The 10 Best Cooling Mattresses, Tested by Perpetually Sweat-Drenched Editors
No more night sweats
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Picture this: You're exhausted. You crawl into bed, ready to drift off to sleep for a restful eight (or more) hours. But your plans are quickly foiled when you start tossing and turning in a pool of sweat. You’re suddenly making frequent trips to the thermostat to tinker with the AC—all while kicking off the covers and driving your partner insane. Sounds miserable, right? Anyone who suffers from night sweats and hot flashes will recognize this scenario. Yet, if you’re a hot sleeper—and you’ve tried cooling comforters and cooling sheets that never seem to make a difference—you might benefit from investing in a cooling mattress, which uses phase-changing materials that help regulate temperature and reduce night sweats.
Still, I was skeptical: Can cooling mattresses really make a difference for hot sleepers? (After all, it’s a significant splurge compared to a summer blanket and a tower fan.) So, I had our editors test top brands like Saatva, Casper and TEMPUR-Pedic—and consulted an engineering expert from the Georgia Institute of Technology—to help you choose a cooling mattress that will *actually* keep you from waking up in a puddle of sweat.
How We Tested the Best Cooling Mattresses
First, I scoured the web to uncover the cooling mattresses people were raving about. After hours of sifting through product specs and reviews, I vetted each option based on what cooling materials they used—including gel- or graphite-infused memory foam, latex or wool—how thick they were, what type of sleeper they’re best for (side, back or stomach) and whether they had a 30-plus-day return policy. I cross-referenced that with the guidance I received from materials engineer Lakshmi Prerana Panchumarti—who has studied and prototyped cooling mattresses—to ensure I was on the right track. (You’ll find more of her insights at the bottom of this story, BTW.)
From there, I narrowed the list to our top contenders and asked PureWow editors to help me test and review each one. During testing, we focused on breathability, moisture-wicking properties and heat dissipation to develop our list of the nine best cooling mattresses.
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Meet The Expert
Lakshmi Prerana Panchumarti graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2022 with a BS in Material Science and Engineering, and she’s currently a materials science engineer at Boeing. In college, she (and five engineering students) designed a capstone project, sponsored by Serta Simmons Bedding, to develop a cooling mattress that would reduce sweat and heat while improving airflow. Her team received the top prize, where they effectively prototyped a mattress with cooling capabilities, backed by rigorous lab testing.
What to Look For in a Cooling Mattress
- Airflow From The Surface: First and foremost, it's important to understand how different mattresses are made—and that most of the cooling effects come from the top comfort layer of the mattress. According to Panchumarti, innerspring mattresses are the coolest because there’s enough space between the coils for air to flow freely. Contrastingly, foam mattresses—especially memory foam—tend to be the hottest (they trap heat and don’t let air pass through). “The challenge for the bedding industry is to make foam and hybrid mattresses more breathable,” she explains. While memory foam is ultra-supportive, it acts like an insulator, keeping heat in. To make a memory foam mattress cool, however, you need to “infuse the foam with materials like graphite, which helps spread heat out and away from your body, keeping you cooler longer.”
- Moisture-Wicking Fabrics: If you’re someone who suffers from night sweats, it’s often due to your mattress heating up to your body temperature (and trapping humidity between you and the bed). This makes the air under the sheets feel hot, and in turn, sticky from sweat. “Memory foam mattresses compress and become dense, which restricts airflow. This lack of airflow makes it harder for heat and moisture to escape.” Per Panchumarti, however, “using fabrics that wick moisture away from your body is key.” Tencel fabric, more specifically, is great for this. It’s a bamboo-derived fiber that was tested against cotton and rayon blends in her study—and showed much better performance in moisture-wicking and drying time. “Tencel performed significantly better than cotton [and rayon] at mitigating humidity… it dried much faster, meaning less humidity buildup, which helps [reduce sweating].” Panchumarti and her team also found that tencel retained less moisture compared to rayon and cotton, which means it can effectively wick sweat away from the skin.
- Heat-Dissipating Materials: Keeping your body cool while you sleep is all about how well your mattress can absorb and dissipate heat. In Panchumarti’s study, “latex showed the best heat absorption. This means it can pull heat away from your body effectively, providing a cooler sleep surface.” It’s also worth mentioning that foam mattresses infused with graphite showed higher heat absorption. (Though, latex is still better at dissipating heat than graphite foam). Graphite-infused memory foam outperformed traditional foams, where it spreads heat away from your body much faster than foam alone.
- Firmness: Some brands offer a one-size-fits-all firmness level, while others feature a numbered scale or a straightforward soft, medium and firm option. Typically, a medium-soft firmness feel is considered the most universally comfortable option—but remember; firmness is highly subjective (what feels rock solid to you might feel like a fluffy cloud to someone else).
- Height: While standard mattresses tend to fall between 8 and 14 inches high (according to experts at Amerisleep), you want to make sure you choose a thickness that’ll accommodate your sleeping style. A plush, contoured foam might be best for side sleepers, but a 2021 review suggests that a medium-firm feel can help reduce lower back pain. Plus, a thicker mattress can provide more support, especially for heavyweight people, and can help alleviate pressure point pain on the hips and shoulders. The only downside to a denser mattress is that the thicker they are, the hotter they can feel.
Sydney Meister
Associate Editor
- Writes across all lifestyle verticals, including relationships and sex, home, finance, fashion and beauty
- More than five years of experience in editorial, including podcast production and on-camera coverage
- Holds a dual degree in communications and media law and policy from Indiana University, Bloomington
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