Mattress manufacturers provide many ways for sleepers to keep cool, such as cooling gels, copper infusions and ventilated foam layers – but not all cooling technologies are created equal.
Mattresses constructed of breathable fabrics like cotton, linen, viscose from bamboo and Tencel may offer superior temperature regulation than synthetic options.
1. Contour Cutting
Some mattress brands use contour cutting, which creates grooves or “convolutions” in the foam surface to enhance airflow and cool the mattress more effectively, as well as making it feel more responsive, giving personalized support based on body contouring.
Another proven technique for keeping cool during sleep involves permeable fabrics like cotton and linen fabrics, which have proven their moisture-wicking and thermal regulating abilities while helping keep sleepers cooler at night. These natural fibers also seem to offer greater moisture-wicking performance compared with synthetic materials, thus helping you sleep cooler at night.
Sleep with a damp washcloth or ice pack on your head while you sleep, so the evaporation of water can naturally cool your body as you sleep and provide some much-needed relief from heatwaves. Other simple strategies for relieving heatwave discomfort include keeping rooms on lower levels as heat tends to rise; sleeping on flat surfaces (rather than box springs) helps ensure mattress proximity with floor and enhance airflow.
2. Microcoils
Many mattress companies employ microcoils, also known as pocket coils, in their innerspring mattresses. These small individually wrapped coils provide more conformance and cooler sleeping than traditional innerspring springs; typically enclosed within fabric casing and secured using glue, sewing thread or welding techniques for an ergonomic surface that conforms to body contours to relieve pressure points while minimizing motion transference.
Foam mattresses take up less space than traditional coil mattresses, enabling manufacturers to add layers of foam and other materials without increasing bed thickness overall. Thanks to these compact systems, mattresses now boast core support foam, soft foam, and memory foam without increasing overall thickness of bed frames.
Coil springs often combine with layers of gel to provide greater pressure relief and cooling benefits, as they allow airflow through the bed during sleep to circulate more freely, improving cooling and comfort simultaneously. This combination encourages air to circulate during restful sleep sessions for enhanced cooling and comfort.
3. Infused Foams
Memory foam mattresses provide excellent contouring and hug support, but can trap body heat to cause an uncomfortable sleeping experience. To remedy this issue, manufacturers infuse memory foam mattresses with cooling gel infusions that draw heat away from the sleep surface and dissipate it as perpendicularly as possible. Gel-infused memory foams tend to be slightly denser than standard memory foam, creating firmer sleep surfaces with reduced sinkage and improved airflow; thermal or cool-to-the-touch gel beads may be used; alternatively phase change materials may help regulate temperature by switching states between two states in an instantaneous fashion allowing regulating temperature regulation by changing between states as required by statute or regulation by law.
Many brands also incorporate ventilation-enhancing punch holes or slits into their mattress layers to improve airflow, increasing ventilation and speeding up heat removal from your body faster, thus reducing sweating. Memory foam mattresses containing graphite-infused foams like Nectar or Bear mattresses further boost cooling properties by drawing away body heat away from head and neck regions which typically remain warmest of all.
4. Natural Latex Foam
Natural latex offers superior airflow compared to memory foam, making you sleep cooler at night and also helping reduce motion transfer so that your partner won’t experience every movement you make while sleeping.
Natural latex is harvested from Hevea Brasilensis rubber trees through tapping, an environmentally friendly process which doesn’t harm them in any way. Once harvested, these trees continue producing latex for 25 years or more before being replaced by another sapling.
Organic natural latex is more environmentally-friendly than synthetic polyurethane and tends to have less odor compared to other materials; additionally it meets all textile and furniture emissions standards set by ecoInstitut, Oeko-Tex, and Greenguard.
Latex mattresses come in both full-size and queen size versions, and can serve both as comfort layers or the support core of hybrid mattresses. Manufacturers may use either natural or synthetic latex for these mattresses; or both types if possible. Look for mattresses certified by Certipur which guarantees they are free from mercury, lead, azo colorants, pentachlorophenol and formaldehyde emissions.
5. Ventilation
Most traditional foam mattresses feature layers of memory foam atop two or three poly foam layers for airflow and maximum air circulation throughout. Some brands add contour cuts or convolutions into their designs in order to increase cooling and heat distribution even more effectively.
This technique creates a network of empty spaces within the foam layers, which facilitates even greater air movement and prevents too much body heat from building up in your mattress while sleeping – thus helping reduce body heat accumulation by replacing warm body air with cooler outside air that flows easily out.
Other mattress makers employ various strategies to promote cooling. Some brands utilize cooling gel in their mattress to dissipate heat and promote an optimal sleeping temperature, while bed fans that rotate anti-clockwise provide another effective cooling strategy by drawing cooler outdoor air in through vents in order to create an “anti-wind chill effect”.
6. Airflow
Air ventilation plays an integral part in keeping you cool when sleeping on a mattress or pillow, which can be improved by opening windows, using a circulating fan, and choosing breathable bedsheets.
Luxisleep utilizes egg-crate surfaces on its foam to increase surface area and open air channels, while their mattresses also utilize phase change materials, or PCMs, that absorb and release body heat to regulate temperatures.
An important consideration when purchasing a mattress is how its fabric or cover is constructed. A quilted cover tends to trap more heat than its breathable counterpart; therefore many brands opt for non-woven materials as mattress covers or throw pads.
Firmer mattresses tend to sleep cooler than their softer counterparts because their design allows airflow freely between spaces in them, helping regulate body temperature while providing restful slumber.
8. Cooling Sheets
If you sleep hot, cooling sheets could be just what the doctor ordered. Constructed of thin cotton bedding infused with an agent that cools both you and the sheet beneath it, cooling sheets help counteract temperature spikes that interfere with REM and slow-wave sleep cycles.
Mattress makers take many factors into account when crafting cooling sheets, including fabric type, thread count and weave type. Although higher thread counts tend to correlate to better sheets, weave type has an equal impact on breathability; percale weave provides optimal airflow thanks to its simple one-thread-over, one-thread-under pattern; while tighter weaves like sateen and twill weave can lead to overheating during sleep.
Spindle and Loom & Leaf use gel-infused memory foam that not only keeps sleepers cool, but provides additional pressure relief as they doze off. Furthermore, their covers feature ventilation grids aligned with perforations on the foam that provide ventilation to further keep you cool and comfy while sleeping.
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