There’s nothing worse than lying awake on a warm summer’s night, sweltering hot despite the fact that you’ve got the windows wide open and the fan right next to your head.
While a memory foam mattress is ultra comfortable, it is has a habit of retaining your body heat, which, unfortunately, when you’re already sweating buckets under the duvet, doesn’t do anything to help cool you down.
- Buy the right cover for the season with our list of the best duvets
- Complete the comfort with our list of the best pillows
- How's that going? Find out with the best sleep trackers
Fortunately, the mattress market has taken note, and now there’s a huge array of cooling pads or cooling toppers that work to regulate the temperature of your bed for optimum sleeping conditions.
The best mattress cooling pads, such as our top pick the from Dunelm Mill,use cooling gel to dissipate heat, rather than retain it, and still provide you with the support you need from a mattress.
Other than that, you’ll need consider the thickness of your cooling pad – you don’t want a princess and the pea effect going on in your bed, but you don’t want to compromise on comfort, either. Also consider firmness – the firmer it is, the more cooling it will be.
1. Dunelm Gel Fusion Memory Foam Mattress Topper
Combining comfort with cooling properties, this topper is a great all-rounder
Reasons to buy
Investing in mattress cooling pad can be more cost-effective than purchasing a brand new mattress. If you like the idea of memory foam but you’re apprehensive about the heat factor, this gel fusion mattress is a great compromise.
The gel particles absorb and disperse body heat while the tiny air holes in the topper increase airflow and breathability to ensure you remain cool and comfortable on even the hottest nights.
2. Gel'O Cool Mat Gel Topper
For those with perfectly comfortable mattresses
Reasons to buy
Thin in comparison to our first pick, this gel pad is the perfect topper if you don’t want to override the comfort level of your existing mattress. The gel works to disperse the heat away from your body. It doesn’t retain heat in one spot, but redistributes it, so it should keep you cool all night. Doubling up as an ice pad for the injured and a heat pad for the cold, this is an incredibly versatile buy.
3. Gelify Orthopaedic Super King
A cooling, supportive mattress topper for aches and pains and warm summer nights
Reasons to buy
It may not be as attractive as our first pick but if you’re looking for all the support and coolness that a gel mattress can give you without the hefty price tag, this orthopaedic one from Gelify should do the trick nicely. In addition to contouring to your body shape, it retains less heat so its not radiating your own body heat back to you, keeping you cool and comfortable all year round.
4. Silentnight Cooler Summer Mattress Topper
An alternative to gel, this microfibre mattress topper ensures heat and humidity escape for a cool night’s sleep
Reasons to buy
Not everyone gets on with the idea of gel, so it’s worth looking at this microfibre offering from Silentnight. This cooling pad or mattress topper won’t offer the same level of support as thick gel but it will provide that additional layer of comfort with coolness in mind, thanks to its breathability. If you do happen to get a bit sweaty one night, you can stick this mattress topper in the washing machine; all in all, a great way to a fresh bed all summer.
5. Lifemax Cool Gel Pillow Pad
Love the cool side of the pillow feeling? You’ll love this then
Reasons to buy
There’s nothing better than the cool side of the pillow on a warm night but when it’s so warm there’s just no cool side anymore, at least you have this gel pillow cooling pad to rely on. Simply place it under your pillow case and the gel will disperse your body heat to ensure your head remains cool and dry. Apparently, it’s also pretty good to use when you’re suffering with a headache or a sunburned forehead!
