If you sleep hot, choose a pocket spring mattress with a breathable cover and a cooler-feeling comfort layer, such as gel memory foam. Air moves through springs more freely than through solid foam, and gel memory foam is designed to feel cooler than the standard kind. Your pillow, protector and sheets matter too.
- If you sink in and wake hot: a firmer feel surrounds you less, like the Medium-Firm (6/10) Cool Night Gel Memory Foam Mattress.
- If your pillow feels warm: try the Mellow Pillow Memory Foam Cooling Gel Pillow, with gel across its whole front face, or the machine-washable Bamboo Cooling Pillow.
- If you need a waterproof protector: choose fabric over the waterproof layer, like the cotton terry Waterproof Mattress Protector, not a single plastic-backed sheet.
In this guide
Why does a bed feel hot?
Your body gives off heat all night, and a bed works a little like insulation: the more material wraps around you and the less air moves through it, the more heat stays where you lie. Four things usually cause it.
- Sinking in. On a very soft surface you sink further, so more of the mattress surrounds you. That is why a plush bed can feel warmer than a firmer one.
- Solid foam underneath. Foam holds warmth where it is, while a spring core leaves space for air. Memory foam's hot reputation comes mostly from all-foam beds. Both memory foam mattresses in this guide sit on pocket springs, and our memory foam mattress range explains what that changes.
- Layers that don't breathe. A plastic-feel protector, polyester sheets or a heavy doona can hold warmth and moisture against you.
- A warm, still, humid room. Humid air dries moisture off you and the bed more slowly, so everything feels clammy.
The mattress is the biggest change you can make, but the pillow, protector and sheets sit closest to you and are quicker to change.
Pieces in this guide
What makes a mattress sleep cooler?
No single feature makes a mattress cool. A few construction choices each help a little, and they add up.
| Feature | What it does | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Pocket spring core | Leaves space for air, unlike a solid slab of foam | Every mattress in this guide |
| Gel memory foam top | Designed to feel cooler than standard memory foam | Cool Night and Chill Sleep |
| Cool-touch cover | A cover fabric made to feel cool to the touch | Sleep Zen |
| Temperature-regulating layer | KülKōte technology with an Airwave quilt | SleepMaker Performance Plus |
| A firmer feel | You sink in less, so less of the mattress surrounds you | Firm and extra-firm models |
Start with the springs. A pocket spring core has space around every spring, so air can move through it, while foam is denser and holds more warmth. That makes our pocket spring mattress range the natural place to start, whatever comfort layer sits on top. Our guide to pocket spring, Bonnell and foam mattresses explains how the layers fit together.
Then the cover, the layer you touch. The Sleep Zen Pocket Spring Mattress has a white cool-touch (ice-silk) cover over a quilted top of polyester fibre and comfort foam, and its pocket springs sit inside a high-density foam border for supportive edges.
Then any extra cooling layers. Some SleepMaker mattresses add KülKōte. The SleepMaker Performance Plus Mattress (Medium) lists an Airwave quilt "with advanced breathability for cooler sleep", KülKōte temperature regulation technology and TitaniumGel foam, infused with titanium and gel, over individually wrapped pocket springs. It is made in Australia.
Is gel memory foam cooler than memory foam?
At the surface, yes, and that is the honest limit of it. Gel-infused memory foam is designed to feel cooler than standard memory foam. As the Cool Night's product page puts it, how cool any mattress feels also depends on your bedding, room temperature and body, so treat it as a cooler-feeling surface rather than active cooling.
What sits under the gel matters as much. The Cool Night Gel Memory Foam Mattress and the Chill Sleep Gel Memory Foam Mattress both put a 2 cm gel memory foam layer over pocket springs, and both pages list "You sleep warm" among the reasons to choose them. They differ in how much foam sits over the springs, and how soft the top feels.
| Feature | Cool Night | Chill Sleep |
|---|---|---|
| Feel on its product page | Medium-Firm, 6/10 | Soft, 4/10 |
| Foam over the springs | 1 cm comfort, 2 cm gel memory and 2 cm support foam: 5 cm in all | 3 cm comfort, 2 cm gel memory and 5 cm support foam: 10 cm in all |
| Pocket spring core | 23 cm, 2.2 mm gauge | 24 cm, 1.9 mm gauge |
| Total height | 28 cm | 34 cm |
| Its page says it suits | Back and combination sleepers | Side sleepers and couples |
If you run very warm and don't need a soft top, the Cool Night has half as much foam over its springs. If you sleep on your side and want more cushioning at the shoulders and hips, the Chill Sleep is the softer choice. Let feel decide first: our guide to mattress firmness by sleeping position walks through it.
