How it works:
Each team presents its duvet cover.
More than one competing duvet cover is loaded into a washing machine and set on a medium cycle.
When the machine has finished, the covers are removed. The winning team is the team whose duvet cover has engulfed the competition inside of itself. If neither engulfs the other, the result is a draw. The winner is hung out to dry on a line before proceeding to the next heat. The loser is piled in the corner to go all smelly and rancid.
There will be strict rules on overall dimensions, but tweaks to the seams and the opening will be permitted to allow genuine innovation in duvet cover design. Each team will have a distinctive colour so that the view through the glass door on the front of the machine can be televised with an excitable commentary. "and now, as we enter the final rinse cycle, there is literally all to play for. The water is coming in. The yellow duvet cover is half inside the green one but the yellow one's technical seam wrinkles are resisting the pull of the green's extra buttons oh Look at that oh wow the reverse of direction let a few inches of yellow out oh my god I think this could be the most nail biting finish we have seen in this tournament so far today as we move into the spin the yellow is almost free we could have a genuine draw here yes yes it could its happening!"-- pocmloc, Sep 13 2021 A question on the rules of this: Am I allowed to have my duvet cover made of a clever 'engineered' fabric with a nap on it such that things slide across it more easily in one direction than another? Such fabrics could be used to construct duvet covers which have a ratchet effect in swallowing other items in the washing machine.-- hippo, Sep 13 2021 I'm all in favour of washing machine ideas, but I can envisage a lot of "draws" with the event. It's still a great idea. Approved +-- xenzag, Sep 13 2021 I think there should be a competition to see who makes the best duvet.-- RayfordSteele, Sep 13 2021 Can't the loser be offered to charity instead? And how can we make this eco-friendly?-- PauloSargaco, Sep 13 2021 Yes [hippo] that is the kind of technological advance I was envisaging. Of course if your cover gets turned inside out in the wash it will feed itself obligingly inside the opponent's cover.
Also, draws are not necessarily a problem. More screen time, more advertisement income, more excitement when there is an actual win.-- pocmloc, Sep 13 2021 Fitted sheets are excellent at "engulfing" other washing. But I'm not sure elastic would be feasible on a duvet cover (assuming one of the rules is "fully usable as a duvet cover"). Perhaps a drawstring with a fabric panel on the end, that gets pulled by the natural motion in the machine? Or something that shrinks (gradually) when wet..?-- neutrinos_shadow, Sep 13 2021 Yes, very good. +-- Frankx, Sep 13 2021 random, halfbakery