Your Guide To Summer Bedding

Cold nights mean snuggling, extra blankets and maybe a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed - but hot nights aren't quite as nice and cosy. How many nights have you spent hot and sweaty, with the fan on and the sheet off - yet you're still unable to get to sleep?

Say goodbye to these hot nights when you choose the right bedding from KOO! The best bedding for summer is made from the right material and will allow you to sleep comfortably through a hot night - with the sheet on. Let us guide you through all the bedding for summer you'll need to keep cool and dry throughout this year's hot nights, as well as a few extra tips and tricks to keep your bedroom cool while you sleep.

Why Do I Need Bedding For Summer?

What's the point of changing your bedding from your usual cosy set-up from winter? Well, unless you are immune to heat or love being as warm as possible overnight you'll know that the materials used to keep you warm in winter can become your worst enemy if you're trying to cool down in summer.

The wrong bedding on a hot night can not only cause you to have trouble sleeping, but also cause you to sweat excessively, leaving you dehydrated when you wake up and leaving your sheets a sopping mess. That means more washing on your part too! In extreme temperatures, it can even be dangerous enough for you to overheat.

So for your water bill and your health, make sure you have the best bedding for summer possible this year!

Best Summer Bedding Materials

When it comes to choosing the best bedding for summer, it mostly comes down to material choice. Some fabric materials are breathable, breezy and wick moisture away - while others will retain moisture and trap air against your body. Make the right choice and sleep easily during summer!

Bamboo bedding

Bamboo is lauded as one of, if not the best cooling bedsheet materials on the market. It has superior breathability, regulates your temperature, is hypoallergenic and antibacterial, and wicks moisture away from your body and into the air to evaporate.

Bamboo bedding is also silky to the touch and very light, making it dream for hot nights! A set of bamboo sheets and a matching pillowcase will go a long way to ensuring the perfect night's sleep for you.

Silk bedding

For five-star hotel levels of luxury, you can't beat silk bedding. Naturally insulating and antibacterial, silk sheets will not strip the oils from your skin and will also keep your hair smooth and hydrated overnight.

Silk is a breathable material, but in some cases pure silk sheets can make you feel hotter than you like. A silk blend, like silk and bamboo or silk and cotton, will actually do a better job of keeping you cool - plus it won't be as expensive either.

Linen bedding

Naturally breathable and moisture-wicking, linen bedding is crisp, durable and brings to mind tropical getaways and beach holiday homes. Linen is fantastic at directing heat away from the body - more so than silk - and helps air circulate around your body better than most other linens. This is because linen is a stiff fabric, and won't drape close to your body like bamboo or silk bedding. Linen will soften as you wash it, but will retain this handy feature for many years with proper care.

Cotton bedding

The most popular fabric material for bedding, cotton is soft, breathable and easy to care for. When it comes to hot nights, look for lower thread count sheets, as this will improve the airflow around your body. The one downside of cotton is it is quite absorbent - it will take the moisture from your body and hold onto it, leaving your sheets damp and heavy after a night of heavy sweating.

Bedding materials to avoid in summer

While natural materials are wonderful for summer, avoid synthetic materials like polyester, fleece, nylon and flannelette. These materials lack the inherent breathability of natural materials and will trap heat against your body. Nice for winter, but terrible for summer!

Polyester and nylon are also water-resistant, which means they will leave sweat on your body overnight and you'll wake up clammy and sticky - if you even get to sleep at all.

Summer Bedding Ideas

When it comes to putting together the perfect bed for summer, there's a lot you need to consider! Pillow type and case, any underlays or mattress toppers, fitted sheet, top sheet and then a duvet or blanket.

Here are some handy summer bedding ideas to help you beat the heat:

If you are a sweaty sleeper

Go heavy on materials with moisture-wicking capabilities to get your sweat off and away from your body.

• Cooling bed pillows are your best friend to keep your head cool on hot nights. These pillows will be filled with a material like gel to draw heat away from your body, with plenty of space inside for airflow. Pair with a bamboo or linen pillowcase if needed.
• If you want some support under your body, look for a wool mattress topper. Wool wicks moisture away from the body as effectively as any plant-based material (how do you think sheep with woolly coats survive those hot summer days?).
• Look for bamboo sheets, both for your fitted and top sheet layers. These sheets will envelop your body in their cool embrace, wicking away any sweat from your body into the night air.

If you HAVE to have a blanket on

Some people really struggle to sleep without something a little more substantial than sheets on top of them, which can make staying cool during summer a little tricky - many duvets and doonas are designed to keep you warm, while many cosy blankets are used for decoration only!. Try any of the following covers:

• A coverlet is a thin, light blanket that covers most of the bed. They are solid enough to give you that sense of comfort from the weight of a thicker blanket, but when made of the right materials, will still keep you cool.
• If you would prefer a quilt, choose one made of wool or bamboo to take advantage of their temperature-regulating properties.

Other Ways To Keep The Bedroom Cool During Summer

While your bedding plays a huge part in how comfortably you sleep on a hot night, there are a few other tips and tricks we can recommend to cool down your whole bedroom during summer.

• Close your curtains and blinds early - sunlight streaming through your windows may look pretty, but it also heats up the room in summer! You can open your curtains or blinds for a few hours early in the day, but once it gets to the afternoon (or even earlier if your windows face the sun), make sure to shut them to prevent heat from building up in your bedroom.
• Cool the room down with air conditioning before you sleep - if you are lucky enough to have air conditioning in your bedroom, use it to cool down your bedroom before you sleep. 10-20 minutes before you jump in should be enough! Either set it to a timer or manually turn it off once you settle down to sleep. Don't be tempted to leave it on unless you really have to, as air conditioning is not only expensive to run all night but can also cause your skin to dry out and for you to become dehydrated.
• Invest in a quality fan - a ceiling fan can be set to spin counterclockwise to any hot air up and away from your body. Portable fans are also useful to move air around the room. Either set it to blow towards yourself, or position your fan to blow near a window to either encourage cool air to come inside or blow the hot air outside. You can also place a tray of ice cubes in front of a fan to create a cool breeze as the ice melts.
• Have a cold shower before getting into bed - night showerers rejoice! Having a cool shower before bed is a great way to cool down your body, wash off sweat and freshen up before bed. Cooling your body down will ensure your bedding stays cooler for longer, plus showering before sleeping also helps extend your bed linen's life between washes, as you aren't bringing the day's sweat and grime into bed with you.
• Pop your pillowcase in the freezer - we all know the cool side of the pillow is a lifesaver on hot nights, but what if you could make your entire pillow cold right away? Simply pop your pillowcase into a ziplock bag, then keep it in the freezer for a few hours before bed! It won't last all night, but it will definitely keep you nice and cool as you drift off to sleep.
• Add a houseplant or two - houseplants look great and contribute to cleaner air in our home, but did you know they can also help cool down your room? Plants have their own form of sweating called 'transpiration' that involves releasing water into the air which then cools down the space around it. Great plants for this include the Chinese Evergreen, Snake Plant or Rubber Plant.

Find Stunning and Functional Summer Bedding At KOO

Armed with the right bedding and a few insider tips, we hope you're now ready to put some of our useful summer bedding ideas to use! You can find all the bedding you need online at KOO, as well as stylish inspiration articles and helpful bedding buying guides to help you create a cool summer-ready room that also looks amazing.