The Clever Pillow Trick For A Peaceful Sleep During Hot Summer Nights

We've all been there: Tossing and turning in the peak of summer, just trying to find a cool spot on your pillow to ease the unbearable heat. Even in the colder seasons, a warm pillow makes it as hard to sleep as listening to a drill outside your window all night. You can scroll the internet trying to find options that promise to keep you cool despite body heat and outside temperatures, but even these aren't foolproof. What if you didn't need to buy an expensive pillow to get a cold night's sleep? All you need is enough space in your freezer to accommodate your existing pillow and a couple of minutes. You can just freeze your cushions for longer relief from a hot headrest, and the process is totally free!

The search for tricks to keep your bedding cool is constant during summer, but you don't need to do much heavy lifting or research to try this hack. A plastic bag will be helpful and keep your pillow from touching other food items or becoming frozen, which could result in cold water melting into your bed. Damp sheets are never fun, even if they are chilly to begin with.

Once you have a clean plastic bag, you can add your pillow inside it and place everything in the freezer. This trick works to kill dust mites too, and the recommended time to leave it for that purpose is 24 hours. However, if you just want to cool it down and give yourself a nice surface to lay on, you can pop it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Once you're ready to take it out, remove the plastic bag and get ready for the ultimate comfort in bed. If you don't have enough space in your freezer, don't panic: you can also just freeze your pillowcases, and then re-add them to your actual cushions. You can even try this with your couch cushions that you put your head on for those afternoons or evenings that are just sweltering. 

The benefits of a colder pillow include better sleep, especially if it can help lower your body temperature to the ideal 60 to 68 degrees. Cold compresses also help with inflammation and puffiness, so your headrest could aid those while you slumber. Not only that; since adding your pillow to the freezer can kill dust mites, you're sanitizing it too while you cool down. 

You can also place your pillow in the fridge rather than the freezer. You can leave your pillow in this part of your appliance for several hours, so pop it in before going to work or out and take it out when you're ready for bed. If you plan to place your cushion directly on a shelf, make sure you've wiped it down and disinfected it first, as your fridge can play host to a variety of bacteria from spilled foods.

It's important to regularly wash your sheets and pillowcases when doing this hack, as the cold can be beneficial, but it won't do all the heavy lifting. While freezing does kill mites and other bacteria, you still need to wash off the skin cells, dandruff, pet dander, and other debris that collect, since your bed can be a cesspool of microbes. It's ideal to wash your pillowcase once a week, and if you want to add in some vinegar and baking soda for a little laundry hack, these will help to rid the material of stains, oils, residues, and any other detritus. You can also wash your actual pillow every six months — just check the label for instructions. Or, you can use the TikTok test to see if it's time for a replacement pillow, then invest in a cooling option to really amp up this hack.