The Best Cooling Comforters for Hot Sleepers
The best cooling comforters are crafted to keep hot sleepers comfortable during summer’s stifling nights, when warm conditions can threaten rest. Some comforters are made with proprietary materials engineered specifically to keep you cool, but you don’t necessarily need high-tech bedding to sleep well when temperatures rise. Look for high-quality comforters made from naturally cooling materials, with construction details that help enhance your comfort.
Features of the Best Cooling Comforters
The best cooling comforters share similar features. Keep an eye out for these key characteristics when buying comforters and other bedding to keep you cool:
- Breathable: Breathable fabrics facilitate the evaporation of moisture from your skin to the air. Sweat must evaporate in order for your body to cool itself, and when it can’t evaporate, you can’t cool down—making breathability one of the biggest factors for a cool comforter.
- Moisture Wicking: Materials that actively draw moisture (perspiration) away from your body absorb perspiration before it even has a chance to create a bubble of humidity beneath your bedding.
- Temperature Regulating: Materials that are both breathable and moisture-wicking support your body’s natural thermoregulating abilities. Comforters made from these materials help preserve the ideal temperature set by your body when you sleep.
Types of Cooling Comforters for Hot Sleepers
Hot sleepers in search of a naturally cooling comforter for warm weather should seek out these shell materials. Avoid lower-quality synthetic polyester fibers, which don’t offer the same benefits you’ll find in natural fabrics.
- Cotton Percale Comforters – Breathable and lightweight cotton percale is known for a crisp hand that feels refreshingly cool to the touch.
- TENCEL ™ Lyocell Comforters – Breathable, moisture-wicking TENCEL™ Lyocell is made from cellulosic fibers that support the body’s natural thermoregulating mechanism, so your skin stays feeling cool and dry.
- Bamboo Comforters – Rayon made from bamboo is naturally moisture wicking with a porous composition that lets your skin breathe, so it’s an ideal fabric option in comforters for hot sleepers.
Other Factors to Consider
Shell material is not the only influencing factor when it comes to a comforter’s ability to keep you cool. Weight, fill, room temperature, and other bedding layers all play a part in your overnight comfort.
- Weight: Many premium comforters are available in multiple weights, so hot sleepers should be careful to choose the lightest options to sleep comfortably. A lightweight or all-seasons comforter will typically be the coolest for warm evenings and hot sleepers.
Fill: Down is favored for its exceptional warmth and insulating properties. However, due to its breathability, down can also be a surprisingly good option for hot sleepers who choose a comforter with a lower fill power, which offers the cozy comfort of down without overheating. A lightweight down alternative may also be suitable.
- Construction: Baffle box comforters are constructed for more even fill distribution, preventing clumping and inconvenient warm patches across the top of your bed.
- Other Bedding: A cooling comforter can be only so effective if you layer it over flannel sheets or a pile of other bedding. Make sure to pair your comforter with sheets made from cooling, breathable materials and avoid unnecessary extra layers to stay cool while you rest.
- Room Temperature: Cooling comforters can’t work magic. When possible, keep your bedroom cool to help your comforter work more effectively.
If you’re looking for the best comforter for hot weather or warm sleepers, consider the materials used to make it. Look for lightweight or all-season down alternative comforters with breathable, moisture-wicking shells, and then pair your pick with cool bedding layers designed to keep you comfortable. For more bedding tips and ideas, explore our Guides.