Sleeping yurp-style

November 25, 2007 10:19 PM

Since practically forever, I've slept at home as they do in Yurp. A fitted sheet on the mattress and notjing more than a down comforter inside of a duvet, either cotton or flannel. I replace my comforter every 2 years on avg, not because the feathers have lost their fluff, but instead because the white fabric shell of the comforter turns yellowish. Its a mystery to me why they all eventually yellow. Its not drool, I don't wet the bed and its quite unsightly. I theorize its a buildup of oils from my skin, or perhaps oils in the feathers/down. I've tried washing comforters in the past and eventually gave up on that. The comforter's loft never quite comes back the same and its still kinda yellow. Can this yellowing be prevented or delayed? Does this plus the fact that all comforters seem only to come in off-white shell colors indicate some sort of planned obsolescence?
posted by Fupped Duck to Home & Garden (25 answers total)

sunlight can yellow previously white fabric, as can tobacco smoke and dope smoke.
posted by bruce at 10:32 PM on November 25, 2007

Does the yellowing bother you because it means its dirty or just because you can see it? Because Land's End makes down comforters in other colors, and I've had my black on one side/grey on the other down comforter from there for 4 years. I sleep the same way, and nary a color change to be seen.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 10:35 PM on November 25, 2007

hang on maybe I don't understand, but if you have a duvet who cares what color the shell of the comforter is?
posted by gavtaylor at 10:37 PM on November 25, 2007

Yeah, mine's yellow as anything, but if you've got a quilt cover then it hardly matters, surely?
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 10:38 PM on November 25, 2007

You can have down comforters dry cleaned, with better success than washing. Optical brighteners, similar to those used in the preservation of wedding dresses for long term storage, can be applied that will slightly "blue" the cotton cover of the comforter, reducing yellowing noticeably.
posted by paulsc at 10:40 PM on November 25, 2007

What gavtaylor said... you're concerned about the color of the comforter that's concealed within your duvet? I know, I know, "just answer the question, MeFite." Still, I'm curious as to why, exactly, this matters.

It does sound rather like body oils—in particular, you have me thinking of some nasty looking pillows I have— but if that were the case I'd expect there to be something of a pattern. A localized body-sized area of more intense yellowing, like a not-particularly-amazing shroud of Turin. Is that the case, or is it a uniform yellow we're talking about?
posted by mumkin at 11:15 PM on November 25, 2007

I share your Yurpan sleeping habits, by the way, and haven't observed a similar yellowing of my own comforters. I replace mine when the feathers have migrated too far from their intended baffles, resulting in an unacceptably heterogeneous comforting experience. This is every 3-4 years, probably, so it suggests your situation is not universal.
posted by mumkin at 11:24 PM on November 25, 2007

A yellowing of the non-visible comforter cover does not indicate any degration of functionality.

In other words, getting yellow means nothing.
posted by unixrat at 12:00 AM on November 26, 2007

So you're using a duvet cover on your comforter and the color is still changing? My theory is it's the feathers which are causing the color change, not your skin.

I have a synthetic comforter which is still going strong after about four years of use. It has never been used without a duvet cover and is still bright white.

My down stuffed pillows on the other hand have been treated exactly the same way but are yellow. Even the silk bags I bought for them have turned yellow. That's two layers of white fabric which has yellowed from contact with the feathers, not my head.

Something about the feathers... dunno what. Maybe it's cheap, unbleached feathers or something?
posted by wfrgms at 12:10 AM on November 26, 2007

I would wage it's a feather thing. Being an actual Yurpean, I sleep the same way, with (as we would say) a duvet inside a duvet cover. Got a synthetic duvet that's about a billion years old, it's still whiter than white, got a similarly old feather and down duvet that is dark yellow. Same for our pillows, the feathery ones are yellow, the synthetic ones are white.
posted by Iteki at 12:55 AM on November 26, 2007

I share your pain, Fupped Duck. My pillows undergo the same mysterious yellowization process. I shower every morning and evening, I don't use hair dye, I don't drool. Your body oil hypothesis is an interesting one. Even though no one ever sees my yellow pillows because they are covered with pillowcases, I'm still embarrassed of them. For heaven sake, what would a potential bedfellow think if he saw my unattractive pillows? Could be a deal breaker.
Washing has helped somewhat, but not much. I have tried scrubbing with a brush to no avail. Short of pouring pure bleach on the stains, I have tried everything. You can try dying it a darker color in the washing machine with Rit fabric dye.
posted by HotPatatta at 1:47 AM on November 26, 2007

Response by poster: I realize no one else can see inside my duvet, I'm just frustrated it gets dirty looking despite plenty of work to keep this from happening.
I am very happy sleeping with down filled comforters, I just want them not to apparently get soiled.
posted by Fupped Duck at 3:07 AM on November 26, 2007

I also have a synthetic down duvet that's as white as ever after about four years of use; probably only half of that time has actually been inside a duvet cover. And I never, ever sleep under my top sheet.
posted by korres at 4:28 AM on November 26, 2007

The Company Store has duvets in many different colors, too, and they often run pretty good sales.
posted by weezetr at 4:38 AM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think there might be a definition issue here: I have always called the feather-filled quilt-thing a "duvet," and the big washable cotton/flannel sack you stuff it in (that serves as both decorative cover and top sheet) a "duvet cover."

