Everything You Need To Know About Keeping Cool In Bed

Our chill tips and cooling bedding will get your bed feeling breezy!

Whether you run warm all year or struggle with the summer heat, cooling down can be a pretty big challenge. If you’ve ever felt the heat in your sleep, you probably already know it’s not enough to just lighten your bed or turn on a loud fan. What you might not know is why you’re getting so warm at night, and why a lot of your bedding might not be helping you chill out.

We’re here to give you the low-down on heating up ー just in time for our summer Cool Down Sale ー so that you can fall asleep feeling cool and comfortable no matter the season. If any of these hot topics sound familiar, it might be a sign you need a chill change!

Why do you get so hot in bed?

Before talking about our coolest fabrics and materials, it’s worth knowing what makes you so hot in the first place! After all, you can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what it is. If you find you’re waking up boiling hot or sweating too much in your sleep, these are just some of the things keeping you from a comfortably balanced temperature at night.

Warm weather

Needless to say, a big reason you’re getting hot is that it’s just as hot outside! Even without the sun beaming down, summer means higher temperatures, and even the night air can still feel especially hot, dense, and humid.

As a result, simply opening a window to let heat out might just let more warm air in, leaving you just as bad as before!

Warm internal temperature

Even though your core body temperature lowers by a few degrees while you sleep, it’s not always enough! Your lifestyle and body type can massively affect your body’s average temperatures, especially if you’re out and about lots during summer. As a result, it’s easy for your body temperature to stay high at night, or at least warmer than your average winter temperature.

This is made tougher if you're in bed with a partner or pet, as your combined body heat may counteract your natural cooling!

Warm bedding

It's not surprising that bedding plays a big factor in your sleep temperature - it's certainly one of the most common questions we get asked about by our customers! Your cold weather bedding is often intended to hold in your body heat, which isn’t nearly as soothing when it’s even warmer outside!

Especially when summer hits, it’s time to swap those layers for something that can keep you cooler, and more easily let your heat escape your bed!

Now that we’ve got the “why” of sweltering sleeps taken care of, it’s time to talk about how you can keep your bed cool and your dreams cooler. After all, running a fan or your AC all night can be extremely noisy and costly, especially if you’re naturally warm and need to keep cool year-round.

You might not be able to control your body temperature or the weather outside, but there are three fabric features that can help you beat the heat: cooling technologies, moisture-wicking, and breathability.

What is cooling fabric?

Some of the best accessories we offer for warm sleepers are items from our Cool Touch line of cooling bedding and accessories. These products are made with a unique and technical cooling fabric that actively lowers your temperature; but how exactly do these bedding extras manage to achieve this amazing feat?

How does cooling fabric work?

The cooling fabric on our Cool Touch blankets and pillowcases is made with a technical blend of nylon and polyester. This combination wicks both moisture and warmth away from the body, lowering your internal body temperature by about two degrees!

How does cooling fabric feel?

Not only is this fabric blend cool to the touch, it’s also blissfully soft to feel on your skin! However, if you want to switch up what you're wrapped up in at night, our cooling blankets even feature a breathable bamboo blend backing for a comfortable alternative. This means you can flip to whichever side you love to feel most!

Need more cool alternatives? Check out these five other great ways to stay cool!

What does moisture-wicking mean?

If getting damp is one of your biggest problems while rolling around in bed, you might want to look into changing your sheets to our moisture-wicking & eco-friendly BeechBliss TENCEL™ Modal and Eucalyptus Luxe TENCEL™ Lyocell lines! These are sure to keep you from turning into a puddle at night AND they dry quickly. But, how do these sensationally soft sheets actually keep your sweat at bay?

What does “moisture-wicking” fabric do?

Essentially, moisture-wicking sheets pull your sweat away from you altogether! Their hollow fibers draw moisture away from the body to keep you dry, letting your skin breathe through the night and to help you sleep at an ideal temperature! Then, that moisture is absorbed directly inside its fibers, preventing bacteria from growing while it keeps you cool and healthy.

Want to know what goes into our TENCEL™ sheets? Learn all about our Lyocell and Modal fabrics here!

What makes fabric breathable?

If our TENCEL™ blends aren’t up your alley, there’s also plenty of bedding that lets the air flow freely through the night. This is where our Cotton Quilt Sets, Organic Cotton Duvet Covers, and Vintage Washed European Linen come in, as all these comforts are made with light and breathable cotton. But what exactly does “breathable” mean when it comes to a piece of fabric?

Do breathable fabrics actually breathe?

Not exactly! Breathable bedding fabrics let air and moisture pass through, without becoming trapped. It’ll still give some resistance, as you might not feel a perfect air flow when you put breathable sheets against a strong fan, but it’ll let as much as possible through thanks to its materials and construction!

How do other fabrics compare?

Each fabric and item can vary, but certain materials simply tend to be more or less breathable than others. For example, polyester tends to be great at insulating heat during the winter, as weaves with these fibers naturally hold in heat and air. Meanwhile, lighter fabrics like our organic cotton can take a solid breeze through its surface, meaning your fan can cool down your body while you’re completely covered!

Like the sound of breathable summer bedding? Read about all the reasons we love our linen sheets!

We hope you’re ready to keep cool all summer long! If you still have questions about what makes our coolest comforts so cool, our Sleep Stylists are just a quick message away. Plus, you can visit any of our 75+ stores to get a feel of our summer-friendly fabrics before you buy!

Keep cool and keep cozy!