Night sweats: the bedding checklist to go through before you blame the mattress

Waking up damp is miserable, and the mattress gets the blame because it is the biggest thing in the room. Often it is guilty. Just as often the problem is sitting on top of it. Go through this list in order; it starts with the free things.

1. The protector

The most common cause, and the one nobody suspects. Most waterproof protectors are a polyurethane membrane with a soft face. They stop liquid, and they stop air and vapour with it, so you are lying on a sheet of plastic. Swap it for a protector with a breathable membrane in a Tencel or cotton face, or, if you do not need waterproofing, a plain cotton one. Cost: £20 to £40. Try this first.

2. The duvet

A 13.5 tog duvet is a winter duvet. Most hot sleepers do fine on 4.5 in summer and 7.5 or 9 in winter, and many do better with a lighter duvet and a blanket they can throw off. Natural fillings (wool, down, cotton) breathe; hollowfibre does not. If you share with someone who runs cold, two single duvets on a double bed ends the argument.

3. The sheets

Polycotton and brushed cotton hold heat. Cotton percale (crisp, cool) or linen (cooler still) are the hot sleeper's sheets. Tencel sheets are excellent for sweat and feel silky. Thread count is not the point; the weave and fibre are.

4. Nightwear

Polyester pyjamas are a wetsuit. Cotton, linen or nothing.

5. The room

Sixteen to eighteen degrees is the range most sleep advice settles on. A window open a crack, a fan on low pointed at the wall rather than you, blackout curtains closed during the day in summer so the room does not bank heat. Radiators off in the bedroom, or the valve down.

6. The pillow

A memory foam pillow is a small memory foam mattress under your head, which is where a lot of the heat is felt. A down, wool or latex pillow, or a pillow with a Tencel cover, is cooler. Cheap fix, noticeable.

7. What is on top of the mattress

A memory foam topper on a warm mattress makes it warmer. A latex or wool topper on a warm mattress makes it cooler. If you have a topper, check what it is.

8. Now the mattress

If the protector, duvet, sheets, nightwear, room and pillow are all right and you are still waking hot, the mattress is the problem, and the reason is almost always memory foam in the top layer, or a solid foam block with no air moving through it. The fix is a mattress with latex, wool or a bare spring unit on top, a vented border, and a thin breathable cover. Our guide to the best mattress for hot flushes covers what to look for.

A word on the cause

Night sweats have many causes: menopause, medication, illness, alcohol, a warm room, or simply running hot. Bedding can make them worse or better; it cannot stop them. If they are new, heavy, or come with other symptoms, see a doctor. This list is about the bed, not the body.

The checklist

• [ ] Breathable protector (not plastic-backed)
• [ ] Lighter duvet, natural filling, or two singles
• [ ] Percale cotton, linen or Tencel sheets
• [ ] Natural-fibre nightwear
• [ ] Room at 16 to 18 degrees, air moving
• [ ] Non-memory-foam pillow
• [ ] Latex or wool topper if any
• [ ] Then, and only then, the mattress: latex or fibre on top, springs underneath, thin cover

How we built ours

The Hot Flush is the mattress for step eight: no memory foam on top, Talalay latex over graphite foam over an air-channel layer, a vented border, and an unquilted Tencel cover. It will not stop a night sweat. It will not add to one, and the surface dries fast.