May 23, 2024 9:00 AM

The Best Cooling Mattresses for Hot Sleepers

Nothing ruins a great night of sleep faster than getting too hot. I slept on several cooling mattresses to find which ones sapped the heat away best.

It happens to the best of us: You wake up in the middle of the night, clammy and swimming in sweat. You’re not alone. Waking up sweaty and hot can be caused by several factors, like sleeping conditions, stress, excessive blankets, the wrong pajamas, and even eating spicy foods before bed. Hot nights can also equate to sleepless nights. According to a study from the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, heat exposure increases wakefulness and decreases time spent in deep sleep and REM sleep.

If you’re a hot sleeper shopping for a mattress, consider one built to help regulate your body temperature. Cooling mattresses are consciously made of materials that decrease your body temperature by optimizing airflow and drawing heat away from your body as you sleep. A cooling mattress can make all the difference in avoiding overheating and getting a restful night’s sleep. Over the past few months, I’ve slept on several cooling mattresses—a week each in my home—to determine which works as advertised. These are the best cooling mattresses I've tested.

Be sure to read our other sleep guides, including the Best Mattresses, Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, Best Organic Mattresses, Best Bed Sheets, Best Bed Frames, and Best Sleep Trackers.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get WIRED for just $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com, full Gear coverage, and subscriber-only newsletters. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED

Photograph: Mattress Firm
Best Cooling Mattress Overall
Purple Restore Cool Touch
My husband is a hot sleeper who will never go without a blanket no matter how hot he gets. The Purple Restore Cool Touch mattress, an exclusive sold only at Mattress Firm, was a game changer and stood out from all the other mattresses we tested. It's the best cooling mattress on the market, providing an unmatched sleep experience that is both cool and comfy.
This 11.5-inch hybrid mattress offers excellent pressure relief and cushioning thanks to Purple’s distinctive GelFlex layer. This rubbery grid beneath the mattress surface has just the right amount of bounce—making it supportive and easy to get out of bed in the morning—but also gives you motion isolation that will help you avoid waking your sleeping partner. In my testing, I also found that the springy gel layer enhances the overall coolness of the bed, offering a refreshing sleep environment, especially when compared to foam-top mattresses that are more likely to trap body heat.
Beneath the GelFlex grid lies a dense and supportive polyfoam and pocketed cooling coils. But the true star of the show covers the mattress’s interior: a lightweight yarn-woven mattress cover, which remains noticeably chilly to the touch all night long. It comes with a 120-night sleep trial so if you still get night sweats or don’t like the feel of the distinctive grid, you can return it.
$2,045 at Mattress Firm
Photograph: Leesa
Best Medium-Firm Cooling Mattress
Leesa Legend Chill Hybrid
I usually gravitate toward plush mattresses. I love a little give in my bed, which works best with my petite frame. Nevertheless, my sleep experience on the Leesa Legend Hybrid Chill mattress—marketed as a medium-firm feel—pleasantly surprised me. From my plush-loving perspective, it leans on the firmer side, with the gel-infused foam successfully working its magic and allowing for freedom of movement while the underside coils provide a hint of bounce.
The Legend Chill not only delivered on support but also had superb cooling qualities, so much so that I found I was significantly less restless at night and fell asleep almost the moment my head hit the pillow. The mattress’ quilted top layer feels ultra-luxe and is cool on contact. The breathable phase-change fibers draw heat away from the body and release it when your body is cooler to regulate temperature. The airiness is prevalent throughout the bed—right down to the coils, resulting in a deep sleep without sweat. I just might have converted to the medium-firm camp.
$1,959 at Leesa

Photograph: Jeremey Theron Kirby
Best Firm Cooling Mattress
Sealy Cocoon Chill Memory Foam
As soon as Sealy’s Cocoon Chill Memory Foam mattress is freed from its plastic wrapping, its surface is noticeably cool to the touch thanks to its exclusive Phase Change Material, which works wonders at drawing and storing the body's heat, and releasing them when your body is cool. The mattress is relatively low-profile as it sits in a bed frame, measuring 10 inches thick, placing it at the lower end of typical mattress thickness.
This all-foam mattress leans firm, making it well suited for back and stomach sleepers. If you are a side sleeper looking for more body contouring, I’d suggest looking elsewhere. If you are a stomach sleeper looking for a firm mattress that’s also cooling, this one will do the trick. There was almost no motion transfer in my testing, allowing my husband and I to get up at different times without disturbing each other. With a queen size costing less than $1,000, it’s also a great value for anyone prizing a sweat-free slumber.
$899 at Sealy
Photograph: Nectar
Best Soft Cooling Mattress
Nectar Sleep Premier Copper
If you’re a smaller person who likes some give in their mattress or a dedicated side sleeper who wants a cooling mattress on the softer side, consider the Nectar Premier Copper. It’s 14 inches thick, with a gel memory foam top layer that offers lots of cradling without the associated heat retention. WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar is a bigger guy and sunk in too deep for his liking, while his 90-pound daughter floated comfortably on top. No matter how deep he sunk, he never got too hot—that’s thanks to the infused copper fibers that wick away heat along with what Nectar calls an “ActiveCool HD-infused phase change material” in the gel layer.
$1,249 at Nectar Sleep

