

Fellow Finn here, I'm flabbergasted how the rest of the world hasn't figured this out apart from us in the nordics :D

fmbb
2 replies
19h33m

In 2007 Ikea stopped selling duvet covers with holes in the corners. “It’s for the international market” they said.

There was a national uproar. People no longer knew how to make their beds.

Attempts were made at convincing them to bring the holes back but without success. We have now settled for the typical Swedish response of making an angry fist with the hand securely hidden inside a pants pocket.

ghnws
1 replies
18h52m

I refuse to buy any duvets that don't have the holes. It's too much of a convenience.

whizzter
0 replies
14h18m

I was annoyed at first and iirc my ex-GF cut the corners, once I realized the put-hands-inside-edges-of-inverted-cover-and-grab-the-duvet-corners-and-pull-through method I've mellowed on them since it goes fairly quickly.

Ekaros
0 replies
19h24m

I personally just used the covers alone, but I also found out that finally there is some with buttons or even with zipper. And pillow covers with zippers are amazing.

madaxe_again
0 replies
9h5m

I have no idea where my wife found them but we have duvets with an opening ⅓ of the way up, ½ the width of the duvet. Means you can’t invert it, instead just the top corners out through the hole, and I usually need to use my teeth as a third hand while I use the others to stuff the duvet in through the hilariously tiny aperture.

derbOac
0 replies
18h28m

We've had multiple covers, and the one that we've liked the most has holes in the top corner, along with ties.

Long story but we went to someone to have a cover custom made (she advertised this kind of thing, and for us it was partially to use fabric that had sentimental value for us). She ended up arguing with us about how we didn't need the holes, and demonstrated this flip move that seemed impractical for a large comforter.

I wish all duvets and covers had ties, and more importantly covers with holes. It's so much simpler and direct a solution.

Grustaf
0 replies
11h24m

Even without the holes, you can just do the same thing by inverting the corners and grabbing the duvet through that.

NeoTar
7 replies
21h27m

If you’re only changing your duvet cover once a month (or less) you’re sleeping under a sheet under the duvet, right?

We don’t do sheets and are in the change once a week camp.

forgotusername6
6 replies
20h59m

Nope. Duvet changes every couple of months perhaps. Sleep straight under the duvet. Thought this was normal. Never heard of a sheet under the duvet

skeletal88
5 replies
20h40m

Then it is like changing your shirt every two months? You do sweat when sleeping.

jebarker
3 replies
20h31m

Presumably they wash though, probably after getting out of bed.

groestl
2 replies
20h11m

And before crawling into it.

bruce343434
1 replies
17h7m

Either way the duvet will accumulate grime at night that someone should be able to smell. I wash and change my bedding weekly and am disgusted by the low frequency others are reporting. Who enjoys the texture of besweated beddings? I can certainly tell the difference and I love clean sheets and hate stale ones! How do people not feel or care about this sensation?? Especially if you have sex on sheets that you don't wash for weeks. Holy ew.

Underphil
0 replies
13h55m

It is certainly strange when you find out that other people have different tastes and viewpoints to you.

Underphil
0 replies
13h56m

It's fine to question it, but when questioning something millions of people do every day, year in year out, you might want to find a different hill to die on.

See also : Time format, waste disposal units etc.

Kailhus
0 replies
19h25m

Sorcery!

hackernewds
1 replies
21h22m

much better with this advance technology

greggsy
0 replies
20h8m

While it was quaint to read through the high effort blog post, it was like reading a cooking blog that starts off with reminiscing about travels through an Italian village where they learnt how to make toast.

penguin_booze
0 replies
12h58m

Back then, I learned to swim via a correspondence course. Thank goodness for video these days.

MichaelZuo
0 replies
18h49m

This could also be an interesting Topology lesson.

kirenida
5 replies
20h49m

Related question: what method do you use to keep the duvet in place inside the cover?

