SLEEPING HOT

Ways to help beat the heat

Let's face it, 100+ days and 80+ nighttime temperatures can be the norm here in Sacramento in the summertime. This can really present challenges in your quest for a good night’s sleep. You could run your AC at 68 degrees all night but that’s not really practical - especially if you are trying to conserve energy and your budget.

As you might imagine, at European Sleep Design we address this issue day in and day out. We refer to this as the sleep microclimate. The design of our mattress system and bedding helps mitigate the humidity build up - a big sleep interrupter - caused from sleepers’ perspiration, therefore providing a cooler and drier sleeping environment.

A top-down approach (or) Finding the weak link

Lets start with the top of the mattress and work our way down.

1. COVERS While you may not want much at all depending on how cool you run your AC (or not!), you want to avoid synthetic, down or feather fill. While these materials may be good at insulating, they also reflect your body’s humidity back at you when the goal is to mitigate humidity buildup. A better solution for achieving this is either a lightweight cotton blanket (not too thick as this will create too much of a thermal barrier); or better yet, a lightweight or modular style comforter filled with either lightweight wool or camel hair. These fills are superb at absorbing and wicking away humidity, for more dry and even sleeping temperatures while sleeping.

2. PILLOWS Avoid pillows with synthetic, down or feather fill. These fillers trap humidity and can lead to clamminess. Instead, choose breathable, quick-drying pillow material like either natural latex or wool. Plus these are more healthy in that they are naturally anti-microbial and anti-allergenic.

3. YOU While we can’t tell you what to wear - or not wear - we can make some suggestions. First off, less is more. Avoid clothing altogether. If that’s not an option, stick with lighter weight, all-natural cotton sleep apparel. Try a quick dip in the pool or a cool shower before bed (but make sure to dry your hair before bed. A wet head will add unwanted humidity into your sleep environment).

4. SHEETS Choose lightweight natural cotton sheets. Avoid synthetics or synthetic blends. Many high thread-count sheets employ a double weave technology resulting in a thicker fabric that can actually inhibit airflow and evaporation of humidity caused from perspiration.

5. MATTRESS While you may not necessarily be in the market for a new mattress at this time, you still want to consider what’s inside your mattress, and if it’s design and construction is up to the task. A mattress made with a natural, breathable, stretch-knit cotton with a lightweight wool lining is ideal and really all that that is needed to achieve maximum thermal performance and humidity regulation. Next, avoid moisture trapping,  non-breathable, heat-retaining materials like polyurethane foam cushioning of any type, heat sensitive (memory foam) or otherwise. Also avoid air mattresses as vinyl is impermeable so it won’t pass temperature and humidity. There is a lot of buzz lately about “gel” in mattresses these days as being cooler. Gel might have a cooler touch initially at first feel, but from a conductivity standpoint this is soon negated. Our experience, based on both customer feedback and industry information is that gel really is not all that effective at providing a cooler sleeping experience.
   Our position is and has always been that plastic foams and fillers really do not belong in a mattress. The ideal cushioning for not only support, comfort and durability, but also breathability, is natural talalay latex. This can also comprise the bottom (support) or core layer of a mattress, where added profiled air channels can enhance ventilation; or choose latex combined with high-performance independent coil layers pocketed with quick-drying fabric material for even greater ventilation properties.

6. FOUNDATION (box-spring). An open architecture, slatted or otherwise, is always preferred to allow airflow and ventilation underneath your mattress in order to allow any humidity that may get trapped inside your mattress to also transfer out the bottom of the mattress. For this reason, it’s also not a good idea to store objects under your bed that can obstruct airflow and ventilation. It may seem like perfectly good storage space is going to waste, but in fact you don’t want to inhibit airflow under you bed.

OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

1. Ceiling fans are highly functional for better sleep. While it’s obvious that they blow air on you to cool you off when it’s hot, we recommend running them on their quiet, low-speed setting all year round while sleeping. It’s very simple: whether winter, spring, summer, or fall, that light breeze will accelerate the evaporation of perspiration from skin and bedding. The wool or camel hair filled comforter works very well to absorb and evaporate humidity in your sleep environment. The added light breeze helps to carry it away. This leads to drier, more comfortable sleep. Less clamminess in summer means drier, cooler sleep. Less clamminess in winter means drier, warmer sleep. Again, the goal here is drier sleep. Additional benefits are de-stratification of still air in the bedroom and a constant supply of fresh air to breathe. Don’t want a ceiling fan in your decor? Or can’t install one? Try a small table fan or fan on a stand on low-speed. But choose the quietest fan you can find.

For these and other healthful sleep solutions, visit European Sleep Design today!