Cooling Bedding for Summer – A Guide

Short answer: Cooling bedding does not cool by itself. What works is a fabric that moves moisture away from the skin and lets heat escape rather than holding it. Bamboo viscose does both, which is why it feels cool in summer.

What cooling means

No textile lowers the temperature. What feels cool is a fabric that leads heat away from the skin quickly and does not hold moisture. That is physics, not a property that can be added to a set with a treatment or a coating.

Why bamboo feels cool

Bamboo viscose has a smooth surface that leads heat away in the first minutes after you lie down. After that the fabric warms up from the body, but because moisture is constantly moved out into the fabric, it does not turn clammy the way a synthetic set does.

The weave matters more than the fibre

A densely woven, thin fabric feels cooler than a loosely woven, thick one, whatever the fibre. See bamboo bedding and choose the lightest quality for summer, if the set is mainly for May to September.

Colour matters too

Pale colours reflect more light and therefore get less warm in a bedroom with morning sun. It is a small difference, but it counts in a room where the sun comes in from five in the morning in June and July.

The duvet has to change too

A cool cover over a winter duvet does not help much. A summer duvet with a low filling is the single biggest difference you can make in a warm bedroom, and it should be changed before you start looking at new bedding.

Nightwear

If you sleep in something synthetic, the moisture is held right at the skin, and then the bedding matters less. See nightwear in the same material as the bedding, so both layers work the same way all night.

The sheet underneath

You lie directly on the sheet all night, so it matters as much as the cover. A sheet in the same quality as the set means your back does not become the place where moisture gathers first on a warm night.

The room

Air the room in the evening and close the window once the sun is on it again. A bedroom at 16 to 18 degrees is what most people sleep best in, and no textile replaces that if the room is five degrees warmer.

Washing in the summer months

In summer the bedding has to be changed more often than in winter, because more moisture goes into it. Weekly is the rule, and it is easiest with two sets, so you are not waiting for the machine to finish. See also bamboo and temperature regulation and better sleep with bamboo.