If you’re looking for affordable bedding, Amazon may well be your first port of call. It’s one of the cheapest options for fitted sheets, duvet covers, and bedding essentials.
But, we all know buying ‘blind’ can be hit and miss, so if you're considering where to buy bedding that won't break the bank, is the brand’s budget-friendly bed linen worth parting with your cash for?
I put Amazon’s bestselling duvet set to the test to find out. The Utopia Duvet Cover Set consistently tops Amazon’s bestseller charts, and with prices starting from just £10.99 for a double duvet cover and two pillowcases, it’s easy to see why.
The Utopia bedding set is available in single, double, or king size, with prices for a double starting from just £10.99.
What’s more, this bedding set has over 50,000 reviews, and of those roughly 72% of owners give the bedding a 5-star rating. On paper, this duvet set sounds very impressive, so I was eager to get my hands on it to see if the rave reviews lived up to my expectations.
The set comes in over 30 different colours, including a funky design with navy arrows, which I ordered in a double. The set arrived super fast, of course; it’s Amazon, and on unboxing, I was pleasantly surprised. The print was fun, and I thought it would look great on the bed.
However, when I removed the packaging, things unfortunately went downhill fast. In person, the fabric is very thin – I could almost see my hand through the duvet cover when I picked it up to put it on the bed. I guess it's a bit much to expect £10.99 bed linen to feel expensive, but this still felt lower quality than I'd expected.
Plus, unlike most duvets, which feature buttons or poppers to fasten them up, this set has a zip at the base to secure the duvet inside, and, sadly, it's one of those zips that feels like it's going to break at any moment. If (or when) it does, you're going to be left with a duvet cover that won't close properly and can't easily be repaired. Not ideal.
Because the fabric is so thin, I was also worried that if I snagged it in the zip, it might rip the duvet cover, something a couple of the 1-star Amazon reviews do mention when I did some research.
Altogether not a great start, but bedtime was coming, and it was time to get testing.
I'd clocked that this bedding was 100% polyester before I ordered it, but I hadn't expected it to feel quite so synthetic to the touch. The weather has been hot, and touching this bedding instantly made me feel hotter. I could tell I was probably going to be in for a hot and sticky sleep, and I was right.
Polyester bedding is often dubbed the 'hidden sleep thief' because its synthetic fibres lack breathability and reflect body heat back towards the sleeper, and I found exactly that. Despite the fabric being so thin, after 15 minutes or so, I soon began overheating.
The rest of the night was a restless balance between kicking the covers off because they made me too hot, and then pulling them back on when I got chilly. Needless to say, I didn't wake up feeling very well rested.
What's more, if you do get hot and sticky under these covers, you can only wash the bedding on a cold wash. That's not ideal for bed linen, in my opinion.
The main benefit of polyester bedding – in addition to its affordability – is that it's usually easy care, and although this set dried in super fast time once I pulled it out of the washer – and requires virtually no ironing (always a plus point!) – I feel like a cold wash just isn't going to get it as clean as I would like.
So, do I think the Utopia Duvet Cover Set is a good value buy? By this point, it's probably no surprise that, no, despite its price, I wouldn't recommend this bedding. Yes, it's cheap, but that's going to be a false economy if it only lasts a few months or gives you a hot and sweaty night's sleep. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that even that low £10.99 investment is going to be a waste of money for most people. Sorry, Amazon.
However, if you're after budget-friendly bedding, all is not lost. These are three affordable alternatives I recommend instead.
If you want to benefit from Amazon's super-fast delivery, then The Linen Yard has an Amazon storefront, and this reversible bedding set is often discounted, so you may be able to snap it up during Amazon Prime Day for less than its normal retail price. It's 100% cotton, and although its 140 thread count is lower than DUSK's option, its striped design looks great on the bed.
DUSK is a great alternative to Amazon for affordable bedding, with frequent bedding deals that see price tags slashed to very affordable price points. Thanks to a 50% off sale, this 200 thread count pure cotton bedding set is one of my top alternatives to investing in Amazon's Utopia bedding.
A mix of 52% polyester and 48% cotton, Habitat's polycotton bed linen also makes a very affordable option. Plus, this easy care bedding is machine washable at 40°C and can be tumble dried, unlike the Utopia bedding set's cold-wash-only instructions. There are also plenty of prints and patterns to choose from in Habitat's bedding range.