White duvet covers do turn yellow (as do duvets if you don't use a duvet cover) over time, but they are cheap enough that you can just replace the cover. I don't find that my white duvets turn yellow, or at least not very fast, when I use, and frequently wash, a duvet cover. Over time, of course, your skin oils and all that other weird stuff that goes on in your bed, plus maybe whatever is on the feathers themselves, turns the duvet itself a new cover, but that should take quite a few years.

I find I get about two years out of a duvet cover, and maybe four or five out of a duvet itself. Ikea has reasonably cheap and often quite beautiful duvet covers; the sales at Linens and Things are great for both duvets and duvet covers.
posted by Forktine at 5:16 AM on November 26, 2007

I was going to recommend The Company Store as well. I had a black quilt/duvet, no worries about yellowing or brightly-colored covers leaving weird stains on it, and it washed well (Primaloft, not feathers, due to allergies, so I didn't have to worry about damaging the stuffing). I particularly like theirs because they are quilted in small enough squares that there's no shifting.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:29 AM on November 26, 2007

OxiClean can turn yellowed cotton white again---I actually did this with my great-grandmother's cotton wedding dress (before I wore it). I don't know what soaking in OxiClean would do for the feathers, though.
posted by leahwrenn at 5:39 AM on November 26, 2007

I have both a Primaloft duvet and a natural down duvet from the company store, and they are both wonderful, and were not white to begin with.
At my parent's house, I still have my two natural down duvets in white, which have maintained their whiteness, despite me sleeping in them for 4 years "Yurpean" style. Since I have managed to turn my formerly white pillow cover yellow-ish, I think it may have something to do with the quality of the duvet.
posted by nursegracer at 6:26 AM on November 26, 2007

Skin oils. My pillows do the same thing and they're synthetic.
posted by electroboy at 6:42 AM on November 26, 2007

If you have a white duvet (the thing which goes inside the duvet cover, and which you might call a comforter if you are Mercan) and the duvet is 100% cotton, it will discolour over time. It just will, the same way napkins or even shirts will over time.

If your duvet is stuffed with feathers, you cannot wash it, nor would drycleaning reverse the color change. There really is no good reason to replace a perfectly functioning duvet, though, just because it has discolored.

But, hey, a lot of people really appreciate 2nd hand duvets and make excellent, basic use of them. So as long as you're not throwing them out, but are donating them to a shelter or Goodwill or what have you, please go on replacing them if the colour change bothers you!
posted by DarlingBri at 6:57 AM on November 26, 2007

People normally sweat during the night, and some people sweat more than others. And sweat contains uric acid, which is, well, yellow. So make sure that where you sleep isn't too hot, and that you're not sweating excessively. Also, if your comforter cover isn't 100% cotton, of a heavy enough/thread count/weight to absorb the sweat, then you should consider getting a different comforter cover.

And nthing Company Store. I've had my down comforter for over 9 years now, with no discoloration/lumping.
posted by jujube at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2007

It's probably body oils. My boyfriend has the same problem with his pillows. I'm not sure if this works (we're in the process of experimenting), but maybe try showering at night? Do you sleep without a shirt? Sleeping with one might help as well (again, we're still experimenting).
posted by lilac girl at 7:27 AM on November 26, 2007

I vote sweat. If you have a mattress pad, that will probably be yellow as well. Mine is.
posted by rhizome at 7:42 AM on November 26, 2007

If it were body oil or sweat there would be an easily distinguishable pattern of the yellowing, however yellowing among my down stuffed bed products is a uniform thing, the whole pillow gets brown/yellow. Right? It's isn't localized in the middle where my head usually is.

I vote that the down feathers themselves are causing the change, and also that its ok to have a yellow down blanket, thats just what happens.
posted by gavtaylor at 8:21 AM on November 26, 2007

If you want to wash a duvet without it loosing any loft, you just have to wash it either by hand or on the gentle setting in a front-loading machine and then dry it with a tennis ball or two to break up the clumps of feathers. I've done this with my down duvet and I've yet to notice any reduction is loft over 7 years. Now a synthetic duvet, on the other hand, will lose its loft over time (and be made worse by washing).
posted by ssg at 8:49 AM on November 26, 2007