I have some animal themed safety pins that my parents used on my duvet since I was a child. I put four of them in a square shape around the middle of the cover when the duvet is inside.

Chaosvex
1 replies
18h31m

Buttons? A zip? I've never seen a cover that doesn't have a way of keeping it closed.

kirenida
0 replies
10h54m

Keeping it closed is not the problem.

The problem is that the duvet bunches up inside the cover if you move around a lot during sleep.

sunshowers
0 replies
20h42m

My duvet covers have ties you can use against any duvet.

My parents used to use safety pins.

mlok
0 replies
20h13m

If needed, I grab a cover border, and align the duvet border within it, make sure corners are aligned too, and then again : shake it. It comes back to place.

dgfitz
0 replies
20h10m

It just stays.

orliesaurus
3 replies
20h41m

Kinda off topic but what is the name of the background on this blog? i.e. those patterns do they have a name? My mom used to have the same patterns on some sheets as a kid but no clue what they're called?

whiw
0 replies
20h24m

Paisley pattern. Oh, somebody beat me to it.

rfwhXQ5H
0 replies
20h38m

Paisley

mcBesse
0 replies
8h26m

Articles of Interest podcast did an episode on Paisley if anyone wants to know more

harimau777
3 replies
13h37m

Is this a European thing? I've never even heard of a duvet.

worddepress
2 replies
13h12m

How do you keep warm at night in the USA? Blankets and sheets I am guessing?

MichaelDickens
1 replies
12h49m

I live in the USA and I see duvets almost everywhere. But I presume GP uses blankets.

Grustaf
0 replies
11h25m

Presumably they put a sheet or something washable between themselves and the blanket though?

ricardobeat
2 replies
21h39m

I just hold the duvet by the two front corners, shove it inside the cover and find the edges. Hold the edges from the outside of the cover, shake. Takes 30 seconds.

We also change it weekly, sleeping in the same covers for a month sounds disgusting.

what
0 replies
21h2m

People often have a flat sheet between them and the duvet that gets washed more frequently.

EthicalSimilar
0 replies
21h37m

This is the way. I also use this method and change weekly. It’s pretty efficient, especially for larger duvets.

pandemic_region
2 replies
21h27m

Next up: he learns how to slice bread.

But seriously, why is this news worthy? My grandmother showed me how to do this way before this guy was even born.

sunshowers
0 replies
20h41m

I also learned it from my grandparents, but I've been the one introducing it to a number of people in my life. Some of them have described it as black magic — so it's not very well-known.

neilv
2 replies
18h11m

People need to stop doing dark pattern cookie consent UI.

deathanatos
0 replies
15h13m

It's kinda weird?

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, to show you personalized content and targeted ads, to analyze our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from.

Like … I'm on what appears to be a person's blog. Who's "We"? What personalized content could one possibly receive from someone else's blog? (And of course, oh boy targeted ads.)

Like … maybe some sort of out of the box thing gone amok, but the about page seems to indicate it's a pretty homegrown blog…?

The web is becoming downright tiresome.

deathanatos
0 replies
15h13m

It's kinda weird?

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, to show you personalized content and targeted ads, to analyze our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from.

Like … I'm on what appears to be a person's blog. Who's "We"? What personalized content could one possibly receive from someone else's blog? (And of course, oh boy targeted ads.)

Like … maybe some sort of out of the box thing gone amok, but the about page seems to indicate it's a pretty homegrown blog…?

michaelhoney
2 replies
19h31m

In Australia a duvet is called a “doona” and while there are some perverts who use a sheet between person and doona (these are people who don’t like to wash doona covers), fitted-sheet=>sleeper=>doona is the standard

dzhiurgis
0 replies
9h52m

perverts

I do this during hot nights - easier to micro-regulate your body temperature with a extra thin layer. Easier to wash is a bonus. Plus they tend to be finer quality.

derbOac
0 replies
18h20m

I'm in the US and we use a flat sheet between us and the duvet cover. We wash the duvet cover but the flat sheet gets washed more often and is less expensive to replace, and is replaced more often (nothing gets replaced that often, but relatively speaking).

