Best cooling bedding UK 2023

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The best linen and cotton bedding to buy for summer

Breathable bedding is important for a good night’s sleep all year round, especially if you tend to run hot at night. But come summer, it becomes a must-have if you want to keep your cool and minimise any heat-induced tossing and turning.

Choose the right fibres (we break down the best below), and you can notably improve the air flow in your bed. This should help regulate your body temperature and give you a better-quality night’s sleep.

So, our experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute enlisted a panel of hot sleepers to put bedding that claims to be breathable or cooling to the test. After a month of curling up with them (and some testing in the lab, too) we've found the best buys for when a heatwave or night sweats strike.

What are the optimum temperatures and conditions for the perfect night’s rest? Lisa Artis, Deputy CEO of The Sleep Charity, explains: “An ideal bedroom temperature should be around 16-18°C, as higher temperatures make it difficult to fall asleep.

“Your body temperature needs to dip slightly before you go to sleep, which is why you may struggle to drop off when you’re too hot. It’s important to cool both your body and the bedroom.”

When it comes to your bed, Lisa says that “comfort is a major factor in getting a good night’s sleep,” so you need to ensure every element (from support to breathability) works for you. She adds: “If you’re not comfortable in bed – because you’re too hot or too cold – your sleep won’t be as deep, you’ll move about more and will wake up feeling tired and unrefreshed.”

If you’re regularly overheating at night, it’s worth looking at your mattress (note that memory foam is notoriously warm) and making sure you have the right summer duvet. Simply using a cotton sheet may also help, as can investing in a good, quiet fan and putting ice in front of it to circulate cooler air.

Lisa says wearing cotton nightwear can also make a difference. “It’s breathable and stays comfortably cool against skin,” she explains. “This is better than wearing nothing at all as natural fabrics will absorb perspiration.”

Other simple changes she suggests include opening windows and doors to create a draught, tying up long hair so that it’s away from your neck, having a cool shower before bed to lower your body temperature and drinking cold water during the evening.

“Avoid too much caffeine, alcohol or a big meal before bed,” she adds. “They can all make you feel hot and steamy in the middle of the night through dehydration and over-active digestion.”

Finally, fridges are your friends – Lisa advises popping a pillowcase in the fridge and taking it out just before you go to bed, or doing the same with a pair of socks. “Cooling your feet lowers the overall temperature of your skin and body,” she says. Filling a hot water bottle with ice cold water and taking it to bed with you is another handy trick.

Many of the breathable bedding sets below are an investment, so it’s important to make sure the one you buy ticks all your boxes.

Some considerations are obvious – do the sheets match your décor, for example – but think about extra design features too. Take buttons, for example – some can be fiddly, so you may want larger ones that make it easier to close your duvet cover. Alternatively, some duvet covers we tested fasten with ties, which may be more to your taste.

Before you buy, make sure that the set will fit your mattress, and that it contains everything you need. Some sets include a duvet cover, two pillowcases and a sheet, while others don’t come with sheets. This may be helpful if you prefer a flat sheet over a fitted one (or vice versa). But note that if you’re buying a sheet separately, it's important to ensure it’s also breathable so it doesn’t counteract the benefits of your duvet and pillow covers.

Check the care instructions, too – ideally you want a set that’s reliably machine washable and suits your drying and ironing preferences.

Natural fibres are generally more breathable at night, which is why you’ll find a lot of linen and cotton sets on our list. This is because their fibres allow air to circulate, keeping you cooler while sleeping. Both can crease though, so you may need to iron them if you don’t like the lived-in look.

We’ve also featured a eucalyptus silk set below from the brand, Ethical Bedding. Derived from eucalyptus bark, the breathable fabric is luxuriously soft and moisture-wicking, which makes it a trusty pick for sweaty nights. Bamboo and Tencel bedding sets also have similar properties (although we don’t currently have any on our list below).

Crucially, if you run hot at night, you should avoid polyester bedding because it can trap heat, raising the temperature of your bed further.

To find the best linen, cotton and silk bedding, we enlisted a panel of hot sleepers to help us put them through their paces. Everyone trialled a duvet cover, and those who received sets that included pillow cases and sheets also tested them. They slept between the sheets for at least four weeks, and then shared their verdicts with us via a detailed survey covering everything from their design to whether they found them breathable at night.

