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From wool to bamboo, these duvets will keep your temperature regulated as you sleep
With warmer nights on the approach, you might be finding yourself kicking off your winter duvet as you struggle to sleep. To keep your cool, you may want to invest in one of the best summer duvets, and we’ve found some fantastic contenders for you to consider.
Temperature regulation at night is one of the main reasons people can’t sleep: “Our core body temperature is crucial to determining how we are able to fall asleep, and this is why it is often really important to get bedding right, including how thick your duvet is,” explains Dr Maja Schaedel, clinical psychologist at the Sleep Disorder Centre at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, and founder of The Good Sleep Clinic.
“If our body temperature is too high, it signals to us that we need to stay alert and awake and we are not yet in a safe place to go to sleep,” explains Dr Schaedel. “Despite needing our core body temperature to drop, we do in fact need our hands and feet to remain warm. This is harder to achieve during the summer months, and people often prefer to change their bedding.”
So, what makes for a good summer duvet? Something lightweight, obviously. Also consider natural fibres, such as wool, down and bamboo, which are fantastic at regulating your body temperature – they can be expensive, though.
There are also plenty of great synthetic fibre duvets out there, which may be a little more budget-friendly. The bonus of these is that they tend to be easier to care for than natural-fibre duvets – you should be able to stick them in the washing machine without worry, for example.
To help you decide which is right for you, we’ve rounded up a wide range of the best summer duvets.
We’ve spent well over a year testing summer duvets during the warmer months. What we – and you, probably – want is a duvet that doesn’t overheat us, but gives us that snug, secure feeling while we sleep. Price was also a consideration, and whether the duvet represented good value. These are the best summer duvets we tested.
As fans of down duvets, for us, this one was perfection. It’s really fairly priced, too, considering the luxury filling. We slept incredibly well under it, enjoying the pillowy nature of it and the snug drape, yet we never felt overly hot – even in a very warm room.
Next has thoughtfully added a 230-thread count cover over the filling, to stop any of those scratchy feathers getting through in the night. If you feel a bit dubious about down, you can sleep easy here. The filling of this Next duvet is certified to the Responsible Down Standards, which protects animal welfare in the production. We can’t rave about this duvet enough, and now want the matching one for when winter rolls around, too.
We had to rub our eyes when we saw the price of this duvet. Just how Dunelm is making double duvets for less than £20, we don’t know, but it makes for a very purse-friendly purchase. Made from hollowfibre, we found this duvet incredibly soft and light to snuggle into, yet it still offered some warmth against cooler evenings. The casing is microfibre, which is good for wicking away sweat and it’s stain-resistant, too.
Another plus point is that this duvet is hypoallergenic, and allergy sufferers will benefit from being able to machine wash this one, too. While we didn’t find this duvet as premium as others in this round-up – it’s slightly less good at temperature control, and the seams aren’t bound – for the price, we think this is a great deal.
Clever old Simba has answered the question of which duvet to use and given us everything all in one product. There’s a 7 tog duvet for spring and autumn, a 3.5 tog duvet for summer and then you can put them together for full winter coverage. Simba has even colour coded them, so you don’t get mixed up.
Let’s plumb the layers. The casing is made from temperature-regulating cotton that draws heat away from you when you need it. It’s made from a layer of eco-friendly modal fibres, which is super breathable and also wicks away sweat. There is also a layer of “Simba renew”, which is made from recycled PET bottles and provides breathable warmth. The two-layered duvet also snaps together using poppers at each corner, making changing the duvet less of a faff.
Panda claims its made a down-feather-like duvet without using any actual feathers. This is great news for vegans but did the duvet pass muster during testing? The quick answer is: yes. The cloud duvet is fluffy and feels premium. The 100 per cent organic bamboo casing feels hardwearing, yet silky to the touch.
Why are we supposed to be excited about bamboo? Well, it’s eco-friendly in comparison to cotton, thanks to the production process being much lower impact on the environment. Bamboo is also all natural, hypoallergenic, breathable and wicks away sweat. Genius. Panda goes a step further and ensures all the bamboo it uses is grown sustainably. The filling of this duvet is actually 50 per cent organic bamboo and 50 per cent nano fibre, which is a material made out of recycled bottles. This makes it possible to chuck the duvet in the washing machine, if needs be.