I don't think there's really any right way of doing things though. Sometimes I wonder if we should just have a linen blanket or something on top in the summer but we never seem to get too hot somehow, and I've never managed to find a top blanket that is the right size and that we like.

(I'm also not really sure I want to store our duvet just for the summer either but that's solvable.)

Al-Khwarizmi
2 replies
7h45m

I am generally what one would consider an intelligent person in most respects (university professor doing research in STEM involving plenty of math, etc.) but for some reason, I am totally unable to understand how this technique works.

I can follow the instructions, I know that it works, and I have a vague, superficial idea of why it's plausible for it to work (something like "things are inverted twice so it turns out OK") but I am unable to make a mental model of exactly how and why it works.

I find this quite annoying because it also makes me forget the technique every time (typically I remember things because I understand them, and I don't understand this... for me, the correct way to do it is equally plausible as other alternatives, so I forget the correct steps). I do it together with my wife and she always has to give me detailed step-by-step instructions as if I were a kid, and I think she thinks I'm trolling her because for her it's obvious, but I'm not trolling.

It's funny how one's mind can have weaknesses of this kind. (Related to the same weakness, I also get confused and spend a few seconds thinking when a sweater has its sleeves outside in or when I have to recover something from a coat pocket with the coat hanging, sometimes I actually put on the coat to avoid thinking about where the pocket is, but the duvet replacing thing is the most extreme manifestation because not even by stopping and thinking can I understand how it works).

mtrio
1 replies
6h22m

Imagine this way. You have three papers stack together. The top paper is the duvet. The bottom two paper are the cover. If you flip the bottom page over the other two papers, you have the duvet paper between the cover pages. For the real cover, you can not do that because the three sides are stitched together. So you roll the them together then you can invert through the opening.

schneems
0 replies
3h1m

Thanks for the explanation. I’m with you up until that last part. Maybe it’s just a “you have to try it kind of thing. Otherwise I’m not really sure the mechanics of what is happening when the unrolling is happening.

vik23052016
1 replies
21h53m

This practice of roll-invert-unroll is very common in India. I recall putting on liners on beddings and blankets when I was ~6 year old in the 1990s.

I didn't realize until I saw comments that it's not the normal way here in western parts. I think may be hospitality industry may use it already and not commonly documented. Thanks for documenting it. Now I have a blog to point to when teaching my kids.

pandemic_region
0 replies
21h25m

This is not a western parts thing, just one guy discovering something most consider common knowledge here.

twodave
1 replies
22h2m

I think you might also just roll the inner up, stick it the bottom of a collapsed cover, then grab both an exposed inner corner + side of the cover in each hand and stand up with it, shaking a bit to get it to unroll on the way down.

twic
0 replies
20h21m

This is what I do. I don't actually roll the duvet up, just do a rough concertina fold

mixmastamyk
1 replies
21h55m

I couldn't understand past the part where it was rolled down to the bottom, Fig 6.

However, this was never a problem for me. I simply grab the top corner of the inner part and match it inside with inside corner of the outer part. Then the other top corner. Then pull them both to the top of the bed, then fix the bottom—easy.

mch82
1 replies
16h14m

The correct technique is to replace a duvet cover by going to the store and purchasing a comforter. Ideally, purchase two comforters and alternate the one you’re washing with the one you’re using so that the bed is never without one.

