The hot sleeper's field notes
Why some mattresses sleep warm, and the small things that help: materials, sheets, wool and the temperature of the room.
By Daniel Oyelaran, Product Designer · · 4 min read
If you wake up damp at three in the morning, the mattress is only one of three suspects. The other two are what is on top of it and what is in the room.
The mattress
Foam is warm because it is dense and tight: it traps the heat your body gives off. Open-cell foam helps, but a mattress with air in it does better. A spring layer leaves a lot of space for air to move; natural latex with pin-holes does the same.
That is why Meridian and Haven are our suggestion for anyone who sleeps hot, and why the quiz weighs that question so heavily.
What goes on top
Wool surprises people. It sounds warm, and in winter it is, but wool takes moisture off the skin as vapour before it becomes sweat. That is why Haven has a wool layer, and why our duvet is wool.
Linen and cotton percale sheets are better than microfibre. Avoid a protector with a plastic back; ours is thin and breathable.
The room
Cool the room to around 65 F if you can, and leave the window slightly open. A fan across the foot of the bed does more than any mattress claim.
None of this is magic. It is a set of small improvements that add up, and you will feel them within a week.