Going to bed is never a problem, snuggling into a bunch of soft cuddly sheets and blankets always eases you into sleep because, unless it’s a million degrees at night, you usually start your bedtime off cold…that’s until you wake up halfway through the night sticky inside your own self-made bed sweat lodge. The market is saturated with sweat smart technology products to combat the demise of our sticky, sleepless nights, but the problem is how do you choose the perfect sheets?
It’s easy to get lost in the thick of the internet, there are just so many options to choose! Search for sweat-free sheets, and you come across fancy things like “cool technology” and “sweat heat resistant” and you’re stuck with how to decipher all of the options.
Unlike heated materials which have a coil system inside of them, cooling fabrics do one of two things: temperature balancing or temperature abatement. Temperature balancing fabrics are made from a special type of polymer (plastic) coating that, when exposed to moisture or heat, evaporates the wetness away from the fabric and subsequently your body. Rather than having a coating on the outside of the fabric, temperature abatement textiles are actually made with yarn that has a special conductive polyethylene. It’s certainly a mouth full of wordy chemistry jargon, but it simply means that the abatement fabric, even in normal or warm temperatures, feels cool to the touch.
Despite breakthrough advances in sheets, it’s hard to find which brands have the technologies they say they have and how accurate company’s or reviews are purported to be. Additionally, these cooling sheets, which have a microfiber texture, are prone to piling after several washes.
So if you’re wavering on taking the leap to cool technology, nature also harbors a natural solution – wool bedding. Wool for cooling? Yes. We all know wool is the go-to fabric for chilly winter months, but it is also great for the warmer seasons. Unless it is completely soaking wet (and I mean soaking wet), wool is cool to the touch because, like these newer fabrics, wool also wicks the heat and moisture away from the body. Though there don’t seem to be one hundred percent pure wool bed sheets, there are an array of wool mattress toppers and blankets, paired with a sturdy set of real linen sheets, you’ll have a set of bedding that not only makes sleep easy, but also lasts decades.
If you’re still wavering between modern technologies or the tried and true classic beddings, look up the upfront cost and understand when you’ll have to replace the sheets. The newer technologies are a little more delicate and not so thick so they may not withstand a rough cycle in the wash or a long time hanging on the clothesline. So despite how much we want to be futuristic, the classic sheets in your grandmother’s linen closet are still your best bet!