USEFUL TIPS
How Do Cooling Blankets Work?
5 min read
5 min read
Blankets seem like pretty straightforward pieces of equipment. The most complicated blankets probably get are heated blankets, which you can plug in and use to keep you warm when the cold gets brutal. Otherwise, blankets are just cozy textiles you drape over yourself to stay warm (or to add a fun pop of color to your living space, right)?
Not always! It sounds counterintuitive, but there is such a thing as a cooling blanket. If you think it sounds like an oxymoron, you’re not alone! Like their cold-weather counterparts, cooling blankets are made with special materials that enable them to help cool you down when you’re feeling the heat.
But how could a cooling blanket possibly work? Let’s break it down.
Who Invented Cooling Blankets?
You might be surprised to learn that the discovery of cooling blankets comes from outer space. NASA was the mind behind the invention of cooling blankets. Spacesuits must be nearly impervious to extreme temperature changes to keep astronauts safe on their long, dangerous journeys. There’s obviously been a lot of technology developed over the years to achieve this.
In the 1980s, one of the ideas NASA explored was the idea of phase change materials — think of ice cubes. As ice cubes absorb heat, they change phases from a solid to a liquid. If an ice cube is in a cold environment, they release heat to refreeze. Feeling inspired, NASA started exploring the idea of using this process elsewhere. They wanted to create materials that could absorb and release heat as necessary to help astronauts thermoregulate in extreme conditions.
Although this invention was a success, it was never really integrated into spacesuits. However, it was used for other purposes, like creating cooling blankets. Other companies have since caught on to the benefits of a blanket that can keep you cool, leading to a finely-tuned product.
How Do Cooling Blankets Work?
A majority of cooling blankets work with the help of thermoregulating materials. That sounds like a word that would make you drift off during science class, but it just means that cooling blankets are made from materials that help reduce heat. Often this means they wick away moisture, helping to keep your body temperature in a comfortable range.
Some cooling blankets are made from plant-based materials like cotton or bamboo. Other cooling fabrics are synthetics like polyester and acrylic.
At Miracle Made, our bedding keeps you cool using an exceptional natural material: silver.
How Can Silver Keep You Cool?
Silver is the most thermally conductive metal on Earth. This high level of thermal conductivity allows heat to pass through silver easily, conducting into the environment around it. Traditional materials used in blankets tend to be a bit one-trick — they don’t conduct heat; they trap it. And that’s about it (for now).
With the silver fiber running through our Bedding Collection, our sheets can help adjust your body temperature by either storing or releasing heat as needed, allowing the sheets to be ultra-breathable. This creates a refreshing effect to prevent your body from overheating throughout the night.
What Else Is in Silver Bedding?
Of course, our Miracle Sheet Set isn’t just made out of silver. It’s also made with 100% Supima cotton, one of the most luxurious types of cotton in the world. It has a 500-thread count, so you know it’s going to be soft. Plus, it keeps you temperate thanks to the cloth’s unique weave (a key element to its softness and breathability).
Cotton diffuses heat throughout the linens to prevent any part of your body from becoming too hot or cold. While the silver fibers in your sheets help prevent heat from being trapped, cotton keeps things balanced, comfortable, and decadent. The effectiveness of our ultra-breathable sheets is backed by cold, hard science, but that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your style or your standards.
How To Make Cooling Bedding Work for You
Getting your hands on 1980s NASA technology might be a little tricky. So, if you’re looking for ways to stay cool while you sleep, we have a few other ideas that are far more feasible… It’s all about choosing the right fabrics to promote your body’s natural thermoregulating capabilities. Cooling blankets are a fantastic place to start, and our thermoregulating sheets will get you most of the way there.
There are also a couple of other changes to ensure you stay comfortable all night long, no matter how hot it gets this summer.
Your Pillows Matter
While your pillows may not be the first thing you think of when optimizing your bedding, they’re actually super important. The fresh side of the pillow is nice for a few minutes. Sadly, if your pillow’s filling isn’t chosen with thermoregulation in mind, it’ll warm up due to body heat within minutes. Choosing pillows with fillers designed to conduct heat away from your body while you sleep is crucial.
Your pillow case is important, too. While satin pillowcases are often said to be good for your skin, they’re not great at managing the heat your body gives off at night and keeping it from making you too warm.
Our Extra Luxe Pillow Cases will help you feel great all night long with their incredibly soft, impressive 500 thread count Supima cotton infused with thermoregulating silver. More than a bedding tool, anti-microbial silver is part of healthy skin care practices.
In addition to helping regulate your body temperature, the silver fibers in our bedding are anti-microbial, which eliminates 99.9% percent of bacteria that might otherwise transfer to your skin and cause breakouts and blemishes.
Find a Breathable Comforter
Your quest to end restless nights of overheating doesn’t end with cooling blankets and perfectly engineered sheets. Your comforter is also a big factor, particularly if you’re someone who likes the comfort of cuddling up under a cozy blanket to fall asleep.
Our Miracle Comforter can help you stay cool all night long, so you can keep that full, fluffy feeling you love without waking up covered in sweat. It’s even fluffier than top-selling online options. Whereas other comforters may make you feel stifled and hot over the course of the night, our comforter benefits from thermoregulating natural silver technology to help keep you at the perfect temperature all night long.
In Conclusion
A blanket that keeps you cool while you sleep sounds more like a riddle than an actual thing. Not so; it’s completely real! If you live in an area that experiences sweltering temperatures in the summer months, or if you’re a naturally hot sleeper, it can seem like bedtime is always a nightmare.
Finding bedding that keeps your body temperature down for hours of restful sleep makes a huge difference in sleep quality. As you likely already know, the better sleep you get — the better everything else is, too.
If you’re looking for a way to keep cool as you sleep, using luxurious and breathable bedding is the perfect solution. Not only can it help you thermoregulate while you sleep, but it’s super soft, comfortable, and stylish, too. What more could you ask for?
Sources:
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Thermal Management of Cotton Fabrics By Surface Coating | Semantic Scholar -
Moisture Transfer Through Chemically Treated Cotton Fabrics | Safe Journals
