'I tried it and now swear by this heatwave hack' – why sleep experts want you to put your sheets in the fridge this weekend

As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor – and a self-certified very-hot-sleeper even in the depths of winter – you better believe that over the past four years, I've tested out every cooling bedding product and cooling hack under the sun (no pun intended) in a bid to sleep cooler during a heatwave.

From Silentnight's Cooling Gel Body Pad to the Aussie sleep hack of sleeping under just a top sheet, I’ve found plenty of ways to stay cooler in bed, but when the mercury *really* soars, there is only one heatwave hack that I now swear by for making my bed cooler, fast.

This cooling hack is also completely free, as long as you have a fridge – and it’s a trick that comes recommended by multiple sleep experts.

Yep, when I want to cool down my sleep set-up *fast*, I pop my sheets and/or my pillowcase into a resealable plastic bag, and put them into the fridge (or even the freezer) to chill them before I climb into bed.

Whenever I'm beside myself tossing and turning on a hot and humid night, I find this hack works wonders to lower my temperature and help me relax into sleep.

'If you want to sleep better during the hot nights, put your sheets and pillowcases in a plastic bag and stick them in the freezer for a few hours before bed,' agrees Sammy Margo, sleep expert at Dreams. 'This can create a cool and refreshing sleeping surface.'

'Heatwaves can seriously disrupt our sleep,' explains Sammy, 'as our bodies need a stable internal temperature of around 37°C for optimal melatonin release – that's the hormone that helps us drift off.'

'When external temperatures soar, achieving quality rest becomes much harder. A simple trick like this can help us to stay cool and promote restful sleep even on the warmest nights.'

'The ideal bedroom temperature is around 16-18°C', adds sleep expert and founder of The Sleep Site, Dave Gibson. 'That’s why on hot and humid summer nights, we find it hard to fall asleep, as our core temperature can’t drop.'

'Putting your pillow cases or sheets in a plastic bag and putting them in the freezer for a couple of hours before bedtime can help lower your core temperature and allow you to drift off,' confirms Dave.

This can be a particularly important tip for anyone who finds it harder to regulate their body temperature during hot weather, such as those with health conditions, the elderly, or young children.

'The elderly and young babies, whose bodies have difficulty regulating temperature, are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of overheating during sleep,' warns Dave.

As well as the hack of putting bedding into the fridge before bed, Dave also suggests that dampening our bedding can be a useful way of creating a cooler sleeping environment. Although Dave warns, 'if you have any respiratory issues, avoid this tip.'

For those who don't have breathing issues, 'you can use a damp blanket to dampen your duvet cover before bed,' says Dave. 'You don't want it wet, so wring it out as much as possible. You could also put a wet sheet or duvet cover on the spin cycle in your washing machine, which will help to make it damp but not wet.'

'You could do the same with your bottom sheets, too, but make sure to put a piece of waterproof material or a waterproof mattress protector between the sheet and your bed to prevent the moisture from soaking into your mattress and damaging it.'

Sleep expert Jenna Wilson at Little Dreams Consulting and JoJo Maman Bébé also suggests employing a similar trick to help children sleep cooler.

'A good hack is to put cold, wet muslins on the bars of the cot whilst your little one is not in there to cool air in the room as the water evaporates,' says Jenna. 'A cold compress can also be used for older children.'

And this is a cooling trick adults can employ too. 'Dampen a sheet with cold water and hang it in front of your open window,' says Sammy at Dreams. 'The breeze will blow through the sheet and cool down your room.'

As I write this, I'm currently sitting in my very hot home office with a cold, damp muslin cloth draped around my shoulders – and I can confirm it's doing the trick to make the 30°C temperatures a lot more bearable and keep my core temperature lower.

Personally, I'm going to be employing every one of these heatwave hacks to try and sleep cooler tonight. As well as dragging every item of cooling bedding I own out of my laundry cupboard to put on my bed. If you want to do the same, I've listed my top three below.