A few years ago, I had my first encounter with a wool duvet at a hotel in London. At first, I thought it would be a weird and not very pleasant sleeping experience. After childhood memories of sleeping with a plethora of heavy scratchy wool blankets on my bed to keep me warm at night, I wasn’t filled with confidence on getting a good night’s sleep.
However, it was love at first sight, and I slept so well. Every time I stayed at a Hub Hotel (part of Premier Inn) I looked forward to a decent night’s sleep and snuggling up in a wool duvet. I made a mental note to put one on my wish list.
Last December, I met David from Urban Wool at a local Christmas fair and I made my purchase.
My organic wool duvet was delivered a couple days later. Urban Wool pride themselves on being eco-friendly using no plastic packaging, which was great, I hate having to get rid of loads of polythene. The duvet arrived in a cardboard box and in a cotton storage bag, which I’ve already found a use for - to store my feather duvet!
Being a menopausal woman in her 50s, I went for the lightweight duvet (300 gm2). I like my bedroom to be cool around 16-18°C, but I also like to be warm. Normally I wouldn’t go above a 4.5 tog duvet in the winter and a 2 tog in the summer, however I was subjected to a 10 tog when I moved in with my partner which as you can imagine I hated.
Well, the verdict on the wool duvet is excellent – I LOVE IT! I’ve also invested in a mattress topper too, as the one I had had a microfibre filling, which I think was contributory to night sweats.
So, what is it that I love about the wool duvet?
- It’s less bulky than a normal duvet which means it’s easier to wrap it around you and snuggle up.
- At first the sleeping experience is different, as the duvet is quite light, but you get used to the weight.
- It’s quiet! I know this sounds mad, but duvets rustle depending on what the cover is made of. They can sound like plastic bags rustling every time you move!
- The duvet is not masquerading as a wool blanket in a cotton cover. The filling is beautifully soft.
- The cotton cover is organic.
- The organic wool filling is naturally hygienic which makes it dust mite free – I don’t want to think about all the micro creepy crawlies in my bed at night!
- The filling is naturally hypoallergenic, I’m not an asthma sufferer but I have a lot fewer snivels when I wake up with mornings.
- The only times I get night sweats now is if I drink too much coffee during the day or drink wine at night, otherwise I don’t wake up at 04:00 with palpitations and a raging sweat.
- I am sleeping longer, and the quality of my sleep is better.
- I’ve won the battle of the duvets with my partner; he now loves the wool duvet too.
As a result of my improved slumbers and the nature of what I do, I thought it would be great to work with Urban Wool on a number of projects.
My company is aptly named Wake Up With Zest, I’m a workplace wellbeing consultant and a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist for Insomnia, so know lots about sleep.