At the GHI, we collated the results and conducted our own wash tests. Taking the duvet cover from each set, we washed it multiple times, measuring it before and after to check for any shrinkage. Using specialist tech, each cover was also examined for any fading.

Taking all this into account, these are the best bedding sets for those warm summer months.

All prices are for a double set. Where items are sold individually, we’ve listed the price for the duvet cover.

Score: 93/100

Soft, smooth and breathable, this 100% linen set was a big hit with our panel. All testers reported steady body temperatures while sleeping and enjoyed a great night’s rest thanks to their new sheets.

Making the bed was easy, as everything fitted snuggly and hidden buttons closed the duvet cover neatly. It held its shape well in our wash tests, but as is the way with linen, it creased a lot. Testers struggled to iron it fully, but that’s not an issue if you love the relaxed linen look.

Score: 92/100

This is another premium linen bedding set that kept our panel comfortably cool at night. The high quality design fitted beds perfectly, but the ties that secure the duvet cover weren’t to everyone’s taste.

It emerged pristine from the washing machine though, with secure stitching and no shrinkage. One to buy if you’re looking to bring a touch of countryside chic to your bedroom.

Score: 91/100

Earning full marks for its timeless design, testers found making their beds effortless with this linen set. It washed well too, thanks to secure seams that gave it a durable feel, and there was no shrinkage either. It even dried quickly.

The linen creased notably, but our panel described it as “lightweight and airy” at night. While an investment, all of Piglet In Bed’s bedding is available individually and in countless colour ways (sets available here), so you can mix and match to suit your space. It’s ideal for budding interior designers and hot sleepers alike.

Score: 89/100

If you prefer cotton bedding over linen, then this is our top pick. Bringing hotel luxury to your bedroom, the soft fabric provided what one tester described as “a fantastic sleep”. It was also declared outstandingly cooling, which some of our panel loved, while others found themselves a bit too chilly.

So, whether this will suit you year-round depends on just how hot you get at night. But it’s undoubtedly a great set for balmy weather. It fitted neatly and washed well (if emerging a tad creased). However, the buttons were a little bit fiddly.

Score: 88/100

This is great value buy for summer nights. Testers described the pure cotton design as light and comfortable, leaving them feeling cool and refreshed in the morning. The smooth fabric was soft against the skin, but it did mean the duvet slid around a little inside the cover. Again, the buttons were fiddly to fasten.

In our lab, the set proved reliable in the wash, and you have a choice of four classic colours. You will need to invest in a cotton sheet separately, but given its price, this set held up impressively when compared to its more expensive counterparts.

Score: 86/100

Sitting in between Silentnight and Dusk when it comes to price, this cotton bedding has a 200 thread count and is coated in a special ‘Smart Temp’ technology that’s meant to adapt to your body temperature throughout the night to keep you cool. It was certainly a hit with our testers, who told us they felt notably cooler in bed, even particularly hot sleepers.

You’ll need to buy your pillow, duvet cover and sheet separately as they’re not available in a set. But making the bed was easy – the buttons on the duvet cover were nicely sized with large holes that made them easy to fasten. It’s not the softest fabric we tested, but it’s still a cosy and breathable buy.

Score: 86/100

At little over £100, this is about as affordable as a linen duvet set comes. It doesn’t include a bed sheet, but our testers found the fabric comfortable against their skin and the duvet cover has a large opening and sizeable, secure buttons, so making the bed was simple.

It washed well too, but the linen is on the thicker side, meaning our panel was split over its breathability; it was temperature-regulating for some (with one reporting no night sweats during testing) but not for others. It may not be one for record-breaking temperatures, but otherwise, it’s a steal.

Score: 85/100

This slinky set is made entirely of naturally moisture-wicking eucalyptus silk, making it well suited to night sweats and summer heatwaves. It impressed in the cooling stakes with testers too. They praised its soft, lightweight and breathable feel. What’s more, they were pleasantly surprised with how secure the bedding was given the silky fabric – there’s no contending with sliding duvets here.

The buttons were also easy to use, and, handily, each item comes in its own drawstring bag, meaning winter storage is sorted if the bedding proves too cooling for sub-zero temperatures. Our lab tests detected some fading after washing, but it wasn’t noticeable to the naked eye, and this niggle aside, it maintained its premium quality.

Hannah is our senior homes writer, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys. Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah helps to uncover the best cleaning hacks too, with a focus on easy, natural solutions. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more. Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe. You can find Hannah on Instagram on @sewnbyhan

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Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.

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