Definitions

• "Duvet" is an old French word for down. Germans called these blankets "federbetten" or featherbeds. The English originally referred to duvets as "continental quilts" because they first encountered them while visiting the European mainland. The term "comforter" is generic and does not specify a particular type of filling. Many Americans commonly refer to down comforter covers as duvets.
  
  

Origins

• Although early people used feathers in bedding, residents of rural areas of northern Europe first made recognizable duvets. Duvets are a version of a featherbed, which people used as a quilt. Early duvets were basically feathers stuffed into a sack. Over time, quilt makers developed ways to enhance duvets through the use of quilted channels.
  
  

Traditional Materials

• Quilt makers and farmers filled duvets with down and other soft feathers from the seafaring eider duck, as well as farmyard ducks and geese. Farmers harvested down from live poultry three to four times a year and plucked the feathers from slaughtered birds. People preferred not to use chicken feathers for mattresses and down quilts. Quilt makers sewed closely woven cotton or linen fabrics together to make a secure, mostly impenetrable casing .
  
  

Construction

• Both duvets and comforters traditionally have two outer layers of fabric and an inner core. People used to have to fluff their duvets daily to redistribute the feathers evenly, but now most duvets have sewn baffles, or channels, to keep feathers from shifting. Comforters also use stitching to keep the batting or other substances in place.
  
  

Traditional Use

• Duvets are lightweight, but they are extremely warm. Traditionally people used them with only a bottom sheet and stayed comfortable. In general, people place a comforter over one or more blankets and a full sheet set.