:-)

causality0
0 replies
12h41m

I think there's a gap between the "bedroom is center of home" people and the "bedroom is for sleeping" people. For the former, they value things like changing the appearance of the bed for seasonal or taste-based reasons. For people like me in the latter category, the things on the bed are like the floor mats in my car: as long as they're clean I don't give a damn what they look like. They're purely functional objects that I don't even see for more than a few seconds a day.

lumost
1 replies
21h37m

Best decision I ever made was to skip the duvets and buy a polar fleece blanket for $30. Not to hot, not to cold, machine washable and $30.

tokai
0 replies
21h8m

You'll make a ton of microplastic washing a fleece blanket often.

jonathanlydall
1 replies
9h31m

Somewhat relatedly, if you use elasticised fitted sheets, you may not be aware (I wasn’t for the first 25 years of my life) there is a simple trick to being able to fold them neatly when not in use.

Essentially you fold it twice so that all four corners are “on top” of each other, then you tuck all the elasticised corners into each other.

You should now have it looking quite neat with one corner being a little cut off, but still otherwise neat, see step 4 here: https://images.app.goo.gl/yfg4BnqxjuB2ztwv6

You can then fold it over in what ever way you want to make it rectangular.

KptMarchewa
0 replies
8h28m

My question is just why? They are perfectly good in a ball form.

goodpoint
1 replies
21h34m

WTF?!? People don't change bedsheet every week?!

thomond
0 replies
20h55m

Might depend on how much you sweat and the climate where you live. I personally change every week during summer but fortnightly during winter.

fellowniusmonk
1 replies
21h49m

For a queen size duvet I just stuff the entire duvet inside the cover and then align the two corners farthest from the hole, pinch from the outside and shake, takes less than a minute if I'm in a rush and no inversion required. I do have very long arms though, and maybe this would be faster for a king size duvet cover.

derbOac
0 replies
18h24m

This is what I do as well basically. It's usually more confusing to me to figure out what's top and bottom versus sides than to actually put the cover on.

cja
1 replies
8h5m

I just put the duvet into the cover, making sure two corners of the duvet go to the deepest corners of the cover, then stand on bed, hold those two corners and shake for a few seconds, then lay it flat on the bed and adjust as required. Takes 30 seconds, plus time for closing the fasteners.

My wife introduced me to an interesting and possibly KKK-inspired method where she would wear the duvet cover inside out, totally covering herself, and then pick up two corners of the duvet with her hands inside two corners of the cover. Then she'd reverse the cover off herself onto the duvet, from which point her method was the same as mine. I found it hilarious.

Everybody's different...

ivanjermakov
0 replies
6h56m

possibly KKK-inspired method

LOL

roryokane
0 replies
4h18m

Thanks. This slower-paced video is more precisely explained and more visually comprehensible than the Rachael Ray video linked in another comment.

ThrowawayTestr
1 replies
22h0m

I just put the whole thing in the washing machine and run the drier for two hours.

cyberax
0 replies
21h56m

Doesn't work well with duvets filled with feathers.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK
1 replies
20h8m

Images don't show in my Firefox.

timvisee
0 replies
20h3m

It does for me. Firefox on Android.

zoklet-enjoyer
0 replies
21h15m

I've been doing it this way for years. Saw a YouTube video on it. Before that, I struggled to get the duvet back in the cover

xupybd
0 replies
11h49m

Just stand in the cover and drag the inner to the corners. It's so easy

ww520
0 replies
21h39m

Was it how topology was invented?

veunes
0 replies
19h52m

It so cool to see it on the first page

theNJR
0 replies
20h15m

Related question. Why is it that those damn strings break off after a few years? There must be a better way of attaching. Drives me nuts.

ssijak
0 replies
11h45m

Hire somebody to do it for you. Profit.

sneak
0 replies
21h48m

They make duvet covers that zip all the way down two sides. And they make little padded clips for the corners so there is no tying.

shrubhub
0 replies
12h3m

This is an April fools, right?

seventytwo
0 replies
17h17m

Is this kind of obvious stuff what passes for content these days? I should start a substack…

sajb
0 replies
10h43m

I don't see this method working very well for me since I always use duvets that are wider than the bed, which I thought was the norm. Same width as the bed makes for tug-of-war with the sleeping partner.

