10 best cooling pillows for hot weather and night sweats 2024

Hailed by many as being ‘the best pillow they’ve ever had’, the Simba Hybrid Pillow, whilst costly, is praised for its ability to keep you cool during the night while providing adequate support and cushioning for your neck and shoulders.

This versatile pillow comes full and firm (and is a snug fit in most standard-sized pillowcases). Offering complete flexibility to suit all sleepers, it’s filled with sustainable foam ‘nano cubes’ that can easily be removed to adjust the loft and firmness, making it softer or reducing the height to suit your preference.

The space-inspired ‘Stratos Active’ temperature regulation absorbs heat from your body and stores it, releasing it back to you if you cool down or the temperature drops during the night. The breathable cotton outer layer feels soft and smooth against skin with fibres to dissipate heat, while the open mesh border ensures maximum airflow, preventing overheating and keeping you cool and comfortable all night long.

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Cooling pillows can be expensive, so if you’re looking for a more affordable choice, the Slumberdown Memory Cooling Pillow is a popular option retailing at under £20.

Best suited to side sleepers and with firm support and a memory foam wrap, the Slumberdown provides excellent comfort and support around your head and neck, ensuring good spine alignment and helping keep unwelcome aches and pains at bay.

The knitted ‘Cool Max’ cover is cooler to the touch than traditional foam, hypoallergenic and comfortable on the skin. It’s also moisture-wicking, ensuring your generated body heat doesn’t lead to sweat or discomfort, even on warmer nights after you’ve turned your pedestal fan off.

Due to the cover, this pillow is sponge clean only, so you may wish to purchase a pillow protector to keep it fresh and hygienic and expand its life span.

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Tested by MNHQ: Read our in-depth Silentnight Cool Touch Pillow review

Another affordable option from a trusted brand, Silentnight have over 75 years of experience in creating sleep solutions suitable for all sleep positions, whether you’re a back sleeper, side sleeper or prefer to sleep on your stomach.

This innovative pillow is made from 65% microfibre and 35% gel, with a cooling pressure-activated gel pad that responds to your movements and prevents overheating during the night.

There’s no need to flip this pillow to find the cool side, the gel pad actively absorbs your generated body heat and provides a cool, calming sensation that can soothe you back to sleep.

Just because you want cooling properties from your pillow, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on neck support and comfort. Whilst it doesn’t come cheap, the TEMPUR Cloud CoolTouch Pillow offers the ideal combination of all three, with a three-year guarantee for additional peace of mind.

Made with extra soft TEMPUR micro-cushions for a luxurious and plush sensation, it provides the perfect balance of support and comfort for your head, neck and shoulders, making it suitable for all sleeping positions. The CoolTouch cover, exclusive to Dreams, features cooler yarns that have been woven into the cover, ensuring the pillow stays cool and comfortable the whole night through.

When it’s time for a freshen up, the cover is removable and washable  at 40°C. It also dries relatively quickly, so it’s ready for bed as soon as you are.

Mumsnet tip for hot flashes: “If they’re really bad, [try an] ice cube rubbed over pulse points and the back of the neck.” - nicknamehelp. Opt for larger cubes as they don’t melt so quickly - our guide to the best ice cube trays has some great Mumsnetter-approved suggestions.

If you’re prone to waking up with neck or back pain, you may need to opt for a firmer pillow to offer extra support and ensure good alignment during the night.

This CoolMax Contour Pillow has an extra supportive, slightly curved design, with three different heights that can be easily adjusted to suit your preferred sleeping position.

With Coolmax™ technology, the luxurious cover works to disperse heat away from your body, wick moisture and keep you cooler during the night. For those used to a very bouncy cushioned pillow, it may take a little while to adjust, but if you’re experiencing discomfort, a more supportive pillow can certainly enhance your overall sleep and wellbeing.

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If you’re a front or side sleeper or tend to move around during the night, you may find firm pillows a little too restrictive and struggle to get comfortable as a result.

This medium support pillow from TheraPur comes with a choice of two sides - allowing you to choose between supportive memory foam that moulds to your movements or luxurious ‘down-like’ microfibre, even alternating between the two depending on your mood or sleeping position.

The hypoallergenic AntiCool cover absorbs your body heat, helping regulate your body temperature and prevent overheating or night sweats during the early hours. It’s a higher price point than some however, and as it’s spot clean only, we recommend getting a cover or protector.

While the rectangular shape of the Otty Deluxe Pure Pillow may feel a little unfamiliar, these unique cooling pillows are made using bamboo and claim to be the first pillow in the UK to use charcoal for its antibacterial properties.

Featuring supportive memory foam that can mould to your head and neck as you sleep, they help create the ideal back alignment for side sleepers, offering a good balance of support and comfort when you head to the land of nod.

With hypoallergenic properties, the Otty Deluxe cover helps protect against dust mites and allergens, eliminating odours and regulating your temperature during the night thanks to its moisture-wicking properties. Unlike some other memory foam pillows, this one is suitable for use all year round, drawing heat away in summer and ensuring cosy comfort on colder nights.

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With its bright yellow piping matched with a firm and supportive design, the Eve Sleep Memory Foam Pillow is a popular pick for side and back sleepers, offering significant support to keep your neck and spine in a comfortable position overnight.

Unlike some memory foam pillows which can feel a bit stuffy during summer, the Eve pillow features hundreds of tiny air holes, improving air circulation and allowing body heat to escape back into your surroundings. The removable cover is breathable and soft to the touch, with the option to remove it and pop it into the machine when it’s time for a clean or a refresh.

Whilst the Eve Memory Foam Pillow is not as soft or cushioned as plush pillows, it’s still soft and bouncy, regaining its shape easily to prevent those unsightly head hollows when you make your bed in the morning.

We know that your body temperature may not stay consistent during the night. Even during the summer, room temperature can often drop significantly in the early hours, or those unwelcome menopausal hot flashes can part just as quickly as they arrived.

Best suited to back sleepers, the John Lewis Smart Cool Pillow uses ‘Activated Cool Touch PCM Technology’, which allows the pillow to respond to your body and activate cooling if your temperature starts to rise. Once your body temperature has begun to regulate, the cooling will deactivate, helping ensure a consistent and comfortable temperature right through until morning.

With a good level of support and a machine-washable cover, this is a practical and affordable option that can prevent overheating all year round.

If you’re happy with your current pillows, but are looking for a cheap and simple way to prevent sweating or overheating at night, the Chillmax Pillow may be a handy solution to use on top of your pillow or inside of your pillowcase.

Filled with heat-activated gel, the Chillmax responds to your body temperature and absorbs the excess heat, drawing warmth away from your head and face. Whilst it won’t last the whole night, it can certainly help you drift off more comfortably, with cooling benefits lasting for up to three hours at a time.

Its small and portable nature makes it ideal for travel. During heatwaves and warm summer nights, you can pop it in the fridge for some instant cooling effects, whether that’s to sit on, lie on or place across your lap.

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