Types of closure for bed linen – zip, buttons & hotel closure

Bed linen can have many different types of closure. The most common are zips, buttons and the hotel closure. We explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type of closure and where they are used.

Zip

First, a little history: from 1850 onwards, the zip was developed further and further by various inventors. However, it was first used on a mass scale in the weatherproof suits of the US Army in 1917. From 1930, zips were also regularly used in textiles. Today, around 70 million running metres of zips are produced every year in Germany alone. The largest producer worldwide, however, is a Japanese company.

A zip consists of two sides with teeth and a slider that interlocks and releases the teeth.

The zip is valued above all for its great simplicity. It closes jackets, hoodies, shoes – or bed linen – quickly and easily. Especially for garments that you open and close frequently during the day, the zip therefore has great practical advantages.
The larger the area, the more grateful you are to have a zip.

These advantages are also appreciated in everyday use of bed linen: if you want to wash the duvet cover, the zip can be opened quickly and the duvet taken out.

Only advantages? Not quite. Because the zip is made of hard plastic or metal, it is not quite as comfortable to lie on. Durability can also vary greatly depending on type and model, especially if the duvet cover or pillowcase is washed frequently. Another disadvantage of the zip is that if one tooth is defective, the entire zip has to be replaced. Unfortunately, this often costs a lot of money, and in many cases a repair is not economical.

Jens Liebhauser’s view

“On bed linen, I generally don’t want a zip: zips often get damaged in the wash, and then the cover can no longer be opened. On top of that, at night you often lie with your ear or face on the edge of the pillow – if you move around a lot, you feel the zip and wake up with marks in the morning. That’s why we recommend the concealed button placket.”

Buttons

Buttons have a very long history: as early as the 12th and 13th centuries, the first buttons were used to fasten textiles. Because buttons of all shapes and materials held garments together at that time, the craft of button-making developed over the centuries.

Today, buttons come in many different designs. The sew-through button on Cottonbabe luxury bed linen, the rivet button on jeans or the snap fastener on jackets are just a few of the common types of button.
The most typical shape of a button is the circle, as it is the easiest to open and close. Compared with a zip, however, it takes a little longer to open and close textiles.

The advantage of buttons on bed linen is that they are spaced several centimetres apart and therefore affect comfort less than a continuous zip. Buttons are also usually less visible, which is why they are often used on high-quality bed linen that is also meant to look good. The button is also considered a particularly classic type of closure. And if a button breaks, it's not a big deal: a new button is inexpensive to buy and quickly sewn on. In the meantime, the other buttons keep everything in place.

Hotel closure

As the name suggests, the hotel closure (envelope flap, no buttons) is mostly used only in hotels. What is special about the hotel closure is that it isn't really a closure at all. The upper half of the duvet cover is usually longer than the lower half, so the upper half can simply be folded over and tucked into the cover.

But why do almost all hotels do it this way?
Because guests change constantly and for reasons of hygiene, duvet covers and pillowcases in hotels are washed very often. In a professional laundry, ironing and smoothing fabrics is called "mangling": the bed linen is pulled through between two large rollers. Buttons and zips would easily be damaged.

In addition, removing and putting on bed linen with buttons or zips would take too long. In day-to-day hotel operations, speed is what counts in housekeeping. The hotel closure is a very efficient type of closure for this purpose.