To sleep cool in summer, you need a lightweight duvet, breathable sheets, and a mattress that doesn’t trap your body heat. Memory foam is the worst choice because it retains heat and isn’t breathable, resulting in a clammy sleep experience.
A direct upgrade is memory gel – foam with thousands of gel beads – which can’t hold onto heat, and as such, it provides a cooler sleep surface. Latex gel does the same with a bouncier and more responsive feel.
Another option is a natural mattress with a wool filling – wool is breathable and doesn’t trap heat near the same foam. Vented borders further help to keep you cool by circulating air through the top layers.
It can also help to have a slatted bed frame instead of a solid platform on which the mattress sits so that air can flow through the bottom.
The Best Mattress You Can Get For Summer
The absolute best mattress is the Sleepeezee Centurial 3 (pictured above), with its lofty layer of breathable, natural latex foam, breathable British wool, and 7,000 pocket springs for the best support and motion isolation in the business.
But at £2,400+ for a king, it’s also costly!
A Few Cheaper Options
A cheaper option is the Sleepeezee Wool Supreme 2400, which costs around £780 for a king and features 100% British wool and 2,400 pocket springs.
Pictured: Sleepeezee Wool Supreme 2400 5FT Kingsize Mattress. Available from Bedstar.
Summer and winter side mattresses also work well with a cooling side for hot nights and a warmer one for cooler nights.
The Giltedge Beds Ice Chill 1000 Mattress is a fantastic example – it has one side with a layer of memory gel, while the other has a memory foam layer.
Pictured: Giltedge Beds Ice Chill 1000 5FT Kingsize Mattress. Priced £547, Available from Bedstar.
Another top choice is the medium-firm Giltedge Beds Latex Cloud 2000 with latex gel for a more responsive sleep experience.
Pictured: Giltedge Beds Latex Cloud 2000 5FT Kingsize Mattress. Priced £1008, Available from Bedstar.
Gel Mattresses
If you don’t want to flip your mattress over, the Sleepsoul Paradise Coolgel is affordable. It has a layer of memory gel on top of 800 pocket springs for support.
Pictured: Sleepsoul Paradise Coolgel 5FT Kingsize Mattress. Priced £376, Available from Bedstar.
Pictured: Silentnight Lift Rejuvenate 1600 5FT Kingsize Latex Mattress. Priced £896, Available from Bedstar.
Latex foam is also a gel-infused version for hot sleepers, such as the medium-soft Silentnight Lift Rejuvenate 1,600.
The Giltedge Beds Summit 1500 is another fantastic choice for staying cool, thanks to its Koregel comfort layer. It’s also a top choice for couples with high-density foam encapsulation for maximum edge support.
Slats and Breathability
Mattresses need to breathe to dissipate heat, and slats are much better than solid mattress platforms for breathability.
The difference between a slatted and non-slatted bed base is subtle and, in many cases, unnoticeable when a mattress is over 25cm thick. You won’t notice a difference in feel except that you sleep a bit cooler in summer.
Other Ways To Beat The Heat
- Get a low bed frame (hot air rises).
- Keep direct sunlight out of your bedroom with a blind.
- Install solar reflective window film externally.
- Insulate your attic space.
- Open windows only at night when the air is cooler.
- Summer duvets. Get one that’s a maximum of 4.5 tog.
- Lightweight cotton bedsheets.
- Breathable pillows (hollowfibre or chopped memory foam).
- Bedside table fans.
- Portable air conditioners (beware, they are pricey to run).
Summing up
Your mattress plays a massive role in keeping you cool—memory and latex gel, flippable winter/summer side, and breathable natural filling mattresses are all fantastic options for staying comfortable in sweaty weather.
But that isn’t the end of the story. You also need to keep your bedroom as cool as possible during the day and insulate your house. Investing in an air conditioning system (portable or fixed) is also worth it if you can afford it.
*Pictures provided by Bedstar