Photograph: Jeremey Theron Kirby
Best Cooling Mattress for Couples
Bedgear Split Head M3 Mattress
The modular Bedgear Split Head M3 mattress is like a perfectly crafted puzzle. When ordering an M3, you and your sleeping partner don’t have to compromise on cushioning—you can each choose from four levels of firmness for each side of the bed. Adding to this personal touch is the bed’s split head, particularly advantageous when coupled with Bedgear’s adjustable base. (Although not mandatory to use with the mattress, the base is jam-packed with bed-of-the-future features like motion-sensing LEDs, built-in Bluetooth speakers, and massagers.)
As if all the bells and whistles weren’t enough, the M3’s cooling technology is extremely well thought out, right down to the mattress core. Perforated individually wrapped coils allow for increased air circulation, and the silky patented Ver-Tex cooling cover is equipped with air-ventilated panels, providing a refreshing, sweat-free slumber without sacrificing coziness. Plus, the cover is easy to zip on and off the mattress, making it easy to remove for laundry time.
$2,099 at Bedgear

BedJet
Other Cooling Options
There are a ton of mattresses on the market that claim to have cooling benefits. Here are a few others I've tested and liked, but not as much as the options above.
Casper Snow Hybrid for $1,745: When you come across a mattress with a name that includes “snow,” your expectations for cooling effects are naturally high—and this mattress indeed lives up to that expectation. With a medium feel, the Casper Snow Hybrid incorporates a cooling material alongside three patented HeatDelete bands, engineered to “act as thermal highways and effectively dissipate heat,” according to Casper. The patented Snow Cover is cool, and I consistently woke up sweat-free when testing this bed. Structurally, this hybrid bed combines poly foam, memory foam, and pocketed coils, and provides targeted support at the hips, waist, and lower back to alleviate pressure, making it ideal for back and stomach sleepers. Keep in mind that upon unboxing, this mattress may need some time to chill (pun intended). I noticed it came out of the box slightly misshapen from its packaging and emitted a faint plasticky scent. After about two days, the mattress was ready to go, the smell gone, and settled into its intended neat rectangle shape.
Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid for $1,595: The Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid is marketed as firm, and that's exactly what you should expect. Crafted with patented AirCradle memory foam, the mattress features concentrated cushioning in the center, strategically intended to support your lower back. Since I’m only 5'2", the middle-back cushioning didn’t hit where it intended to. Despite its firmness, I didn't find this mattress particularly exceptional, especially with its cooling properties. Despite incorporating a triple-phase LuxeCool system and cooling gel-infused memory foam, the cooling effect didn't stand out.
BedJet 3 for $429: I haven't tested the BedJet myself yet, but WIRED reviewer Christopher Null did and liked it a lot (8/10, WIRED Recommends). This device uses a large blower under your bed to blast hot or cool air beneath your covers. If you like your existing mattress but find yourself sleeping hot, this could be just the ticket.
Photograph: Amazon
What to Look for in a Cooling Mattress
When shopping for a cooling mattress, here are a few things to consider:
Composition: Opt for mattress materials designed to promote airflow, which will help prevent heat buildup. Many mattresses are infused with gel or copper, which are designed to dissipate heat and keep you cool. Hybrid mattresses tend to retain less heat than all-foam mattresses because they have a layer or two of springs to help dissipate heat.
Cover Fabric: Consider mattresses with covers made from moisture-wicking fabrics and phase-change fibers to draw sweat away from the body. Breathable fabrics include bamboo, Tencel Lyocell, and synthetic fabrics, which are engineered to help regulate body temperature. Perforated cooling covers further amplify airflow between your body and the fabric. We find quilted tops help too, since they have ridges and valleys that allow air to escape.
Airflow: With proper airflow, the heat you generate overnight is properly conducted through the mattress. Hybrid mattresses with individual coils help with this, but many mattresses marketed for their cooling benefits have other tricks.
Firmness: While the debate of soft versus firm mattresses is a personal preference, your choice can play a crucial role in the way your body traps heat. Softer mattresses tend to envelop your body, leading to increased heat retention as your body sinks into the surface. Conversely, firmer mattresses provide better support and allow for more air circulation around your body.

Nicole Kinning is a contributor at WIRED, and focuses on testing mattresses and other home goods. Nicole has previously been on staff at Kansas City magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, and Hometalk. She's rooted in Kansas City, and when she's not clacking away at a keyboard, she enjoys brewery-hopping and thrifting.

Contributor

TopicsShopping buying guides home mattresses Sleep Bedroom

The Best Mattresses You Can Buy Online

We’ve spent years testing dozens of bed-in-a-box hybrid, foam, innerspring, and certified organic mattresses.

Martin Cizmar

The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers

The stats say most people prefer to snooze on their sides. If that’s you, then you might want to check out these WIRED-tested beds.

Martin Cizmar

Our Favorite Pillows for a Restful Night’s Sleep

We spent months sleeping on various pillows to find the right support for your noggin whether you snooze on your side, back, or in a tangle of blankets.

Eric Ravenscraft