Why can’t I sleep? It could be your bedding or doona

It’s winter, so a lot of us will be bringing or buying winter bedding.

But how much influence does bedding have on thermal comfort? Can a particular textile allow you to sleep?

Is it wool or other natural fibers, e.g. cotton? How about polyester? With a lot selection, it is easy to get confused.

Here’s what we do found after we reviewed the evidence – not only for the winter, but additionally for the approaching summer.

The importance of bedding

We depend on our bedding to take care of a cushty temperature that can help us sleep. AND suitable textiles may also help regulate our body temperature and wick away moisture from sweat, promoting higher sleep.

In the colder months, we mainly concentrate on the insulating properties of the textile material – retaining body heat and dissipating cold. As temperatures rise, we worry less about insulation and more about wicking moisture away from sweat.

Another factor that ought to be taken into consideration is the breathability of the textile material – the degree of air permeability. Breathable material helps you stay cool by allowing heat to flee from your body. It also helps you stay comfortable by stopping moisture build-up. Breathable textile material, releasing excess heat and moisture, makes it cooler and more comfortable to the touch.

Different textiles have different properties

Some textiles are higher than others relating to insulation, moisture management or breathability.

For example, cotton and wool have tiny air bubbles that act as insulation to make sure warm on cold days. Thicker fabrics with more air pockets are inclined to be warmer, softer and more breathable. But these aspects are also influenced by the kind of fiber, the weave of the material and the production process.

Cotton and wool are also breathable materials, which implies they assist regulate temperature.

Although cotton absorbs moisture (sweat) from the skin, it doesn’t wick it away effectively. Trapped moisture could make cotton sticky and uncomfortable, which may make you shiver on warm days.

But wool does highly absorbent and effectively wicks away moisture. On warmer days, after we sweat, wool fibers allow air to flow and moisture to flee, facilitating effective evaporation and cooling of sweat and stopping overheating. Therefore, wool (in various thicknesses) can be solution each in summer and winter.

Linen, although breathable and has moisture-wicking properties, provides less insulation than wool and cotton attributable to its hole fibers. This makes linen less effective at keeping you warm within the winter, but effective at keeping you cool in the summertime.

Polyester is an artificial fiber that may retain air for insulation, but shouldn’t be naturally breathable. It often absorbs moisture poorly. So it could possibly hold sweat next to the skin, causing discomfort. However, polyester can be specially treated to assist control moisture from sweat.

Which sheets allow you to sleep?

Our review didn’t find any studies directly comparing sheets manufactured from different fabrics (for instance, regular cotton and flannel) and their effects on sleep when it’s cold.

However, linen sheets perform especially well in warmer conditions. In one study conducted at 29°C and high humidity, linen sheets promoted less wakefulness and fewer stages of sunshine sleep than cotton sheets.

What about doonas?

If you do not heat your bedroom at night in winter, goose down (created from delicate goose feathers) may be an option.

These promoted the longest, deep sleep, then duck down after which cotton while sleeping at a temperature of 11°C. This may be because down provides higher insulation (holds in additional air) than cotton. Down also has lower thermal conductivity than cotton, which implies it retains heat higher.

Are you selecting between a wool or polyester doona? In the financed wool industry test two of us (Chow and Halaki) were co-authors, there wasn’t much difference. A study conducted on young adults showed no significant difference in sleep at 17°C and 22°C.

So how you can select?

The selection of bedding is a highly individual matter. What is comfortable for one person is not going to be the identical for the subsequent. This is attributable to differences in body size and metabolic rate, local climate, bedroom temperature and constructing insulation. They may additionally affect sleep.

This variability and the big selection of study designs also make it difficult to check different studies on the results of various textiles on sleep. You might have to experiment with different textiles to find which one works for you.