Pillows and pillow protectors

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Aphra
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Location: Caithness, Scotland
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Pillows and pillow protectors

Post by Aphra »

Hello all

We are just setting up in Caithness and I am at the stage of buying bedding for a cottage that sleeps six. I am stunned by the quantity (and price!) of bedding, and have a couple of questions.

Pillow protectors are more expensive than pillows. Are they worth it?

Also - what about duvet protectors? Do I need them? I'm getting the lowest cost microfibre duvets I can find because I can see from previous converstations here that the sensible thing is to be prepared to replace them every year or so.

Final question - zip and link duvets - sensible or not sensible?

Thanking you all in advance.

Aphra
Getting there....
newtimber
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Re: Pillows and pillow protectors

Post by newtimber »

Aphra wrote:Hello all

We are just setting up in Caithness and I am at the stage of buying bedding for a cottage that sleeps six. I am stunned by the quantity (and price!) of bedding, and have a couple of questions.

Pillow protectors are more expensive than pillows. Are they worth it?

Also - what about duvet protectors? Do I need them? I'm getting the lowest cost microfibre duvets I can find because I can see from previous converstations here that the sensible thing is to be prepared to replace them every year or so.

Final question - zip and link duvets - sensible or not sensible?

Thanking you all in advance.

Aphra
If you're in Scotland, then VisitScotland is a much better organisation than VisitEngland and probably worth joining. Pillow Protectors may be a requirement for them and are sensible anyway as they last a long time and mean that your pillows last longer. Throwing away 12 pillows every year because the ends get dirty doesn't seem very environmentally friendly.
Not many firms sell duvet protectors which suggest that they aren't worthwhile.
Pendragon
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Location: Live in Brittany, flat in Nice

Post by Pendragon »

I have pillow protectors on our own beds, my husband sweats at night and his pillow was getting smelly and needed far more washing than mine. I have a duvet protector on my Grandson's bed because he manages to detach his duvet from the cover every night and as a teenager sweats a lot. I got tired of washing the duvet. It works well and keeps the duvet from smelling of teenage sweat.
loveka
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Post by loveka »

I have all of them!

The zip link duvet is a revelation. I have the one from Out of Eden. There is no need to store the singles/superking when not in use. What's not to like?

It is expensive to kit out all the beds, but I use Soak and Sleep and Out of Eden, brilliant quality and cheaper than the high street.

The theory with the protectors is that stuff will last longer, saving money in the end.
Marks
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Re: Pillows and pillow protectors

Post by Marks »

Aphra wrote: Pillow protectors are more expensive than pillows. Are they worth it?
Primark, 2 pillow protectors for £4. We have the quilted ones, lasted 2 years so far, wash up well.

You can always remove the labels if you don't want guests to know :wink:
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

loveka wrote:I have all of them!
With the duvet protector, does this mean that you don't have to wash the duvet every year? The ting about the washing of the duvet is that it costs more to wash than buy a new one. (assuming that it won't fit in the domestic washing machine)
CarolineJ
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Post by CarolineJ »

Hello from just over the border in north Sutherland :)

I've got the Out of Eden pillow protectors, they work out at £1.50 each: https://www.outofeden.co.uk/products/28 ... protectors

I don't have duvet protectors and no problems so far.
Faint heart never won fair holiday let...
loveka
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Post by loveka »

I've only just started using the duvet protectors, due to the posh zip and link duvet.

I would hope it would mean less regular washing.

It is amazing how expensive it gets. I started off with Egyptian cotton. I have now changed to Out of Eden poly cotton. The Visit England inspector thought they were cotton!!!

Last week we had a duvet taken, with an Egyptian cotton duvet cover which is part of a matching pair. Quite a lot of money down the drain!
Sherry
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Location: Torbay

Post by Sherry »

I agree with you that the cost of bedding comes as a shock, and also at just how much of it is needed. It was a very steep learning curve! However believe that because it’s so important that guests sleep well then it’s worth making things as clean and as comfortable as possible. I have pillow protectors on every pillow because frankly some folk dribble in the night. I have lots of spare ones too, and wash and change them a lot ( after every other guest as a rule). I get them from Dunelm as I do my mattress protectors but will now try the Primark ones (thanks for that tip).

I’ve not tried duvet protectors, but wonder if having them on still lets the duvet nestle around you? Also does the zip on the linked duvets affect comfort levels? I suspect the weight and different texture of it may do so. For these reasons I’ve not invested in duvet protectors.

My microfibre duvets are from Marks and Spencer’s. They are amazing - comfy and excellent value (£9.99 for a single 10.5 tog, £8 for the single 4.5 tog ).

I have them in both 4.5 tog for summer, and 10.5 tog for winter. They are slim so fit in the domestic washing machine so can wash them and yet are still cheap enough to replace. I keep a spare stock of them as well, in case of emergencies, though recently two were washed as part of a bad changeover and were still able to be washed and got back on the bed dry and clean (it was a hot day which helped!) ready for the new folk later that day. The only problem is that not every M&S store keeps them so they have to be ordered in. Also following the hot spell the 4.5 ones became out of stock.

I keep Superking ones for the zip link beds and also for the double, but have enough single bedding that converting the zip links to single isn’t an issue. ( They are stored in the vacuum bags from Poundland out of season). Even collapsed down the big thing is storage; even with a new storage room built at the start of the season by cutting off part of the garage, could always use more.

We took the decision to buy commercial duvet covers, sheets and pillow cases which cost more at the outset but gets over that issue of sets disappearing, as everything is the same. It also means they can be washed at a higher temperature ( something needed this week with stains on some of the bedding). It’s always washed at 60 degrees anyway but being able to do a 90 degree wash at times is great. Vision Services, and Mitre in Wales were both helpful as stockists. .
Giraffe
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Post by Giraffe »

Sherry. Thanks for the M&S tip for duvets. I'll have a look at these when stocking next year.
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Aphra
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Post by Aphra »

Wow - lots of replies! Thank you!

I am still pulling together a spreadsheet of potential bedding, so I'll add these suggestions to it.

Thank you all for your help.
Getting there....
Aphra
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Post by Aphra »

For linen, I am probably going to go fair trade / organic with https://foufurnishings.com - You can ask for a price list and Stephanie is lovely and very helpful and has sent me samples which has helped a lot.

We are still dithering about the towels. We can't afford to be as green as we'd like (I doubt Prince Charles can afford to be as green as he'd like.....) but I am pleased to get organic / fair trade linen.

I didn't want Fou's wool pillows and blankets (Mr A is vegan) and their protectors aren't waterproof, so in the end I went with Dunelm for the pillows, single duvets, protectors and covers and Out of Eden for the zip-link duvets. I had a Dunelm discount voucher which was one of the reason I chose them. The other reason was that I had already spent weeks on this and could have spentweeks more shaving 50p off here and £2.00 off there and I would have gone completely mad!

Thank you everyone for your help. I really appreciate it.
Getting there....
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