If you’re after a thicker summer duvet, this is a good option. It’s 10.5 tog, and what’s known as an all-season duvet. That means it’s a one-size-fits-all approach – great if you don’t have much storage for myriad duvets (who does?) or you don’t want to faff about changing over every season. We found it perfect during testing in April, as it felt super snuggly and we didn’t overheat once, nor did our fussy and prone-to-overheating co-tester.
With wool sourced from sheep in New Zealand, this duvet feels slightly thicker than the Devon Duvets’ option (£180, Devonduvets.com) but you can buy this duvet in different thicknesses for different seasons, too. Obviously, we tested the summer thickness for this round-up, but it was still decently weighty. This created a nice secure feeling as we drifted off to sleep.
We liked this wool duvet for its excellent temperature-regulating properties. Of course, we roped in our fussy co-tester and found that both of us stayed temperate all night. This clever duvet is perfect for couples who cannot agree on what temperature they like to be when they sleep, as it creates your perfect temperature on each side of the bed. It’s like sleeping in a blissful cocoon. Another thumbs up goes to its hypoallergenic properties, and it’s also machine washable.
This duvet feels as pillowy as a candyfloss cloud. It’s filled with smartfil polyester fibre and modal, so it’s incredibly lightweight and also hypoallergenic. It allows air to flow through the duvet, to keep you cool, and those modal fibres are going to help with moisture control.
The duvet feels luxurious, thanks to the 200-thread-count cotton cover. Although we tested the 4.5 tog, it still feels pretty snug, with a good drape around our body at night for that reassuring weighty feeling. Plus, we didn’t overheat, even when sharing the duvet with one other adult and one roasty toasty young child. Other points we liked was that it comes with button holes, so you can partner up your duvet with another, if you want to bolster the tog rating. It also has a drawstring bag for dust-free storage, and it’s amazing value for money.
We’ve long been jealous of our children’s wool duvets, so, we were thrilled to take one of our own for a spin. Wool is a fantastic temperature regulator, keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter, and it’s also naturally flame retardant, so it is free from any chemicals, if that’s a concern. Plus, it’s hypoallergenic.
What we especially want to shout about, when it comes to this duvet, is that it’s not a big fluffy one – it’s substantial without loads of pillowy action. Some might like it for this, others might not, but if you want a low-profile duvet, this is a great option.
It is, however, nice and toasty. We were surprised how perfectly warm the duvet kept us, despite not being fluffy. It also had a lovely drape to it, which made us feel extra snug. We also liked the fact the wool on this duvet has been sustainably sourced from live sheep, and the duvet is handmade in England.
If you want a high-end duvet but feathers just aren’t for you, this 100 per cent cotton one provides that bouji feeling without animals getting involved in the process. The loft isn’t huge on this duvet, as there’s no fluffy fibres inside, but it draped nicely around us to make us feel snug all night. Although Dusk says this is lightweight, we actually found it slightly weightier than some other products in this round-up – for us, that’s no bad thing, though.
Cotton is great at helping to control your temperature, so, it’s going to keep you cool on those balmy summer nights, without you needing to kick off the covers. The casing is also 100 per cent cotton, and the whole duvet feels very premium and incredibly soft. Allergy sufferers will like that you can bung it in the washing machine at 40C and even tumble dry it on a low heat.
Not content with just creating a lightweight summer duvet, Next has made this duvet “active cooling”, too. The casing on the duvet is infused with HeiQ cool dual-action cooling technology, which means it offers a cooling sensation on touch, sensing when you start to get too hot and activating to release moisture to cool you down again. It will then also sense when your body temperature has lowered and stop cooling, so you don’t get chilly. Actual witchcraft, right?
We loved this duvet for its high-tech features. We certainly never felt too hot under it. Did we notice the cooling effect? Not tangibly, but we suppose that’s sort of the point. We were asleep, after all. The cover of the duvet is 100 per cent cotton, the filling is 100 per cent polyester, making for a lightweight duvet that still has a cloud-like pillowy-ness to it.
This Silentnight duvet is perfect for spring and autumn, or if you feel the cold and the thought of a 4.5 tog makes you shiver. It’s still very lightweight, though, as it’s made from 100 per cent polyester. The soft-touch cover is also polyester, but designed to wick away any sweat to help you stay cool all night long.
