Duvalay Mattresses

BornAgain wrote:We have tried both the 4cm and 5cm and prefer the thicker ones even though it takes up more room when rolled. The quilt provided by Duvalay is poor quality so we ditched them and bought decent ones. The best thing you can do is to buy the Duvallay covers (that’s the clever part) then buy Duvalay 5cm foam mattress topper and source your own standard single quilt. You will end up with really comfortable beds which is great since you will spend a third of your time away sleeping in them.

Slightly OT but you have the same van that we have BornAgain. Where do you store your Duvalays when not being used ?  We have 2, in the Duvalay maroon bags, and are not really satisfied with any of the places we have tried. I’m always hoping someone will come up with a good solution.

I made my own version when I had the Topaz as the beds were narrower, used them when I had the Clubman, now with the Amethyst I have the original Duvalays which were in the caravan,

I have changed the quilts for down ones though.do not like mad made material.
Can recommend them.

Although a king size quilt one half on bottom and the other over the top works well on single beds.

In response to Quilter, we have the same van and store the Duvalays under the offside settee. One is a proper 2cm Duvalay and the other is a homemade 5 cm version since my wife was outraged at the price and quality of the proper Duvalay.
Both fit under the offside settee with a bit of pressing down and care being taken not to press too hard against the blown air heating duct which feels pretty fragile.
I guess you've probably tried this area; I don't think there's anywhere else other then the shower compartment.

Regarding the Duvulay mattresses and quilts: We have the Nuevo EK and store the bedding (in the travel bags) in the shower room when travelling. hope this helps.  Chris.

Thanks both. We currently store them in the driver’s side settee except when coming back from Europe with wine etc when they travel on the seats as ( big) pillows. I know it’s not a huge effort to get them out and put them away, but it’s the one part of bedmaking that really annoys me. Rolling and unrolling, slipping the back cushion behind the seat cushion, pulling out the bed base: no problem but lifting the seat base and so on is a two person job after it fell on me when I had my shoulder and arm in the locker.

I did wonder about the shower but we do use it and it tends to be damp and humid in there as well as having the silver screen, buckets and laundry in there when we are moving. 

Over the years I have tried so many different ways and it’s the only justification I can think of for a fixed bed or a luton.

We have a 4cm Duvulay, and a 5cm mattress topper from Duvulay along with a single duvet, and two good quality memory foam pillows. We roll the Duvulays and the duvet tightly and they all fit in the offside under bed cupboard. 

I agree that the rolling up bit is tiresome, but we’ve no plans for a fixed bed at present. 
H

Quilter wrote:Thanks both. We currently store them in the driver’s side settee except when coming back from Europe with wine etc when they travel on the seats as ( big) pillows. I know it’s not a huge effort to get them out and put them away, but it’s the one part of bedmaking that really annoys me. Rolling and unrolling, slipping the back cushion behind the seat cushion, pulling out the bed base: no problem but lifting the seat base and so on is a two person job after it fell on me when I had my shoulder and arm in the locker.

I did wonder about the shower but we do use it and it tends to be damp and humid in there as well as having the silver screen, buckets and laundry in there when we are moving. 

Over the years I have tried so many different ways and it’s the only justification I can think of for a fixed bed or a luton.

This won't answer your question, but it's an alternative - albeit a fairly significant one.

Do you have over cab storage rather than the skylight?     If not - don't bother to read on. 

Consider selling the Duvalays on fleaBay, and get two duvets instead, a thickish one and a thin one (Say 7.5 tog and 4.5 tog). They should both go into the over cab locker fairly easily, so no more lugging up the seat base morning and evening to firtle about in the nether regions!!

Depending on the ambient temperature, lie on one and cover yourselves with the other. In the cold weather, even laying on a thin 4.5 tog hollow fibre duvet will make the bed a lot more cosy and comfortable.

We did consider Duvalays, but can't be doing with all the faff you so graphically describe, and we find the duvets work perfectly. Pull out the bed bases, Sian stands at the cab end and throws the duvets onto the bed, a quick snatch to spread them and we're ready to dive in. Rolling them up in the morning is easy too, as you don't need to roll them tightly or stuff them in a bag. Just poke them into the locker and close the door on them.

