My daughter has allergies also. When she was a freshman/sophomore in college, she did not have AC. She used a lightweight down blanket inside the casement in her duvet cover when it was warm and switched to a heavyweight down comforter for the winter. I sewed longer ties in the corners of her duvet to hold the smaller blanket in place, worked just fine. She has AC now, and uses a medium weight down comforter year round.

Get 100% cotton percale sheets (not sateen) - get the crisp, cool kind, and not the no-iron kind; just pure cotton, nothing added. Egyptian cotton is best.

Then get a mid-weight really good 100% Egyptian cotton blanket, like one from Peacock Alley (expensive, but divine). You can get them on eBay.

How about just a cotton blanket? Cool, easily washed.

A lightweight duvet and duvet cover. Both insert and cover can be really easily washed. If you use white duvet covers and the insert from IKEA (20.00 for a full/queen), you can wash both hot (140 degrees).

When it's really hot, the duvet cover is enough.

I have a cotton matelasse coverlet on the bed in the summer. Easy wash, looks nice, not too hot, but I usually fold it down anyway. Do you not fold down your comforter in summer? Just because it is on the bed does not mean you need to sleep under it. That part confuses me, so maybe there is something I missed. :)

Bedding is an area where I believe in spending money to get good, quality stuff, and only cotton and/or wool, including for the mattress pad. Cotton and wool really do regulate body temperature, and they make a huge difference. Along with a Natura natural latex pillowâ¦.perfect sleep.

Just to clarify, if we push the current comforter and comforter cover off, there is nothing else on the bed to sleep under. We don't have a top sheet on the bed, as I can't see the point when I have to wash the comforter cover every week anyway. (Also we don't have a trunk or bench at the foot of the bed as there is no room, so the comforter and cover would end up dumped on the floor if we pushed it off. Just folding it down would end up with my feet being super hot and uncomfortable under the triple layer of comforter.). And I can't quite sleep with nothing, don't ask me why, I'm weird.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

crl, when it's cool, I, like you, sleep directly under my duvet-covered comforter. In the winter, I have a down comforter with a flannel duvet cover from LL Bean, and I sleep directly under it.

In the fall and spring, I use my wool-filed comforter - not as heavy/warm as the down, and my duvet cover is 100% cotton percale, and I sleep directly under it.

But when it gets hot, i.e.: summer, I put crisp sheets on, top sheet, and a cotton blanket. That way, if I'm hot, I can push the blanket off but still be covered by the sheet. I think for doulbe layering in the summer, you want to keep them separate, i.e.: top sheet, then blanket, versus a comforter and duvet, which you can't de-layer, so to speak, if you're either hot or cool.

Thanks. Using a top sheet and then a blanket does seem to make sense, do you feel the blanket looks finished enough without a coverlet or something on top?

I have been looking at some washable wool blankets as they seem a bit more coverlet looking, but I'm concerned about washing them on hot. Wool is supposed to be inhospitable for bedbugs, so maybe we would be okay without washing a wool blanket on hot?

Why not just use the duvet cover without anything in it? That would be the equivalent of two top sheets, just about perfect for a warm night. Alternatively, you could use a top sheet with a lightweight 100% cotton quilt like those sold by Pottery Barn on top of that if you need extra warmth.

fun2bhere, I'm under a cotton quilt right now. So comfortable! I'm sleeping on my sofa while my bedroom is being painted!

Crl, cotton blankets are so pretty, Get a pretty cotton blanket, solid color or whatever, and white Egyptian Cotton sheets (nice ones from Peacock Alley at eBay right now. Also check out those Peacock Alley cotton blankets! I want one soooo bad!). In the morning, pull the sheet up, then fold it back a bit at the top, with the pillow on the top edge, where the sheet is folded, and pull the blanket back in two folds on the bottom third of the bed. Very pretty.

After all, all a duvet cover really is is two sheets sewn together.

Finally, if you are able, wash only on sunny days and hang the bedding to dry in the sun. Put the sheets directly back on the bed, and throw the blanket into the dryer just to fluff it up a bit before putting it back on the bed. Absolute heaven. Nothing like air/sun dried bedding.

I don't know if I'd ever wash a wool blanket in a machine. Read the directions on the blanket. I think they're supposed to be washed in a bathtub, but probably new stuff can be washed in a machine. I wouldn't worry about bed bugs on your own bed, though.