Another great thing is that it’s hypoallergenic and can be machine washed at 40C to blast all germs and mites. We found it offers the perfect level of warmth on an April night – we didn’t overheat underneath it, but found it comfortable and cosy. If you love a big fluffy duvet, this isn’t it, but it’s remarkable value for money.
A wool duvet is hard to beat if you’re after something that keeps your temperature just so. Wool fibres are natural temperature regulators, trapping in warm air when you need it and letting it go when you don’t. They’re hypoallergenic too. As Woolroom uses only traceable wool from the UK, it’s low-impact and supports British farmers, too.
But what’s the actual duvet like to sleep under? Well, while testing this duvet, we had one of the best night’s sleep we’ve enjoyed for a long time. We found the duvet had a nice drape to it, even though it has a thinner profile (there’s no sinking into this duvet, admittedly).
It’s worth noting before we go on, that wool duvets don’t actually adhere to the tog warmth system, but for the purposes of this article, we’ve included their tog equivalent ratings. We tested the all-season version of this duvet, which is two duvets clipped together – a 2-5 tog and a 11-14 tog. With both on, it was toasty warm, so it should see you through, well, all seasons.
While the 2-tog duvet felt thin, we were perfectly warm all night. If you sleep with someone else next to you, we also found this duvet did a great job of creating little microclimates – our co-sleeper stayed at their perfect temperature, and we stayed at ours. The finish on this duvet is top-notch, too – oh, and it can be machine washed.
Deceptively hi-tech, this Secret Linen Company duvet is very impressive. It has a layer of fabric made from Climarelle – a futuristic new fabric that has built-in warming and cooling capsules. If your body temperature rises, these capsules melt and actively cool you down; if you get too cold, the capsules solidify and release warmth. What a brave new world we’re living in, right?
We know what you’re thinking: that’s all very well and good, but how did it perform? We were impressed with the Secret Linen duvet. Despite it being polyester, we genuinely never felt sweaty or uncomfortable under it. As it’s 4.5 tog, it’s slightly warmer than a few other duvets in this round-up but, personally, we like to stay on the warmer side of things when we’re sleeping. There’s a really nice feel to this duvet – the drape felt really nice and comforting around our body, and it has a crispness to it that reminded us of hotel duvets in the best way.
If you’re after a quick, budget-friendly answer to your summer duvet woes, bedding stalwart Silentnight has the answer. At a purse-friendly price, this is the ideal duvet for guest and uni bedrooms, we reckon. It’s machine washable, which we love, because, during the summer months especially, we want everything to be fresh – it’s also handy to blitz dust mites for allergy sufferers.
The finish on the duvet isn’t going to blow you away but it’s fine for the price. The duvet feels snug, though – there’s a good marshmallow feel to it, which not all summer duvets have. We’d say it wasn’t amazing at wicking away sweat, and is probably best for those who aren’t super sensitive to being too warm. While it kept us cooler than our winter duvet, it’s not the coolest duvet we tested.
This Next summer duvet is a great option if you don’t want to fork out mega bucks but really need something to keep you cool. Although it comes in a range of togs, we went for three togs, which is the lightest option.
We found the duvet very lightweight indeed. Initially, we pondered if it was a bit too thin but, after a night of sleeping under it, we found it actually did the job nicely.
The duvet features man-made fibres throughout. The soft-touch casing is 100 per cent polyester, while the filling is mostly polyester, too, with a bit of modal. Modal is an eco-friendly fibre that’s made from beech tree fibres. The benefit of using modal is that it’s super soft yet hardwearing – this duvet should really last you a good few years. Importantly for a summer duvet, modal is breathable and more absorbent that cotton. This meant it wicked sweat away from our skin.
We also love that you can stick this duvet in the wash at 40C and tumble dry on cool, which is great news for allergy sufferers. We were very impressed with the value of this duvet, too.
Premium bedding brand Piglet in Bed has gone the whole hog with this Merino wool duvet. It’s completely organic, and the filling is made from carded Merino sheep wool. Despite wool duvets usually having a low profile, we found this duvet did have a bit of give to it and we were able to sink into it.
