This is a guest blog post by Ethically Kate. She is an educator, writer and content creator who advocates for living and decision making that respects and protects people and the planet. I’m also a wife to a bearded man (Tim) and keeper of a 16 year old cockatiel.
My grandmother once told me never to compromise on a good bed or good shoes; because if you’re not in one, you’re in the other!
This saying has always stuck with me - even though she doesn’t remember passing on this gem. But since adopting sustainable lifestyle values in efforts to better respect people and the planet, finding good products has become incredibly difficult. Some work well, yet compromise on sustainability and longevity. Others are made sustainably, but are uncomfortable or to be honest, utterly ugly.
With this in mind, you can imagine my excitement when I first discovered Kind Face. My husband, Tim, and I drool on Kind Face pillows every night and I use my weighted eye mask daily for my afternoon power naps. Now we have the complete set with the launch of the Kind Face wool duvet!
Kind Face’s duvet is the best duvet I’ve slept under to date.
It’s made from premium Wisewool (sourced from the Tairāwhiti Gisborne region) which has been needle punched instead of simply carded. This means the wool fibres are mechanically interlocked and will not inflict bunching or clumping like other duvets. For example, I stayed at a friend’s place and their duvet destroyed my sleep, in turn, ruining my day. The inner material bunched up into a corner at the bottom of the bed, leaving me cold but Tim’s feet too warm (a travesty for a man who sleeps with his feet out of the bed no matter the season!). The loose fabric left in its place twisted around me in weird ways that contributed to my strange and exhausting dreams. I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus. Good sleep aside, the magic of needle-punching also means the duvet has a longer lifespan than regular wool duvets; I won’t be surprised when this duvet outlives me!
Kind Face’s duvet, which is brilliantly called “New Zealand’s Duvet” is 350gsm. This may go over your head at first, like it did mine, but having learnt a little more about wool from following along with the work of Wisewool and Kind Face, I now know that gsm means grams per square metre. 350gsm was carefully chosen for this duvet so it can be used all year round. I love a multipurpose product that saves on storage space.
The main duvet Tim and I were sleeping under before New Zealand’s Duvet came along was an old feather duvet. It was too small for our bed and a questionable age (neither of us know where it came from so I’m guessing 10-15 years old). It was filled with feathers and the outer was a blend of polyester and cotton. Sleeping without plastic fibres on my bed and body makes me much happier when I tuck myself in and while I won’t deep dive into the unethical practices of feather down products (live plucking is a horrible practice), I will say I am glad to be rid of my reliance on feather filled duvets. Ethics aside, feather duvets can be clumpy too.
I reckon the Kind Face duvet is the best duvet for all New Zealanders, but it’s particularly ideal for Tim and I for two reasons. Firstly, it’s naturally hypoallergenic, catering to Tim’s allergies. Being able to machine wash the duvet so readily is ideal for his allergies too. We are vigilant with cleaning blankets and cushions in our home to avoid setting off dust plumes that set off his allergies. Secondly, I’ve always known wool was temperature regulating, but the duvet has proven this to me in a whole new way. Tim runs hot at night, I run cold. Because of the glorious powers of wool, we both stick to our preferred temperatures!
Enough about Tim and I in bed…
One of the first things I consider when I think about purchasing a product is who made it. Generally supply chains are so complex that brands go ‘huh?’ when I ask who makes their products, where they are made, and how they ensure the people in the supply chain are paid fair wages. When you ask Kind Face this question, they send you an address and invite you around for a cup of tea in their Auckland workroom (I’m sure you can have coffee but I don’t drink the stuff). They won’t pull the wool over your eyes and pretend to be 100% sustainable either. Kind Face is honest about what they want to improve on and are constantly coming up with better ways to do business and make their products. Kind Face takes innovation so seriously that whenever I speak to founder Chris, I need to ensure it’s after my afternoon nap with my Kind Face duvet and eye mask, otherwise I get too exhausted from our wild conversations!
Yes, I am an official Kind Face ambassador, but yes I believe these words wholeheartedly. Kind Face is a brand I consistently go back to because of their sustainability, transparency, and high quality. It’s rare to find a brand with this trifecta, plus the duvet is so lush we haven’t even put a cover on it yet - I’m unsure if we ever will. Before Kind Face, I struggled to suggest good bedding brands. For hygiene reasons, second hand bedding can be irresponsible to suggest and I used to say ‘no sorry’ to anyone who asked where to get a good sustainable duvet.
I’m stoked to sleep soundly at night under New Zealand’s duvet and I look forward to see them swaddling all Kiwis throughout Aotearoa!
Thousands of people know Ethically Kate as an Instagram Inspirer (‘Influencer’). She tries her best to show others how simple and fulfilling it is to be a conscious consumer by sharing how she lives her life and promoting the sustainable products and habits that help her do that.
You can also find Kate at Ethicallykate.com