I also got this great wool mattress pad, which I love and which is machine washable. I have become an absolutist about wool and cotton bedding only, precisely because of their temp regulating properties, among other reasons, i.e.: breathability, crispness, freshnessâ¦

Link is to WONDERFUL mattress pads. I have the cotton one and LOVE it. No skirt, just lay it down on the mattress. It is SO comfortable, and it doesn't crease at all, believe it or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cotton and wool mattress pads.

I will link to Sierra Trading Post. You won't do better than their selection . If you subscribe to their emails you can get up to 45% off. I have the cotton Peacock Alley blankets on all our beds in the Spring /Summer. They wash beautifully and are lovely in weight. I also have the down blankets for all 4 rooms...have cotton blankets that are woven that I was lucky to get from TJMax for $35 each 2 yrs ago. Watch on STP and sign up...you will LOVE the price and quality. c

Here is a link that might be useful: STP blankets and throws

Thank you for all the suggestions.

My allergist forbid me from drying my bedding on the line due to pollen and grass allergies (yes, I am allergic to nearly everything you breath--on the standard battery the only things I didn't react to strongly were cockroaches and feathers). He also prefers that bedding be dried with heat to help kill off any dust mites that might remain after washing on hot. I actually tried to argue because I hated to use the electricity to dry sheets but he was very politely adamant that it was necessary for my health. By the way, I have zero bed bug concerns. It's just dust mites.

I will have to think about just the comforter cover. I think I'm afraid I will get cold around 2am. . . .

Will definitely check out the Sierra Trading Post.

Thank you!

By the way, here's a link to the washable wool blanket I've been looking at. It's a Pendleton and is advertised as machine wash and dry. I'm sort of eying the stripe thinking it looks like it can stand alone as a top layer.

I'm hesitating partly because I don't think I can wash it on hot and partly because I can't wear wool as it makes me itchy (yes, all wool) so I'm thinking it might not be that comfortable for me, even with a top sheet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pendleton Eco-wise blanket

If it gets hot in the summer where you are, I wouldn't want to sleep under a wool blanket. That'd be even hotter. And even though the blankets are advertised as washable, I think the manufacturers are thinking that they'd get washed 3-4 times a year, not weekly. So I'm not sure how well they'd stand up to weekly washing and drying.

You could try a thin cotton blanket inside the duvet cover. You could encase the blanket if you wanted to avoid washing it every week. You could easily just safety pin it to the corners of the cover if it shifts around too much. But some cotton blankets are very loosely woven, and again, I'd worry about washing them weekly. So I'd get one with a fairly tight weave that wouldn't stretch out too much.

How much it will shift around has a lot to do with how "slippery" the duvet cover fabric is, and how "slippery" the fabric of the blanket is. A sateen weave is going to be a lot more slippery than regular woven fabric, for example.

There are a lot of nice-looking cotton blankets that could easily work as both blanket and bedspread. A top sheet and cotton blanket might be the best combo for you.

Or try just a flat top sheet under the duvet cover. That would give you three layers of fabric over you--and the air between the layers would help to trap your body heat to keep you warm enough. And if you get too hot, you can take the duvet cover off the bed and just use the top sheet.

Quilts are lovely, but again, I don't think most of them are designed to hold up to weekly hot water washing. I have pretty much the same allergy problems, and in the summer, I have a top sheet and cotton blanket on the bed, and use an old embroidered linen tablecloth as a bedspread. They can all be easily machine washed and dried weekly.

I have the same problem with temperature fluctuations and allergies. In the warmer months I use cotton sheets and a cotton, lightweight quilt. I have quilts from TJ Maxx that I wash on a weekly basis and they've held up beautifully for several years now. I even occasionally add a tiny touch of bleach to the white ones. I also have a Pottery Barn quilt that is holding up great with almost weekly washing. Going the TJ Maxx route offers a way to experiment without spending a ton of money.

I also occasionally use a Pottery Barn duvet cover with nothing in it instead of the quilt. The particular cover I have washes great and comes out of the hot dryer without shrinking or needing ironing.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I was looking at some sale quilts on the company store, thinking that maybe they would hold up okay for a few years, since I would only be using them of about four weeks a year. . . .

I appreciate all the help!