Best Cooling Mattresses for Hot Sleepers

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.

McKenzie Dillon Writer

McKenzie, a Certified Sleep Science Coach and proclaimed mattress expert, has been writing sleep content in the wellness space for over four years. After earning her certification from the Spencer Institute and dedicating hundreds of hours to sleep research, she has extensive knowledge on the topic and how to improve your quality of rest. Having more experience with lying on mattresses than most, McKenzie has reviewed over 150 beds and a variety of different sleep products including pillows, mattress toppers and sheets. McKenzie has also been a guest on multiple radio shows including WGN Chicago as a sleep expert and contributed sleep advice to over 50 different websites.

Expertise Certified Sleep Science Coach, Certified Stress Management Coach, Bachelor of English.

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$1,865 at Brooklyn Bedding

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$2,799 at Leesa

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10-year limited warranty

Our CNET Sleep editors have hundreds of mattress testing hours on their resumes; they know the beds that shine and those that are underwhelming. With so many to test and so few spots on our list, we can't showcase every quality cooling mattress, but we want to give a few more beds the honorable mention they deserve. 

Purple mattress: The original Purple mattress uses a Hyper-Elastic Gel Polymer grid that has a ton of air pockets. It's one of the best materials for not retaining heat. We rate it around a medium or five out of 10 on the firmness scale. 

Loom & Leaf mattress: With two firmness levels that sit toward the firm end of the spectrum (medium-firm and firm) and a special cooling gel layer, Loom & Leaf is a great mattress to help with temperature regulation. You sit more on top of the mattress rather than inside, and the cooling gel is actually effective. 

WinkBeds EcoCloud mattress: WinkBeds doesn't actively cool you, but it's made with a breathable, non-heat-retaining latex foam material and pocketed coils. This allows for increased airflow, breathability and comfort. Not to mention, latex beds are hypoallergenic and antimicrobial.

Nectar Premier mattress: This is Nectar's premium mattress, made with gel-infused memory foam inside and a cooling cover that helps wick away moisture. It is rated around a six to seven on the firmness scale, so you don't sink into the foam as much. 

CNET editors pick the products and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. 

When we test mattresses, we have an established process that assesses key factors like firmness, feel and performance. We test how strong the edge of the bed is by sitting and lying on the edge. We test motion transfer by rolling across the mattress with a glass of water by the edge. These are things we do for all the beds we test. The best cooling mattresses have a unique testing process. We dive further into the bed's construction, paying attention to each layer contributing to the cooling process. Read more on how we test mattresses.

Firmness and feel

Firmness and feel are the two main factors that help people decide which mattress to buy. Firmness is how hard or soft the bed is, which relates to your sleeping position. The feel of the mattress describes the sensation while you sleep on it. Does it give you that stuck-in-the-mud feeling that traditional memory foam does? Is it bouncy like latex foam? We evaluate and note the firmness and feel of each mattress we test. 

Cooling technology 

We test the beds to see if they feel cold and look for any specific cooling technology features. We get really hands-on during the process. The last test is actually sleeping on the mattress and using our experience as a guide. Did we sleep hot during the night? How good was the cooling bed at preventing heat retention? We have been known to pull out the thermometer gun, but have found that the best test is having one or two people see how hot it sleeps themselves. 

Many brands will advertise a "cooling bed" that is really just a standard mattress with a mattress pad or cooling gel topper, which might not be enough to provide real relief for hot sleepers. It can be tricky to distinguish between these "cooling" beds and a true cooling mattress if you're not careful. Be sure to look out for misleading marketing language, and keep a lookout for these different cooling technologies that seem to actually work. 

Cooling cover

Some of the best mattresses I've tested have a cool-to-the-touch cover that relieves warmth upon contact. Some brands might call their organic cotton cover cooling, but it won't exactly do the trick. Instead, look for covers with phase-change material or icy technology.

A cooling layer in the mattress

Rather than just copper-infused foam or gel-infused foam, look for a dedicated cooling layer in a mattress thats sole purpose is to offer relief. If a mattress has a cooling layer and a cooling cover, it's even better. 

Breathable materials

Other cooling bed models like the Purple are good at what they do because they don't retain heat in the first place. Beds with latex foam, springs and hyper-elastic polymer offer a cooler sleeping experience than typical foam mattresses and fit the bill for the best cooling mattresses. 

Pair your cooling bed with new accessories that will work to help keep you cooler as you sleep through the night.

• Cooling sheets are made with light and breathable materials that wick away moisture from night sweats better than other warmer-sleeping sheets like flannel, polyester and satin. 
• Cooling pillows use breathable materials for cooler sleep, and some, like the GhostPillow, incorporate a phase-change material to physically feel cool to the touch.
• Cooling mattress toppers work like temperature-regulating foam in that they have materials that absorb body heat and disperse it throughout the mattress.

Latex foam and Purple's hyper-elastic polymer are the most breathable mattress materials. Some beds come with cooling covers that make a bed physically cool to the touch. Memory foam, on the other hand, is known for retaining heat, so avoid that if cool sleeping is what you're after. The exception would be if it has a special temperature-regulating technology like copper or gel-infused foam or phase-change material.

A handful of cooling mattresses on the market like GhostBed Luxe, Purple, Brooklyn Bedding Aurora and others sleep as cool as they claim to. Many beds that are marketed as "cooling" might not live up to your expectations. Keep a lookout for phase-changing materials, cooling covers and special cooling tech that goes the extra mile to keep you cool. 

The obvious answer is before the hot summer months, but it's economical to shop for mattresses around holidays such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Christmas because of the amazing deals offered.

Before buying a cooling mattress, you can cool your mattress down yourself by adding breathable sheets, cooling pillows and cooling pillow toppers that help disperse heat better than your bed. You can put a damp towel on the top of your bed, but make sure not to saturate it too much as you can ruin your bed's foam. 

The best mattresses for hot sleepers are ones with phase-change materials, like the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora, cooling gel or other cooling technology that helps regulate temperature. Breathable mattresses made from latex foam like the Avocado Green or hyper-elastic polymer beds like the Purple are also great options for hot sleepers.