120 cm wide bed -> 150 cm duvet, 140-160 cm bed -> 240 cm duvet

ohthehugemanate
0 replies
5h57m

Clearly inferior to the "crawl inside the cover" method. Where's the step where I chase my partner around the room making ghostly "woo woo" noises?

nlawalker
0 replies
22h9m

Been doing this for years, sans the roll/unroll. After tying the corners, reach all the way inside the inside-out cover, grab the two corners furthest from the opening, pull all the way through, and shake.

llimos
0 replies
21h18m

I vary it based on if the cover came out the machine inside out or not.

If it did, I spread out the duvet, burrow inside the cover, grab the far corners of the cover from the inside and then through it also the corners of the duvet at the same time, and invert it.

If it came out the right way round, I spread out the cover, grab two corners of the duvet, burrow inside the cover with the two corners of the duvet until they reach their destination, and come out again.

jrockway
0 replies
21h57m

I go into the duvet cover with the duvet. Hold the two upper corners, put the duvet cover over your head, attach each corner of the duvet to the corresponding corner in the duvet cover (I buy ones with strings for this purpose). Then extricate yourself, hold the corners you just attached, shake vigorously, handle fine alignment of the bottom corners, and button the thing up.

I am sure people will make fun of this but I get it done in a minute (buttoning all the buttons at the bottom is the hardest part), and I do wash it every 2 weeks, so... poke fun all you want, at least I'm not rolling around in filth from a month ago.

jaynate
0 replies
14h33m

I get inside the duvet cover. Pretend I’m a ghost. And have my wife hand me the comforter from the bottom. Bit of a workout. Works great.

hank808
0 replies
21h1m

Is this what it's come to? Since AI has taken over tech, we're now discussing duvet cover removal/replacement methods?

frenchie4111
0 replies
20h59m

Can someone make a diagram or video for us visually minded folk

edit: nvm found it in a sister comment

fifilura
0 replies
10h47m

In Sweden all covers used to have holes in the upper corners.

Really easy, just stick your hands in and pull the duvet out.

Rumor has it thay IKEA stopped selling covers with holes at the top because lots of people came back and said they were broken. And now others are doing the same.

Using duvet covers is very common in Sweden.

cinntaile
0 replies
11h21m

This can be easily solved by having 2 holes at the top corners, it makes life so much easier when adjusting and inserting the duvet. No need for any convoluted methods like roll-invert-unroll.

causality0
0 replies
12h58m

After living with a duvet cover for a year I decided the entire concept was patently moronic and went back to a simple blanket.

bgnn
0 replies
9h49m

My grandma and mom are doing it like this, for generations as far as I know.

bartkappenburg
0 replies
21h11m

Also known as the “burrito roll”

alargemoose
0 replies
22h10m

Came across this right before I start laundry, looks like I have a test to run!

acchow
0 replies
21h50m

I learned this from my grandmother’s domestic helper in Hong Kong. Brilliant trick!

Unbeliever69
0 replies
21h4m

My preferred technique is to grab a corner, crawl inside the duvet and pin it to the corresponding corner. Then I crawl out and repeat with the opposite corner. From there, I just pull the front two corners over the comforter then button/zip it up then furl it out. I'm not saying this is the best method but it works fine for me. My wife has no techniques that work for her, lol.

SmellTheGlove
0 replies
19h56m

Our duvet covers all have two fabric loops in the corners. You push a bit of the duvet through those and then just pull it over. Works very nicely.

HarHarVeryFunny
0 replies
21h2m

Holy crap!

I've been wrestling with duvet covers the wrong way my whole life!

The Rachael Ray video @sandesh247 posted shows how simple this is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFOhjljieqs

Grustaf
0 replies
11h21m

Other expert voices say we should be doing this fortnightly, or even weekly.

Even as a bachelor I wouldn’t wait two weeks to change the duvet covers, I hope most people change the covers when the change sheets?