Best Mattresses for Hot Sleepers

If you find it hard to go or stay asleep at night because you are a hot sleeper, you’re definitely not alone! It is ironic, however, that our body’s core temperature actually drops 1-2 degrees at night. So why do so many people suffer from night sweats or tossing and turning because they are too hot to stay asleep? One of the main reasons for sleeping hot is the design of the mattress they are sleeping on.

Why the Design of Your Mattress Matters

If you’re worried about sleeping hot, it’s important to remember that our bodies are the heat source. Ultimately we sleep hot because the heat from our bodies is absorbed into the surface (mattress) that we are laying on all night. This means that if our mattress is designed with limited airflow, chances are we’ll wake up sweaty and tired.

When you wake up every night kicking the covers off because you’re so hot, you’re losing valuable sleep. But it’s probably not even your fault you get so hot at night. Believe it or not, the design of your mattress may actually be to blame. There are various components in the mattress industry that can help a hot sleeper sleep cooler, like individually wrapped coils, latex, and open-cell foam.

Top Mattress Components For Hot Sleepers:

1. Open Coil/Innerspring: Mattresses that are made with open coil, also known as a traditional coil or innerspring, are still very common mattresses even though there have been many technological advancements in the bedding industry. The open continuous wire design of the mattress allows for air to flow freely and your body heat will have more chance to breathe.

Note from the experts: These mattresses do tend to be less durable than their individually wrapped coil counterpart and are ideal for children or mattresses that are not used every day, such as in guest rooms and rental properties.

2. Individually Wrapped Coil: Hybrid mattresses are made with individually fabric-encased coils. The design has many benefits, one of them being airflow. The construction of the individually wrapped coil system allows your body heat to flow freely throughout the coils, instead of being trapped which is what happens with dense materials, such as foam. Individually wrapped coils can also be used in the comfort layers as well, known as comfort coils, providing even more airflow for a cooler sleep.

If you are buying a Hybrid mattress with open coils or individually wrapped coils in the bottom layer and other components in the comfort layer, then it is important to keep these materials in mind as well.

3. Latex: Latex in mattresses has an open-cell structure, with tiny little holes throughout it, allowing air to flow in and out of the material. These perforations create a cooler sleep surface for your body as you lay on it at night because your body heat will have room to move. Some latex mattresses are even infused with certain minerals, such as Graphite, that work to wick away body moisture. It is worth noting that people who are trying to find an alternative to memory foam may find latex to be firmer and bouncier than traditional memory foam.

4. Open Cell Memory Foam: About 10% of people who sleep on traditional Memory Foam components complain that they sleep hot which causes disruptions and decreases their sleep quality. Open Cell Memory Foam was engineered to combat this issue. The open cell structure (similar to latex) allows your body heat to escape easier than traditional memory foam.

At Texas Mattress Makers we have mattresses made with this open-cell foam. Our Serene Foam has tiny microscopic air capsules allowing your body heat to move through the mattress creating a cooler sleep surface while still offering the pressure relief that traditional viscoelastic foam offers.

5. Expert-Recommended Technology: The latest cooling technology our experts at Texas Mattress Makers recently started using is the Ice Blue Quilt Technology. This technology is a phase-changing material in the quilt of the mattress to help regulate your temperature. This is not a “cooling” component, rather a component that works to keep your body temperature neutral. The quilt’s technology works to prevent your body heat from being trapped which is the reason you become hotter as you lay on the surface of your mattress at night. If you’re looking for a mattress with sleeping cool in mind, be sure to ask some questions and go to a store or showroom with experts who can give you latest scoop on what new advancements have been made.

Does “Cooling Gel” Really Keep You Cool?

While there are some components that will help hot sleepers sleep cooler at night and help regulate body temperature, there are some components that are really just marketing hype. One of these components is cooling gel. To understand why mattresses that are made with cooling gel, or cooling gel memory foam, doesn’t actually make you sleep cool at night, you first have to know exactly what the component is.

What is Cooling Gel?

