I'm a hot sleeper to the point where even a steady stream of air conditioning can't save me from night sweats. So over the years, I've done everything I can think of to stay cool while sleeping — switched my comforter to a light quilt, my cotton pillowcase to a silk one, my pajamas to breathable fabrics like linen — but funny enough, the most helpful change I made cost me nothing and it was right in my linen closet.
On my most recent vacation, I stayed at a hotel where the comforter was so thick and heavy that I knew right away I would wake up sweaty. The next lightest piece of bedding in the room? The flat sheet. While it didn't offer much, I decided to give it a try in place of the comforter and, miraculously, I woke up sweat-free the next morning. This gave me an idea.
Sheet sets typically include a fitted sheet, flat sheet and one or two pillowcases. I've never been a flat sheet person, so they sit in my linen closet and go unused, but after this trip, I thought I'd give one a try. Since I share my bed with my partner, I couldn't get rid of our quilt completely, so I simply placed the flat sheet under it and then adjusted it so the quilt was only covering my feet.
Regarding the latter, I recently saw a TikTok video in which a person mentioned that they experienced more quality sleep when their feet were warm and their head was cool. Similarly, a 2018 study found that keeping your feet warm with bed socks while sleeping in a cool environment had positive effects on sleep quality. This is simply one study and one anecdotal TikTok video, but I figured it was even more reason to try the flat sheet on top and quilt on the bottom. (For reference, the ideal sleep temperature is between 65 degrees and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.)
As you can guess from this article's headline, this worked. I've been doing this for several months, and ever since I started, my night sweats have greatly decreased. However, they do pop up during certain phases of my menstrual cycle or when I'm especially stressed, but you can't win them all.
The best part is that I spent nothing to pare down my night sweats. All I had to do was look at what I already had on hand with a fresh perspective.
