If you struggle to sleep because you’re too hot or toss and turn through the night, flipping your pillow trying to find the cool spots, a cooling pillow could be for you. They’re designed to either actively cool you down in bed or, more commonly, to stop you overheating as you sleep. We tested a range of products to find the best cooling pillow, from those that rely on the material of the fillings or covers to regulate your body temperature to cooling gel pillows that are cold to the touch.
“Some pillows (especially ones filled with feather down or solid memory foam) can trap heat, meaning the sleeper may overheat during the night and wake up because they’re too hot,” says Dr Lindsay Browning, psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep expert for And So To Bed. “Cooling pillows or pillow covers may help you regulate your temperature and stay cooler during the night, potentially helping you to sleep better.”
Who would benefit from a cooling pillow? “If your bedroom is too hot in the summer or your partner likes to keep the bedroom warmer than you’d like, a cooling pillow may help you sleep,” says Dr Browning. “Some people can also be especially sensitive to overheating at night, such as those experiencing menopausal hot flashes or an overactive thyroid. When we’re too hot, it is very difficult to sleep.
“Starting around two hours before we fall asleep and until morning, our core body temperature drops by around 1C. This coincides with an increase in skin temperature through vasodilation. If the room we are in is too warm, then our core body temperature will struggle to drop and we will find falling asleep and staying asleep more difficult.”
Which are the best cooling pillows in 2024? At a glance
What makes a cooling pillow cool?
There’s a variety of technologies that make cooling pillows cool, including fabrics that wick moisture away from your head and neck. The majority work by being more breathable than standard pillows.
“Breathable pillows help to keep you cool by allowing air to flow freely throughout the pillow,” says Dr Browning. “Other cooling pillows use technology (either gel or phase-change materials) to aid the cooling process. Cooling gel pillows feel cool to the touch and absorb heat, using conduction to disperse the heat away.
“Other technology uses phase-change materials (PCM), which are substances made into beads and typically spread throughout the filling. They absorb heat to change from a solid to a liquid within the bead, reducing the temperature of the pillow.’
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