Your cooling bedding may be doing exactly what it was designed to do—it just may not be solving your problem. As a fiber scientist at the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab, I've tested over 400 cooling products and worked with more than 1,500 hot sleepers to understand what actually helps people sleep cooler. If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: Sleeping hot isn't one-size-fits-all, and neither is cooling bedding.
Before you invest in a major upgrade
For someone who sleeps warm but isn't too extreme—especially if you’re not waking up with night sweats—opting for breathable bedding could be the simplest solution. Lightweight cotton percale and linen provide better airflow than dense cotton sateen or brushed microfiber without added cooling technology.
L.L.Bean 280-Thread-Count Pima Cotton Percale Sheet Set
L.L.Bean 280-Thread-Count Pima Cotton Percale Sheet Set
These percale sheets offer breathability without sacrificing comfort. The fabric is light and crisp, and it earned top marks in our Lab with minimal shrinkage after several washes. Testers compared them to “quality hotel sheets.”
The same idea applies to pillows and mattresses. Look for breathable designs, like perforated foam or hybrid and innerspring mattresses that use coils to improve airflow instead of trapping heat.
Purple Harmony Pillow
This innovative pillow is made of a solid latex core and surrounded by Purple’s GelFlex grid for a soft yet supportive feel. The open structure of the elastic grid plus perforated latex offer better airflow than any other pillow we’ve tested.
If you prefer an instantly cool feel
Pay close attention to the bedding that directly touches your skin. Cool-to-the-touch, moisture-wicking fabrics with a high QMax will provide an instant cooling sensation and help wick away any night sweats. QMax measures thermal conductivity, which tells you how cool the fabric feels on first touch. Look for fibers like nylon, polyester, or rayon (i.e. Tencel lyocell and viscose), which typically wick moisture better than cotton.
Breescape Cooling Sheets
Breescape uses a blend of nylon, polyester, and spandex for superior moisture-wicking and an instant cool feel.
REST Evercool Cooling Comforter
Rest’s Evercool Cooling Comforter feels cool to the touch and quickly wicked away moisture in our tests. It’s made of a blend of nylon and spandex, with a lightweight polyester fill.
Expert note: As a fiber scientist, one of the biggest misconceptions I see is that cooling bedding can stop night sweats. While it can help wick away moisture, it isn't designed to treat the underlying cause.
If you wake up from overheating
Consider splurging on specialized cooling technology. Even though they may not feel instantly cool, bedding like your mattress, topper, and pillow can have a big impact in how cool you stay overnight. Look for phase change materials (PCM) or foam infused with gel or metal particles, like copper or graphite, which can help pull heat away from your body.
Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress
Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress
This hybrid mattress has a cool-to-the-touch cover, copper-infused foam, plus an optional cloud pillow-top with foam infused with Phase Change Material (PCM).
Products made with temperature-regulating technologies like Outlast, which uses PCM, or 37.5 are another great option. Unlike cool-to-the-touch fabrics, they're designed to help regulate your body temperature over time instead of feeling cool when you first get into bed.
SlumberCloud Performance Mattress Pad
SlumberCloud Performance Mattress Pad
This mattress pad relies on Outlast, a material using PCM, to help keep you at a comfortable body temperature over time.
If nothing else works:
Active cooling systems that circulate air or water work better than any other bedding. Smart mattress pads and mattresses will circulate water or air to keep your bed at your desired temperature the entire night. They're the closest thing to true “all-night cooling” that I’ve tested, but they're also the most expensive and require additional setup and maintenance.
Eight Sleep Pod
Eight Sleep embeds wires and sensors with a standalone water hub to keep your bed as cool (or hot) as you want it to be from 55°F to 110°F.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
As a fiber scientist in the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab, I’ve tested hundreds of bedding products with cooling claims over the years, including 80 so far this year. Beyond evaluating the products in the Lab, we also worked with 500 consumer testers, including hot sleepers and those experiencing menopause, for feedback on their user experiences.