With the NuevoES, there's an enormous amount of space in the Luton, when the upper bed is lowered to the hotizontal. Sure, you'll clout your head a few times when moving into the driving / PAX seat but you'll quickly learn. Nowadays we leave Luton bed down all the time, giving (when we're only 2 travelling) as much carrying capacity as required. Up there go the Duvalays (no need to roll into their bags (thus allowing them to air). Up there, too, goes the big Cadac BBQ; laundry bag; coats; cushions to make up the bed; silver screens; and other bulky but not-too-heavy stuff.
I've checked front axle weight, and run front tyres at 53psi. No issue with handling.

Cymro

Gromit wrote:

Do you have over cab storage rather than the skylight?       

No Dave...we opted for the skylight and don't regret it. We had one in our last van and enjoyed the light as well as, during hot weather, being able to have extra ventilation.

It's a long time since we had a luton Cymro and those vans had a rear lounge so the cab and luton area tended to become a rather dank and dark glory hole when we were on site. We always took the mattress out and had plastic boxes and light partitions so it held a lot of light but bulky stuff and I miss that. I've just been looking at videos of the Nuevo ES and our Broadway with a luton and they do seem altogether less gloomy than versions we have had before. Having the lounge up that end helps. 

I made our duvalays from redundant single cotton duvet covers and down duvets. Originally we had half a double 3 inch memory foam mattress each (an exact fit to the seats) but that was overkill and I swopped them  for 1 inch " egg box" type memory foam which is much easier to roll up and just as comfortable. During our motorhoming and caravanning years we have tried everything; sleeping bags ( no !), doubled up king sized duvets, high and low tog duvets as a pair, down and feather mattress toppers and duvet and, finally, the duvalay. We think they are a brilliant concept and very comfortable to sleep in but they are bulky. We have tried leaving them on the settee, covered with a throw, as well as rolling them lengthways, putting them in a long bolster cushion cover and using them to make the seat back more comfortable. Our pillows and spare fleecy blanket are in cushion covers on the seats during the day.The current storage is 2 duvalay duffle bags under the seat but I am not very satisfied with it and, after 3 months of daily use, was very dissatisfied.

We have just bought two mattress toppers from a B&M store, they are really comfortable on our two single beds and take away the uneven feeling from the seat cushion set up.
We also purchased quilt covers of the same size and the mattress toppers fit snugly inside them giving a fitted sheet that folds up and goes up on the top over cab bed during the .day.

I am doing away with the duvalay,already disposed of one,  especially in this heat, I have a memory foam topper and a single quilt, the other duvalay I am going to separate, just arrived back home this afternoon and my Husband agrees to separate his duvalay, so a job for this week. I find them so heavy, they do fit into the luton, so separate they will be easier, still have the other duvalay, if needed in the future.

Only just seen the follow up to my post. The 5cm Duvalays are quite thick so they have to go in the nearside bed locker as we have the low profile Broadway. The offside has the air trunking and battery. I was keen on the Bourton but the auxiliary water tank in the offside bed locker means we just wouldn’t have enough space (I presume the fact that the Bourton is rear wheel drive the drive shaft restricts the under van storage space). We have two decent “picnic” chairs and I strap these to the back of the driver and passenger seats with bungee straps. Works well but you can’t swivel the seats without removing them. Everything is a compromise but fortunately we like to,travel light!

daisy mae wrote:I am doing away with the duvalay,already disposed of one,  especially in this heat, I have a memory foam topper and a single quilt, the other duvalay I am going to separate, just arrived back home this afternoon and my Husband agrees to separate his duvalay, so a job for this week. I find them so heavy, they do fit into the luton, so separate they will be easier, still have the other duvalay, if needed in the future.

I love our duvalays because the design means that the duvet does not fall to the floor when you turn over on a motorhome’s narrow-than-usual beds. I do not however, after washing the cover, like wrestling the mattress and the duvet back into the cover in a small van. Do you remember the Generation Game ?  Always think it would have made a good challenge.

When the current covers wear out I shall make ones that have poppers or Velcro or a zip so that the top and bottom can be separated for washing.

In hot weather we take the duvet out of the cover altogether and just use the cotton cover on top.

