A full, fluffy duvet without down, and without polyester either
Most down alternative duvets replace the goose with polyester, which is a duvet spun from petroleum. Ours is layers of organic cotton, hand-tufted so it stays spread, with the grounded weight of a real comforter and nothing in it that was ever an animal or a barrel of oil.
The Organic Cotton Duvet. It is filled with layers of organic cotton batting rather than down or polyester, so it is vegan, and the finished duvet is certified organic under licence GOTS-10229 through Oregon Tilth. The cotton arrives as one cohesive layered pad rather than loose clusters, which is why we can hand-tuft it at points instead of sewing it into chambers, and why it stays spread over you for years instead of drifting into the corners of its cover. It drapes with a grounded, even weight, stays cool to the touch, and breathes. If you are fine with an animal fiber, the wool duvet is the other one, and the kapok pillow is the down-like pillow to go with either.
Cotton over you, kapok or cotton under your head, and the same organic cotton sateen on every surface in between.
Layers of organic cotton batting anchored by hand at points, so the fill cannot shift. It lies dense, even and grounded over you, and nothing in it is polyester or came from an animal.
Best for anyone who wants a real duvet without down or plastic
Each kapok fiber is a hollow tube, 80 to 90 percent air, so the pillow sleeps soft and light the way down does. Gathered from the seed pods of rainforest trees, in an organic cotton cover.
Best for the feel of down, from a plant
300 thread count organic cotton sateen on both faces, closing with a zipper along one side and tied inside to the duvet's corner loops. The duvet is spot clean and sun only, so this is the layer that washes.
Best for keeping the duvet clean and in place
Our most tightly packed fiber fill, a flat even plane of organic cotton that holds its shape for years. Certified organic inside and out, like the duvet.
Best for people who want a firmer plant-based pillow
Fitted sheet, flat sheet and pillowcases in one undyed cloth, cut and sewn by hand from Texas-grown organic cotton.
Best for finishing a plant-based bed
The other duvet. Hand-tufted organic wool that takes the moisture your skin gives off into the fiber, which suits hot sleepers and couples. It is the one duvet here that is not vegan.
Best for warm sleepers who are happy with an animal fiber
What down alternative usually means
Down alternative sounds like a material. On most labels it is a category, and the category is spun plastic.
1
Cruelty free, allergy friendly, machine washable. All three are about what was taken out, and none of them say what went in.
2
Fine synthetic clusters, made from petroleum, chosen because they mimic the puff of down at a fraction of the cost.
3
The moisture your skin gives off stays in the air against you. That is why a light down alternative duvet can sleep hotter than a heavy natural one.
4
Synthetic clusters break down and mat inside a few years, and what they shed is plastic fiber into the wash and the air of the room.
Cotton batting does the same job the honest way. It is a plant, it absorbs, it is dense enough to hold its shape for a decade or more, and when the duvet is finally done the fill goes back into the ground rather than into the sea.
Why it does not need chambers
Down is loose clusters, which is why a down duvet has to be sewn into baffle boxes to stop it all ending up at one end. Our cotton arrives as a cohesive layered pad of organic cotton batting, and a pad can be anchored by hand at points. The layers are tufted through so they cannot travel, the duvet stays the same thickness edge to edge, and there are no seams for the warmth to leak through.
The corner loops tie into our duvet cover, which is what keeps the duvet from sliding inside it overnight. The cotton is grown in Texas, the duvet is cut, layered and tufted in our New Jersey workshop, and the finished duvet is certified organic under licence GOTS-10229 through Oregon Tilth.
How it feels
What this duvet gives you is weight. Cotton batting is dense and even, and it drapes with the grounded weight of a traditional comforter, about 10 pounds in a queen, where down floats on top of you instead. People who run warm tell us it stays cool to the touch, because cotton absorbs the moisture your skin gives off rather than holding it in the air, and it breathes in a way a synthetic cannot.
It is a year-round weight for most rooms, neutral rather than warm, and it layers well under a flat sheet and a cover in winter. If you want the airy puff under your head instead, the kapok pillow is where to get it.
The down-like pillow
The pillow that goes with a plant-based duvet is kapok. Each fiber grows inside a seed pod on a ceiba tree and is a hollow tube, 80 to 90 percent air by volume, which is why it is one of the lightest natural fibers there is and why a kapok pillow sleeps soft and light the way a down pillow does. The pods are gathered and the tree is left standing, fruiting for decades.
It goes into the pillow without a chemical step and sits inside an organic cotton cover, and like every Circadian pillow it opens at the side so you can take some out and set the height. If you prefer a denser, flatter pillow, the Organic Cotton Pillow is the same fiber as the duvet, certified organic inside and out.
The label says what was left out, and the table shows what went in.
| Duvet | What the fill is | How it behaves |
|---|---|---|
| Circadian organic cotton duvet | Layers of organic cotton batting, hand-tufted | Dense, even and grounded, absorbs moisture, vegan, 10 to 15 years |
| Circadian organic wool duvet | New Zealand organic wool, hand-tufted | Lighter and springier, moves moisture, warm in winter and dry in summer. Not vegan |
| Polyester down alternative | Fine synthetic clusters spun from petroleum | Airy at first, cannot absorb, mats inside a few years and sheds plastic fiber |
| Recycled polyester down alternative | The same clusters, spun from recovered bottles | Behaves the same in the bed as new polyester |
| Goose or duck down | Loose clusters, sewn into baffle boxes | Airy and light, absorbs moisture and clumps, an animal product |
| Eucalyptus or bamboo lyocell fill | Wood pulp dissolved in solvent and spun | Cool on contact, often blended with polyester underneath |
| Silk floss | Long silk filaments in layers | Light and cool, from silkworms, and expensive to keep clean |
The cotton duvet. Vegan, hand-tufted, and the grounded weight of a real comforter, which is a fuller feel than down floating over you.
