Can you tumble dry a duvet?

Yes, most synthetic duvets and many feather and down duvets can be tumble dried, if the care label allows it. Dry the duvet on its own on a low or air setting, with dryer balls or clean tennis balls, and take it out every 30 minutes to shake it. Expect about 1.5 to 2 hours for a single and 2.5 to 3 hours for a king. Wool duvets are usually line or flat dried, and silk is almost always dry clean only.

Which duvets can go in a tumble dryer

It depends on the filling, and the care label has the final say. Synthetic duvets (hollowfibre and microfibre) are the most forgiving and can usually be washed and tumble dried. Feather and down often can be too, but on a much lower heat, and some are labelled not to be tumbled at all: when Ideal Home's sleep editor tested down duvets, about half could go in the dryer and half could not (Ideal Home on tumble drying a duvet). Wool duvets generally need to be line or flat dried, because heat and tumbling make wool felt together.

Silk duvets are almost always dry clean only, so they should not be washed or tumbled. If you are unsure which camp yours is in, our guide to duvet care label symbols and dry cleaning explains how to read the label, including the tumble dry square with its heat dots and the cross that means no dryer.

How to tumble dry a duvet

1. Spin it hard first. Use the highest spin the label allows at the end of the wash, so the dryer has less water to remove. Do not wring or twist a wet duvet by hand: it damages the damp casing and bunches the filling. If you have not washed it yet, start with our guide to washing a duvet in a home machine.

2. Check it fits. Dry the duvet on its own, and compare its size with your dryer's drum and the maximum load for the programme you choose. A duvet packed in tight dries unevenly and stays damp in the middle. Some dryers have a dedicated duvet programme; your manual will say (Bosch on drying a duvet).

3. Choose low heat. Set the dryer to its low or air setting, and never higher than the care label allows. If in doubt, start cool. High heat can melt polyester fibres, shrink synthetic fill and damage feathers.

4. Add dryer balls. Two or three wool dryer balls, or clean tennis balls in socks, knock the filling about and stop it clumping. Sleepseeker recommends wool balls, which fluff the filling without too much impact on the cover, and warns that some fragile duvet materials cannot take the impact of dryer balls at all.

5. Shake it every 30 minutes. Take the duvet out, give it a good shake and pull apart any clumps with your hands, then put it back. This also lets you feel how far along it is.

6. Dry it right through. Keep going until the centre is as dry as the edges, then air it for an hour or two before it goes back in its cover.

How long does it take?

Longer than most people allow. Figures from AO.com, quoted by Ideal Home, are about 1.5 to 2 hours for a single, 2 to 2.5 hours for a double and 2.5 to 3 hours for a king. Synthetic dries fastest; feather and down are slower because the filling holds water, and a super king will take longer still. Our guide to UK duvet sizes shows how much bigger each step up is.

A home dryer with a small drum may need more time than this, and the risk is stopping too early. A duvet that feels dry on the outside after one cycle is usually still damp inside.

How to tell it is fully dry

Squeeze the thickest part of the duvet, in the middle, and feel the corners and seams. Any coolness, heaviness or clumping means water is still in there. In a feather duvet, lumps that will not shake apart are the clearest sign. Sleepseeker suggests weighing it before washing and again after drying: if it has put on a few kilos, it is not dry yet (Sleepseeker on tumble drying a duvet).

This matters because a damp duvet goes musty within days and can develop mildew. If it smells after drying, it needs more drying, not another wash. Our feather and down duvet washing guide covers clumping and smells in more detail.

Drying a duvet in a flat with no tumble dryer

Plenty of London flats have no dryer and no garden, and that is the hardest case. Lay the duvet as flat as you can over a large airer or two, so air reaches both sides. Draping it over a clean, open door works if you have nothing else, but down settles to the bottom if a duvet hangs for hours, so flat is better. Turn it over about halfway through, and shake it whenever you pass.

Sleepseeker's estimate is about 18 to 20 hours to feel dry to the touch, and closer to 24 hours to dry all the way through (Sleepseeker on drying a duvet without a dryer). A dehumidifier in a small room speeds it up. Do not lay a duvet directly on a radiator or close to a heater: Sleepseeker warns that this is a fire hazard.

A middle route is to wash at home and use the large dryers at a launderette, which suits a king or super king that will not fit a domestic machine.

When to hand it over

If you have no dryer, a small drum, or a good feather and down duvet you would rather not risk, a professional clean takes the drying off your hands. We wash duvets by filling type and dry them on a low heat (wool flat or on a very low heat) until the filling is dry all the way through: £25 for a single, £30 for a double, £34 for a king and £38 for a super king, collected and returned within 3 working days. We do not accept silk-filled duvets.

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• How much does duvet cleaning cost in London?