How To Put On a Duvet Cover

Ready cover and duvet

No matter which method you use, start with this step.

• Lay the duvet flat on your bed.
• Turn your clean duvet cover inside out.
• Lay the cover on top of the duvet with the opening at the foot of the bed, and match up all four corners.
• If your duvet cover has corner ties, snaps or buttons, affix all four of them to the duvet.
  • If you do not have ties, snaps or buttons, don’t worry! Just make sure when you put the cover on, you pinch the corners or edges to keep the duvet insert and cover together.

Katie Dohman for family handyman

Traditional method: Flip the cover

The next two steps walk you through the traditional way. (Skip to Step Four for The Burrito Method.)

Finding the right pressure points to hold the duvet and cover together can take some finagling, depending on your cover, the weight of your duvet, the size (twin vs. California King) and the size of your hands.

• Hold tight to the two corners or the top edge, depending on your wingspan and the size of your bed, and flip the cover right-side out over your duvet. It can be kind of fussy and not a one-shot action, and it’s the trickiest part of this maneuver. If you get it right, the rest is a breeze.
• Still holding the corners or one hand along the top seam to keep both pieces aligned, lift the opposite end of the duvet to help shimmy the cover down and over the insert. Hold on and smooth over as you go.

Katie Dohman for family handyman

Traditional method: Finish and fluff

• Zip, button or tie your duvet bottom closed.
• Fluff and shake the duvet, still holding the insert and cover together to keep it from falling down. Distribute the insert evenly.

Katie Dohman for family handyman

Burrito method: Roll

And here’s another way, in three steps. The burrito method may feel unfamiliar or fussier at first, but I found it neater and faster to get the duvet inside the cover than with the traditional method.

• Starting at the head of the bed, roll your duvet insert and cover together, working your way down to the foot of the bed.
  • Roll tightly and keep the cover and duvet aligned as you go.
• Stop rolling when you hit the bottom opening.
  • Duvet and cover now resemble a burrito, hence the name.

Katie Dohman for family handyman

Burrito method: Stuff the duvet

• It’s admittedly awkward, but to start, right-side out the cover around the duvet itself. You’ll need to hang on to the edge of the duvet and cover to keep them together, but also start to push the duvet inside the cover. It almost feels like putting a pillow into a pillowcase, but with the same action as turning laundry right-side out to fold it. It took me two attempts to flip it efficiently, but no matter what, it takes a little engineering between your hands and the two materials. Still, it’s easier than some of the other sweaty, mismatched attempts I’ve attempted.
• Zip, button or tie your duvet bottom closed.

Katie Dohman for family handyman

Burrito method: Unroll and finish

• Unroll the duvet going back toward the top of your bed.
  • Shake as needed to distribute the duvet inside the cover, taking care to hold the edges of the duvet to the cover. I found it worked best if I unrolled a little at a time, sliding my hand along the edge to hold the pieces together so the duvet didn’t slide around inside the cover, even though this cover has buttons. This is especially important if you don’t have buttons or ties on the inside. Take your time, but it shouldn’t take you more than a minute.
• Smooth, straighten and you’re done!

Katie Dohman for family handyman