We had memory foam toppers custom made for our bench seats, they stay permanently in place and are covered with a nice throw.  No storage needed and no faffing about getting them out and the luxury of memory foam seats during the daytime. Like Dave, we have a thick duvet and a thin one, so sleep on whichever is appropriate. Comfort night and day and no storage issues.

We found the duvalay guilts  4.5 tog  OK for summer  only. ,change to 10 and 13.5 in winter  , true they are bulky  but well snug .

That’s exactly what we do Molly3 and, although I admit they are bulky and heavy, we wouldn’t be without them. We have a little more storage than you in the Broadway, but we compromise on what we take. Agree with Quilter too, getting them out from under the locker is a nuisance and for us a two man job. For those of you with the overcab locker instead of the window, do they fit into this locker?

H

We found a 10.5 together too hot, so found some 9 tog duvets , these are a little less bulky too.

In the Amethyst I have the dinette bed, (  4 person dinette, which is much wider than usual MH beds, a single quilt fits on great and doesn`t trail on the floor, so I am fortunate with that one, the other one is pulled out and told it is comfortable, at the moment that has the duvalay.

Good luck everyone hope you find your ideal storage for bedding, mine is in the luton.

Browsing the posts I realise that I didn’t respond to a question about where we store our 5cm Duvalays. On our Broadway we fit two under the near side bed locker. Just roll them up and secure with elastic; no need for the fancy bags.
We travel very light but just find room for a Weber Go Anywhere BBQ in the offside locker. We have two Quest fold up chairs which I strap behind the driver and passenger seats. This means that we rarely swivel the seats around and don’t use the small circular table which we didn’t find much use anyway. We have a cut-down Fiamma patio mat for the canopy awning but don’t use it too often as we mainly tour in hot climates. The Broadway table is used outdoors and indoors. No water or waste carriers, no bikes, loads of books, mineral water and wine. Not much else.

My good lady made the duvalays for half the price. Per Duvalay, ONE double IKEA duvet cover, ONE single IKEA duvet, ONE single size piece memory foam bought online. One sewing machine. Stitch it right up the middle of the double duvet. Slide the memory foam in one compartment and duvet in the other.
it's a bit more tricksy than that. She chopped a bit of the top of the panel which keeps the duvet so that it wasn't as long as the memory foam panel Also bought matching pillow cases. A couple days sleeping one way then flip them over and get the same time sleeping on a slightly cleaner surface. We love them.

Perhaps Belle et la Bete would like to say hello here....

https://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/f36-asof-welcome-section-new-members-please-introduce-yourself-here

The problem with DIY is that the Duvalay has zips for the quilt and for the foam - there are lots of long zips. Yes, of course you can make do with buttons but the foam in particular needs to be a tight fit otherwise it drifts out of position. One problem with Duvalays is that whilst you can invert them to sleep on the “clean” side the top is then pointing in the opposite direction so you have to change your sleeping positions and you may wake up in the night and find yourself in the cab instead of the toilet!

BornAgain wrote:The problem with DIY is that the Duvalay has zips for the quilt and for the foam - there are lots of long zips. Yes, of course you can make do with buttons but the foam in particular needs to be a tight fit otherwise it drifts out of position. One problem with Duvalays is that whilst you can invert them to sleep on the “clean” side the top is then pointing in the opposite direction so you have to change your sleeping positions and you may wake up in the night and find yourself in the cab instead of the toilet!

We have 2 sets of homemade covers as I prefer cotton to the polycotton Duvalay made covers. I prevent foam drift by sewing along the length of the bottom quilt cover so that the foam just fits and, conveniently, the extra, unfilled area tucks tidily under the bench seat cushion and so protects the edges - something the proprietary version does not do.

I made a left and a right hand version. One of the Duvalay covers has to be turned inside out to become right or left meaning,in my case I have the zip right against my body, unlike my OH who has it on the outside of the cover.

You can buy zips by the metre, if making your own from Dunelm.

Agree that cotton is far preferable and Duvalay won’t do this - we asked and they said it costs too much. Frankly, the Duvalay quality is poor anyway. We scrapped the supplied duvet and take great care with the zips as they don’t look very robust. Poor finish and loose threads on the material. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t sew anymore and the machine has gone but DIY is the best solution if you have the skills. Buy some decent duck down duvets. After all you spend a third of the holiday in bed!