How to make your bedroom cooler if you sweat at night
Waking up in a damp t-shirt and turning the pillow to the dry side is familiar to many people who sweat heavily. Often the problem is not an illness but the bedroom itself: in summer it overheats from the sun, in winter from the radiators. Here is a plan to make the room cooler without renovation or big spending.
Short answer
The NHS advises keeping curtains and windows closed during the day and opening them in the evening and at night when it is cooler outside; a fan helps as long as the air in the room is below 35 °C. Local NHS services suggest about 18 °C as a guide for the bedroom in their winter advice. Light cotton or linen bedding, several thin layers instead of one heavy duvet, a warm shower and completely dry skin before bed complete the plan. If you get soaked with sweat even in a cool room, see a doctor.
During the day: keep the heat out
The most common mistake is airing the bedroom during the hottest hour. The NHS advises the opposite: close windows, curtains and blinds during the day, especially in rooms that face the sun, and open them in the evening and at night when it has cooled down outside.
Thick, light-coloured curtains or blinds on bedroom windows block the sun better than thin net curtains. If you can, avoid using the oven and drying laundry in the bedroom on hot days: both add heat and moisture. More on heat in our cities in “Sweating in the heat: what works in summer in Almaty and Shymkent”.
In the evening: air the room and move the air
An hour or two before bed, open a window or create a cross-draught. According to the NHS, a fan helps while the air temperature is below 35 °C; in stronger heat it just moves hot air around and hardly cools. If you have air conditioning, switch it on in advance and do not point the airflow straight at the bed.
A quiet floor fan next to an open window helps draw in cool air from outside.
In winter: radiators and dry air
In Kazakhstan, bedrooms often overheat not in summer but during the heating season. NHS Dorset, a local NHS body, suggests in its winter advice keeping the bedroom at about 18 °C at night, adding that active, healthy adults can keep their home cooler if they are comfortable. Older people, young children and people with long-term conditions should not get cold: they need a comfortably warm room.
If your radiator has a valve, turn it down in the bedroom. A short burst of airing before bed freshens the air faster than a small window left open all night above a hot radiator.
Bedding: layers instead of one heavy duvet
Breathable fabrics such as cotton and linen let moisture go more easily than synthetics. Why that is and which fabrics to choose is covered in “Fabrics for heavy sweating: cotton, linen, wool or synthetics”.
- light cotton or linen pyjamas or a t-shirt;
- a cotton or linen sheet and duvet cover;
- two thin layers instead of one thick duvet, so you can take one off at night;
- a spare t-shirt and pillowcase by the bed if you often wake up damp;
- a glass of water on the bedside table.
Before bed: a warm shower and dry skin
A warm, not hot, shower an hour before bed washes away the day's sweat. After it, your skin must be completely dry: the OKEY instructions advise waiting 15 to 20 minutes if needed before applying antiperspirant. In a cool room skin dries faster and stays dry for longer.
A late heavy dinner, spicy food and alcohol in the evening can also increase sweating, see “Coffee, spicy food and alcohol: what really makes you sweat more”.
If the sweating continues even when it is cool
If you regularly wake up in damp sheets even though the bedroom is cool, the room is not the cause. The NHS advises seeing a GP if night sweats keep happening, disturb your sleep or come with weight loss, fever or other symptoms. Possible causes are covered in “Night sweats: when they are normal and when to see a doctor”.
Bottom line: a cool bedroom works together with OKEY
OKEY is applied in the evening before bed to clean, completely dry skin: at night sweating is naturally lower, which makes it easier for the product to work. A cool bedroom helps with that: your skin stays dry, and in the morning you wash off the residue and head out for the day without marks on your clothes.
OKEY is a long-lasting, fragrance-free antiperspirant for women and men in a 35 ml roll-on bottle. It suits all areas prone to excessive sweating. According to the instructions, it is applied in the evening before bed in a thin layer to clean, completely dry and intact skin, and any residue is washed off in the morning. OKEY is available on Kaspi for 7990 ₸ with a 14-day bottle return. Regular customers can buy it on our website okeystaydry.com for 6990 ₸ with free delivery to a Flip pickup point, without a return option. The buy button is below.