Cooling pillows and protectors
Pillows: a gel pad or a bamboo-blend fibre fill
The Mellow Pillow Memory Foam Cooling Gel Pillow has a gel pad across its full front face, over a slow-rebound memory foam core. Gel conducts heat away from the surface faster than foam alone, so the pillow feels cooler when you first lie down and when you move to a fresh spot, and its page is frank that this is a surface feel, not air conditioning. At 60 × 40 × 12 cm, its profile generally suits side sleepers, and like any memory foam pillow it never goes in the washing machine.
The Bamboo Cooling Pillow has no foam at all: a 30% bamboo and 70% polyester fill under a bamboo and microfibre blend cover. A blended fibre fill breathes more freely than a solid foam core, and its page suggests it as the straightforward alternative if you run warm and have found memory foam stifling. The whole pillow is machine washable, it is the standard 48 × 73 cm size, and it is made in Australia.
Both are in our pillow range: the gel pillow for height and a foam feel that settles into your shape, the bamboo pillow if you want to machine wash the whole thing.
Protectors: fabric on top, waterproofing underneath
Keep using a protector if you sleep hot. It takes the sweat and spills before they reach the mattress, and it goes in the washing machine, which a mattress never can. A single plastic-backed layer is where the rustling and the hot, clammy feel come from, so look for fabric on top and waterproofing underneath.
The Waterproof Mattress Protector is Australian-made, with a cotton terry pile over a PU (polyurethane) coating. Its page says the terry breathes and lets air circulate, so the bed stays cooler than it would under a plastic-feel protector. The Mellow Pillow Bamboo Waterproof Mattress Protector has a bamboo surface over a waterproof backing, and the manufacturer states it is a noiseless design. The terry one takes mattresses up to 35 cm deep on most sizes and the bamboo one up to 40 cm, so either fits both gel mattresses above. Wash them on a gentle cycle and keep high heat off the waterproof side. Both are in our bedding range.
How to sleep cooler in summer
These habits help on hot, humid nights, and none of them needs a new mattress.
- Choose breathable sheets. Cotton, linen and bamboo sheets usually breathe better than polyester.
- Go lighter on top. Swap the doona for a light quilt or a flat sheet on the hottest nights.
- Shade the room by day. Close the blinds on the sunny side in the afternoon, then open windows on opposite sides once it cools, so air can cross the room.
- Keep the air moving. A ceiling or pedestal fan aimed across the bed carries warmth away from you and the mattress.
- Air the bed each morning. Turn the covers back for an hour. The care notes on our mattress pages say the same: let it breathe, and keep the room well ventilated.
- Skip the thick foam topper. It adds another layer of foam between you and the springs.
If you are replacing the mattress, lie on the ones you are comparing in your usual sleeping position. Our five showrooms are in Rocklea, Virginia, North Ipswich, Bundall and Beenleigh; ask which store has the mattress you want on display before you visit.
Hot sleeper questions
What is the best mattress for hot sleepers?
There isn't one that suits every hot sleeper, because feel matters as much as materials. Look for a pocket spring core, a breathable cover and a cooler-feeling comfort layer such as gel memory foam, then pick the firmness that suits how you sleep. In our range, the Cool Night (Medium-Firm) and the Chill Sleep (Soft) both put gel memory foam over pocket springs.
What is a cooling mattress?
It is a mattress built to feel cooler than a standard one, usually through an open spring core, breathable cover fabrics and a cooler-feeling comfort layer such as gel memory foam. Some add a temperature-regulating layer, such as SleepMaker's KülKōte. A cooling mattress changes how the surface feels. It does not cool the room.
Is a firm or soft mattress better for hot sleepers?
A firmer mattress often feels a little cooler, because you sink in less, so less of it surrounds you. Choose the firmness that suits how you sleep first, then look for cooler materials within that feel. The soft Chill Sleep, for example, still has a gel memory foam top over pocket springs.
Do cooling pillows actually work?
They change how the pillow feels, not the temperature of the room. A gel pad conducts heat away from the surface faster than foam alone, so it feels cooler when you first lie down and when you move to a fresh spot. A bamboo-blend fibre fill breathes more freely than a solid foam core.
Is bamboo good for hot sleepers?
Bamboo fibre is soft and breathable, but it does not hold its shape well on its own. That is why the fill of our Bamboo Cooling Pillow is 30% bamboo and 70% polyester, and its page suggests it for warm sleepers. The Mellow Pillow Bamboo Waterproof Mattress Protector puts a bamboo surface over a waterproof backing.