Hot buys to keep you (and your pets) COOL all NIGHT
DON’T DITCH THE PJS Cami top, £79, and shorts, £65, from cucumberclothing.com
IT MAY be tempting to strip off and sleep naked when the mercury rises, but according to independent sleep expert dr neil Stanley, wearing loose-fitting pyjamas or a nightie — provided they’re made from lightweight, breathable fabric — can actually keep you cooler and give you a better night’s sleep. Try Cucumber Clothing sleepwear, which was designed by three women after they struggled to sleep through menopausal night sweats. The luxury, soft pyjamas and nighties are made from a clever patented fabric designed to wick sweat away from the skin, keeping you cool, comfortable and dry. The fabric also has antimicrobial properties that mean it won’t pick up odours.
For a cheaper option, it’s also worth looking for nightwear made from soft bamboo fibre, which has natural sweat-wicking and anti-bacterial properties.
BEDROOM AIR-CON Evapolar evaLight, £193, evalolar.com
REGULAR air conditioners are great for cooling down hot bedrooms — but can be bulky. new, compact personal air coolers like this one (below), are designed to be used at close quarters on a desk or bedside table. Just fill with water and switch on to allow the evaporative cooling system to kick in and chill the air. The JML Arctic Air Cooler and Humidifier is a much cheaper model at £39.99. Or make your own version by standing two large frozen plastic bottles of water on a tray in front of a regular fan for blasts of chilled air.
WRIST TWISTS Hyperkewl Evaporative Cooling Wrist Wraps, £13 amazon.co.uk
WHEN we get hot, blood rushes to the surface of the skin, and tiny capillaries open up to boost circulation and help keep us cool. Running cold water over your wrists for 30 seconds or so — where the blood circulates close to the skin — is a great way to quickly cool off.
These cooling wrist wraps replicate that effect for up to ten hours. Just soak the wraps in water for a couple of minutes, squeeze out, and then secure around your wrists with the Velcro closure. Continuous evaporation from the damp mesh layer next to the wrist cools you down.
A CHILLY PILLOW Gel’O Cooling Pillow Mat, £23.99, amazon.co.uk
ACCORDING to researchers at the University of Louisville medical school in the U.S., our head, neck and chest can be up to five times more sensitive to changes in temperature than other areas of our body. To stay comfortably chilled at night, ditch your usual thick, soft pillows — which insulate your head and neck and make you feel hot and sweaty — and opt for a thinner, flat pillow instead.
For an extra cool boost, top it with a cooling mat like this clever 11 x 22 inch gel one.
Pliable, odourless and leakproof, keep the mat folded up in the fridge until you need it, and then spread it flat over your pillow and rest your head on it.
For a DIY option, fill a hot water bottle with crushed ice and slip under your pillow before sleeping.
PAWS FOR THOUGHTS Chilli Paws Pet Cooling Mat, £4.99, bmstores.co.uk
PETS and partners radiate substantial heat which is why experts suggest sleeping alone on hot nights. This robust gel-filled mat, in different sizes, absorbs heat from your pet as soon as they sit on it, helping them to feel cool. Your partner, on the other hand, should be just fine with the spare room.
SHOWER GLOW Kneipp Mint & Eucalyptus Body Wash £3.99/200ml treatyourskin.com
THERE’S nothing more welcome than a cool shower after a hot day. But if you want to sleep well on a warm, sticky night, you need to turn the temperature of your bedtime shower up to at least lukewarm.
A cold shower will reduce blood flow to the skin, boosting your metabolic rate as your body fights to warm itself up. The result? You’ll heat up again once you step out of the bathroom. A lukewarm shower will keep your body temperature even.
To cool off, try using a shower gel and hair care products containing mint instead, like this Kneipp bodywash or Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Shower (£1/250ml, superdrug. Mint contains menthol which acts on our nerve endings to create a chilly sensation. Leave your freshly washed hair slightly damp when you go to bed to stay cooler.
LIGHTER LINEN Marks & Spencer 200 thread count Comfortably Cool Bedlinen, from £8
LIGHTWEIGHT, breathable fibres are important at bedtime — and this range of ‘smart’ temperature controlling bedlinen is made from high performance Tencel fibre. Two hundred thread count Tencel is a light, airy fabric that acts as ‘air conditioning for the skin’ by wicking moisture from its surface and then efficiently evaporating it to create a cooling effect while you sleep. The M&S Comfortably Cool range, including lightweight duvets and mattress toppers, is worth a look. For blissfully crisp, chilly sheets (or even pyjamas) at bedtime, spritz them lightly with water then fold and place in a plastic bag in the freezer for an hour or so before you slip under them.
FANS-TASTIC Dyson Cool desk fan, £229
DURING the day, a fan is a brilliant way to stay cool. it helps to move the layer of hot air that sits right next to our skin, boosting sweat evaporation and reducing skin temperature. But at night, a fan’s noisy whirring can be more disruptive than the heat. The new, upgraded version of the dyson desk fan (below) is 75 per cent quieter than the original. Accredited by the noise Abatement Society, it comes with a sleep timer and a remote control you can use from your bed. Be sure to keep the bedroom door open to increase air flow and ideally, aim the fan towards an open window so it’s pushing hot air out of your room.
BEDSIDE CHILLER Chilly’s Avocado Tumbler, £25, chillysbottles.com
ACCORDING to the U. S. national Sleep Foundation, going to bed even mildly dehydrated can disrupt sleep — leaving the throat and nasal passages dry and setting you up for sleep-disruptive snoring.
A lack of fluids is also linked to nocturnal leg cramps. You will also lose more fluids overnight as your body sweats to stay cool.
But drinking a big glass of water before bed is not the answer. So focus on drinking little and often throughout the day. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and fizzy drinks as these can contribute to dehydration.
At night stay refreshed with water from an insulated bottle or tumbler. Chilly’s are double lined and keep drinks cool for hours — perfect for your bedside table.