Sleeping on the cool side of the pillow feels refreshing, especially during the summer when uncomfortable heat affects sleepers in Singapore.
Keeping a cool head in the middle of a hot summer night is a challenge, especially since it can affect your comfort and sleep quality. While it’s easy to flip your pillows to the cooler side for minutes of comfort, this cooling effect does not take long to fade.
Our bodies are programmed to rest and stay rested in a colder sleep environment. While an air conditioner or a ceiling fan helps you sleep cool, there’s nothing more comfortable than sleeping on a cooling surface itself. Aside from a breathable mattress, keeping a cool head will help in regulating the temperature of your whole body, resulting in a more revitalising snooze.
Why is Sleeping on a Cold Pillow Important?
Aside from ensuring that your mattress is cool, keeping a cool head during sleep is also vital to maintaining the optimum core temperature to reach a deeper sleep state. As we reach a deeper state of sleep, our bodies begin to release heat until it’s cool enough to rest. As the body releases heat, your mattress and pillow absorb it, causing hot and sweaty sleeping. This can interrupt the body’s transition into deep sleep, which causes discomfort and even sleep deprivation.
Sleeping on a breathable pillow can assist in regulating the temperature of your body as it goes through the sleep cycle.
Why is the Other Side of Your Pillow Cooler?
Research shows that the head releases more heat than other parts of the body. Since most standard pillows are the same temperature as your bedroom, the side that is exposed to your head becomes warmer than the other side. This heat may build up and keep your head hot throughout the night.
While flipping your pillow can give you some comfort, especially during the summer, some pillow materials are not efficient at keeping the surface cool for a longer time. Feather pillows, down pillows, or polyester varieties are comfortable pillow options, but they are known to trap heat, which can hinder you from getting comfortable sleep.
Ways to Keep Your Pillows Cool this Summer
The temperature is already rising in Singapore, indicating that it’s already time to welcome the summer. Aside from exciting activities and vacation plans, summer also means that hot and uncomfy nights are already beginning.
If your nightly rest is disturbed by your hot pillow, here are some tips that you can follow to improve your sleep comfort:
Try a Gel Cooling Pack
A cheap yet effective way to keep your pillow cool and sweat-free.
A gel cooling pack is a convenient and reusable solution that you can place anywhere near your head, neck, under your pillow, or slip into the pillowcase to help yourself stay cool for a longer time. Simply cool your gel packs for several hours before you go to bed, then place them under your pillows when it’s time to rest. The gel can also help in absorbing heat so your head doesn’t have to feel the uncomfortable heat buildup on your sleeping surface. This filling is also guaranteed safe, so you don’t have to worry about your safety when using it in your sleep.
Cover Your Pillow with a Breathable Pillowcase
It’s true that it’s challenging to combat summer heat, especially at night when your body is supposedly in a resting state. Thanks to technology, mattress and bedding manufacturers are able to offer pillowcases with breathable features.
Breathable pillowcases function efficiently in filtering heat that comes from your body to keep your pillow cool while wicking away sweat and moisture that can cause further discomfort.
Cotton, satin, Tencel, or bamboo pillowcases do a good job of ensuring the proper circulation of air within and around the pillow. These materials also wick away moisture that causes further discomfort. This innovative design helps balance the temperature of your sleeping surface and prevents temperature spikes that cause difficulty falling and staying asleep.
Cool Your Pillowcase in the Fridge
If you don’t have a cooling pack to keep you refreshed before sleeping, this trick is worth trying.
Get your clean pillowcase, place it in a ziplock container, and place it in the freezer until it’s cool. This can instantly give your body a refreshing feeling once you’re ready to snooze. This is a more practical option if you don’t have a gel pack or an air conditioner.
Choose a Cooling Pillow
When the temperature rises, it’s crucial to choose the right sleeping surface that can keep you cool and comfortable despite the scorching heat outside.
When shopping for a pillow in Singapore, take a closer look at the materials of the sleeping solution. It’s vital to choose materials that can draw heat away from the body instead of absorbing it, especially if you are a hot sleeper who sweats a lot at night.
Some pillow materials that are known to draw heat are memory foam. This material uses your body heat to soften its structure and follow the natural contour of your head. Because of this, the heat is trapped in the foam and causes you to feel hot during sleep. Many pillow manufacturers solve this drawback by encasing the pillow in cooling fabric or infusing gel materials to regulate the temperature of the pillow.
If you love the contouring feel of memory foam, a good alternative is a shredded memory foam pillow that allows air to pass through its shredded structure. If you are looking for a natural and durable solution for your sleep, a latex pillow is a light, bouncy, and more breathable solution. The open-cell structure of a latex pillow allows fresh air to enter the mattress while hot air is being expelled.
Enjoy a Cosier Sleep with Somnuz
Sleeping during the summer should be comfortable instead of challenging. But since our temperature in Singapore is no joke, it’s crucial to look for ways to prevent heat from interrupting your well-deserved snooze.
From simple tricks to bedroom investments, improving sleep quality is definitely worth the effort.
Looking for cooling sleep solutions in Singapore? Check out our range of breathable mattresses at Somnuz.
DISCLAIMER: All the information, including the texts, images, and other materials on this website, are for educational purposes only. Although we strive to present accurate information to our readers, no material on the Somnuz website is a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of a qualified medical professional concerning your health. NEVER disregard or delay seeking professional medical advice because of something you have read in this article.