Choosing a silk duvet can quickly become a headache, given the wide variety of options available. With differences in weight, silk quality, and construction, it’s easy to fall into certain traps. Maison de la soie guides you step by step to avoid mistakes and invest in a silk duvet that’s truly suited to your needs.
Pitfall 1 - The fake winter silk duvet
A winter duvet is designed to keep you warm in an unheated bedroom during the winter. The standard weight for a winter silk duvet is 500 g/m². Some websites offer “winter” silk duvets with a weight of 360 g/m², which is completely insufficient for winter. In reality, 360g/m² is the weight for a mid-season or temperate-weather duvet. For example, on our website you’ll find mid-season duvets at 320g/m²—just 40g/m² less.
Pitfall 2 - Misleading Weight
The weight listed normally corresponds to the weight of the silk filling inside the duvet. To save on silk, some brands list the weight of the duvet as the combined weight of the filling and the cover. This deceptive practice is at the customer’s expense, who once again ends up with a duvet that’s lighter than expected.
Pitfall 3 - Poor-Quality Silk
There are different types of silk, each with very different thermal properties. The best silk is mulberry silk. It is highly absorbent, insulates against both heat and cold, and is breathable. If the seller doesn’t specify the type of silk, you can be sure it’s not mulberry silk, but rather wild silk or habotai silk. These lower-cost fibers are of very poor quality and cannot be used in handcrafted products.
Tip: High-quality silk duvets will always have a zipper so you can check the quality of the silk filling.
Pitfall 4—Machine-Made Silk Duvets
Machine-made silk duvets are top-stitched. The top-stitching is used to hold together a silk filling made up of short, broken, and cut fibers that have been mechanically extracted. However, short fibers have inferior thermal properties. Furthermore, the topstitching creates thermal bridges and prevents the silk filling from breathing and fully performing its insulating function.
Pitfall 5—The “Machine-Washable” Fake Silk Duvet
These same sellers of top-stitched silk duvets often highlight the fact that they are “machine washable.” This is not true. Whether the duvet is top-stitched or not, the silk filling cannot withstand washing with water. The quilting hides the deterioration of the silk fibers, but in reality, care after care, the silk fibers break down and lose their thermal properties.
Pitfall 6 - Buying 3 duvets Instead of 2
Most duvet sellers encourage their customers to buy a summer duvet, a mid-season duvet, and a winter duvet. The latter is not only the most expensive but also the bulkiest. Instead, we recommend purchasing the four-season set, which includes a summer duvet and a mid-season duvet that, when zipped together, replace the winter duvet—resulting in substantial savings.
Pitfall 7 - Chinese Websites
The riskiest option is certainly ordering from a Chinese website. The most common problem is not receiving anything at all, as many customers have reported. The second problem is having your package intercepted at customs and having to pay customs duties, 20% VAT, and a possible fine for failure to declare.
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We hope this article helps you make your choice and helps you avoid any disappointments. For more information, you can also read our article dedicated to 4-season silk duvets.
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