Cooling Gel, or Cooling Gel Memory Foam, is made by injecting liquid gel or microscopic gel beads into visco-elastic memory foam. One of the reasons this was done was because many people enjoy sleeping on memory foam but report sleeping too hot on this product. As a solution, this new, gel-injected product is marketed as helping you sleep cooler at night. However, this is largely misleading to the consumer. While the foam may be cooler to the touch initially, it will not maintain a lasting cooling effect as you continue to sleep on the mattress throughout the night.

If you’re still on the fence or confused about this product and how it does (and doesn’t) work, we offer a quick challenge. Think about a gel pack that you put in the freezer. When you take it out and place it on your body it feels cold, right? But as you keep the pack on your body, it starts to thaw and become warmer. This is because your body (the heat source) is heating up the gel. So why should the gel in your mattress be any different?

Don’t be deceived while you’re shopping – gel-infused foam mattresses might start off cool to the touch, but as you lay on the mattress, it will start to take on the temperature of your body heat, losing its cooling effect and possibly even making you hotter than you would be without it.

What Gel-Infused Foam Is Good For

Just because gel-infused foam can’t keep you cold, does not mean it’s a bad product. What this product can do, is offer pressure relief for aches and pains as well as potentially slow down the heat effect felt with traditional memory foam. However, if you’re a hot sleeper, we encourage you to really think about this component in your mattress before purchasing a mattress based on the hype created in the industry.

Best Mattresses for Hot Sleepers

Cannes Plush

Featured Components: Ice Blue Quilt Cooling Technology, individually wrapped coils, and open-cell memory foam.

Why Our Experts Like It: The Cannes Plush Mattress offers a medium feel and is universal for all sleep positions. With the added value of the Ice Blue Quilt, hot sleepers can rejoice in uninterrupted sleep from sweaty tossing and turning. This new technology is infused directly into the quilt of our Cannes Mattress Line and helps regulate your body temperature as you sleep at night.

River Oaks 

Featured Components: Softech™ Micro Comfort Coil Topper, individually wrapped coils, and stabilizing base foam.

Why Our Experts Like It: The River Oaks Mattress is a soft mattress ideal for any sleep position. The featured components are two types of individually wrapped coils in both the support and comfort layer that allow optimal airflow and a night of cooler sleep. The comfort coils are also engineered to flex and return to their original shape so your bed provides the same level of comfort night after night!

Oslo Plush

Featured Components: Celsion Latex, individually wrapped coils, and stabilizing base foam.

Why Our Experts Like It: The Oslo Plush Mattress has a medium-soft feel ideal for both side and back sleepers. The three inches of latex used in the comfort layer offers an added “bouncy” experience, without the “sinking” feeling of memory foam. Latex features an open, rubber cell structure that allows air to flow through creating an escape path for your body heat. Latex is also hypoallergenic, dust mite resistant and very durable.

Geneva

Featured Components: Copper latex, Quantum® Micro Coil System, and extra firm stabilizing base foam layer.

Why Our Experts Like It: The Geneva Mattress offers a medium feel and features top-of-the-line, luxurious components for unparalleled support that both cools and relieves arthritis pain. The quantum coil system boasts 200% more coils than a standard mattress which provides better spine alignment for any sleep position. The premium components will stay durable over time as well as ensure air flows freely and easily through the coils and latex layers.

Athens

Featured Components: Graphite Latex, Quantum® Micro Coil System, and extra firm stabilizing base foam layer.

Why Our Experts Like It: The Athens Mattress offers a firm feel ideal for back and stomach sleepers and features top-of-the-line, luxurious components for unparalleled support that both cools and wicks away moisture. Graphite infused latex provides all of the benefits of classic Latex with the added benefits of the natural graphite mineral which helps to absorb heat and create a barrier. The quantum coil system boasts 200% more coils than a standard mattress! The premium components will stay durable over time as well as ensure air flows freely and easily through the coils and latex layers.

We’re sorry to say that there’s isn’t one magical mattress to keep you super cold at night – at least not yet anyway. But there are multiple components you can utilize (and stay away from – looking at you 100 % memory foam beds…) to keep you cooler at night. If you have any questions about a mattress or its components, our experts are happy to help whether you buy from us or not.

Call us at (713) 341-6252 – we’re open 7 days a week in East Downtown Houston and Katy! Or, you can email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to answer any questions you have!