Organic Cotton Duvet ›Either of ours. Cotton if you want weight and a plant, wool if you sleep hot and are fine with an animal fiber. Both absorb what polyester cannot.
Organic Wool Duvet ›Kapok. A hollow plant fiber that feels close to down, in an organic cotton cover, with a side zipper so you can set the height.
Wild-Harvested Kapok Pillow ›Cotton duvet, cotton cover, cotton sheets, and a kapok or cotton pillow. Nothing in any of it came from an animal, and everything but the kapok fill is certified organic.
Organic Cotton Sheet Set ›One filled with a natural fiber rather than polyester, because polyester is what most down alternative duvets are made of. Ours is layers of organic cotton batting, hand-tufted so it stays spread, with the grounded weight of a real comforter. It is vegan and certified organic as a finished product under licence GOTS-10229.
A polyester one often is, however light it feels, because polyester cannot absorb the moisture your skin gives off and it stays in the air against you. Cotton absorbs, so our cotton duvet stays cool to the touch and breathes. If you sleep hot, the wool duvet does even more, because wool moves the moisture into the fiber.
Yes. The fill is organic cotton batting and the shell is organic cotton sateen. Nothing in it came from a goose, a sheep or a silkworm, and there is no polyester either. The wool duvet is the one that is not vegan.
Denser and more grounded. Down is loose clusters that puff up with air, and cotton batting is a layered pad, so the cotton duvet drapes with the even weight of a traditional comforter rather than floating on top of you. About 10 pounds in a queen. People who like weight over them tend to prefer it.
Because the cotton arrives as one cohesive pad rather than loose clusters, so it can be anchored by hand at points instead of needing chambers to keep it in place. The tufts stop the layers moving, the duvet stays the same thickness edge to edge, and there are no box seams for warmth to escape through.
Yes, and you should, because the duvet itself is spot clean and sun only. Both of our duvets have corner loops, and our organic cotton cover has internal ties that take them, so the duvet stays registered to the cover. Buy the cover in the same size name as the duvet.
You do not machine wash it and you do not dry clean it. Spot clean it, give it a few hours in the sun a couple of times a year, and keep it inside a cover, which is the layer that goes in the machine. Treated this way it lasts 10 to 15 years.
If you liked the softness of down, the Wild-Harvested Kapok Pillow, a hollow plant fiber that sleeps soft and light in an organic cotton cover. If you want a flatter, denser pillow, the Organic Cotton Pillow is the same fiber as the duvet and certified organic inside and out.
Twin, queen and king. The twin is 72 by 90 inches and fits a twin or twin XL. The queen is 92 by 96 and fits a full or a queen. The king is 96 by 110. Weights are about 7.5, 10 and 12 pounds.
Send it back inside 60 nights, and free shipping applies. The weight is the thing people either love or do not, and most know inside a week. The wool duvet is about a pound lighter per size if you want the same construction with a springier feel.
Hand-tufted layers of organic cotton, vegan and made to last more than a decade. Handmade in our New Jersey workshop.
See the duvet178 verified reviews
If you've sent more pillows back than you've kept, you're our customer.
“I have owned more pillows than I have owned houses and I have owned 12 houses.” This is by far the only pillow to use if you don’t want to wake up with sore shoulders or neck. I have replaced all the pillows in my house with this pillow.
I have compressed discs in my neck, and I have spent hundreds of dollars over the past 6 months trying to find one that will help me sleep. Every pillow I bought caused me to wake up in even more pain than the night before!! The buckwheat pillow is life-changing!! I have slept through the night and wake up with no pain!!
I was leery to try another expensive pillow without some sort of trial period after being very let down by a different company's natural fiber pillow… I don't hear anything at all with the buckwheat! It does stay fresh and cool as well, but most importantly it actually holds my head/neck up and in place. Which allows me to actually get rest instead of always adjusting.
I've been a buckwheat pillow customer for the last 7 years and I can say that Circadian has the highest standards of quality paired with incredible customer service. Very very impressed and would not hesitate to send anyone their way.
I have spent years searching for a pillow that feels supportive and comfortable all night. I have finally found it. I absolutely love the Buckwool pillow. I removed a bit of the material to get it to exactly how I want it… I rarely wake up with neck pain now.
I find myself switching between the two and loving the feel of both. I haven't woken up with a sweaty head with either and that's an amazing feeling especially in the AZ summer. The buckwheat side is a lot quieter and more comfy/soft than others I've tried in the past.
I have tried at least 10 different pillows in the last 3 years. Nothing has worked out except for this wool pillow. I have chronic neck pain which has been greatly reduced. I am very happy with my new pillow.
I have pretty bad chemical sensitivity (housebound most of the time)… I try to only buy totally safe, non-toxic products. I found this pillow to be very safe and non-toxic, and the packaging was fragrance free which is always a huge plus.
I ordered this pillow to replace my very old (but beloved) down pillow and I'm so glad I did. It is heavenly!… I advise you to heed the recommendation given by the quiz. I ordered cotton initially despite the quiz giving me kapok as a result… the quiz was right.
The quality craftsmanship and materials is evident… when I asked if extra stuffing were available for the second one I'm using as a knee pillow, they not only pointed me to the right place on their site, but also created a new, smaller 1-lb. refill size based on my request.
The three-star ones are in there too. Read all of them
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