On first opening the duvet, there is a scent of sheep to it – that’s the natural lanolin in the wool, but it fades over time and we found we barely noticed it after the first few nights. The Merino wool is naturally good at wicking away sweat and leaving you at the perfect body temperature. We felt nice and cosy on the cooler spring nights but didn’t overheat or wake up sweaty on warm nights.
This duvet is warmer than the other wool-based duvet in this round-up – it’s better suited to people who like their duvets a touch warmer, and a bit thicker. If you have Piglet in Bed bed linen, this duvet has loops on the corners, so you can tie it to the inside of your compatible linen – time to upgrade our bed linen, it seems…
We think this is a great mid-range option for an all-seasons duvet. The filling is polyester (which doesn’t make it super breathable, it has to be said) but the tog rating of 4.5 is probably just about perfect for most summer night’s in the UK, apart from the scorching ones that happen just a handful of times a year. We loved the pillowy nature of this duvet – it has real sink-factor. The casing is soft and gentle, too.
It’s not super heavy, which meant we felt able to fidget around to our heart’s content. This duvet is actually two duvets – 4.5 and 9. You can use them on their own, or clip them together to create a 13.5 tog duvet for the depths of winter. The duvet comes in a zip carry case, so you can stow your unused duvets in that. Even better, the duvets are machine washable at 40C, so you can wash away any nasties that build up over time.
There’s premium, then there’s Ava Innes duvets. This duvet is handmade in the UK and filled with cashmere and wool. Even the quilted pattern is premium – inspired by the rivers and valleys of Scotland, from where the duvet hails.
Cashmere is three times better at temperature regulating than regular wool, and this duvet kept us temperate all night – we didn’t break a sweat once. The filling is also hypoallergenic and wicks away sweat. We loved that this duvet really did provide the perfect night’s sleep – we didn’t once notice our temperature fluctuating.
We found this duvet beautifully lightweight – it was like sleeping under a cloud. The profile is relatively low, too, but we still felt snug and secure underneath it.
Incredibly, you can wash these duvets or have them dry cleaned, however, just hanging them out in the sunshine naturally cleanses them – how eco-friendly is that?
When it comes to choosing the perfect summer duvet for you, it’s important to consider the material from which it is made. Natural duvets, such as those that have duck and goose feather filling as well as down, tend to be more insulating, which means they can feel much warmer with less filling. However, if you pick one with a low tog, it should still be breathable enough to be suitable for the summer months. When your duvet has a higher down-to-feather ratio, it will be more lightweight.
Wool duvets are chunkier, denser and hypoallergenic. While they are typically reserved for winter, they retain air well, which can keep you cool in the summer, too.
Alternatively, synthetic duvets are filled with hollow fibres or microfibres. The former is more effective at trapping warmth, while the latter is a higher quality option that mimics down filling but with a more lightweight feel, which makes them great choices for those who want lighter duvets, or suffer from allergies.
The higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet. So, when shopping for a summer duvet for your bedroom, an ideal tog rating is 4.5 or less.
However, you can also buy specially designed cooling duvets that are perfect for summer, which can measure up to 11 tog.
Sleeping in the heat can affect even the deepest of sleepers and, while some people simply choose to sleep under a sheet during the summer months, there are others who still prefer to use a duvet.
If you fall into the latter category, the good news is it is possible for a duvet to keep you cool. The weight, or tog, of the duvet will play a significant role, so make sure to invest in one that measures no more than 4.5 tog, or choose an all-seasons duvet that you can alter, depending on the weather.
Some more hi-tech styles are even made with Nasa-designed thermoregulating technology that help regulate your temperature by absorbing heat away from your body, and then returning it to you if you happen to get a chill.
The cover you use matters, too, as some fabrics will help to keep your body at a more consistent temperature through the night than others. Linen and cotton are both ideal for sleeping in the heat, as they are woven from natural fibres that breathe really well, which is key for staying cool.
However, linen is often the top choice, as it is also a natural temperature regulator and insulator, which means it actually keeps you cooler in the summer and warmer in winter.
We are in love with our Next goose-feather-and-down duvet. Even though it’s a thinner summer duvet, it still makes us feel like we’re sleeping in a cloud, without it ever overwhelming us. We slept incredibly well under it and this it’s great value considering the premium filling. Shout out to Woolroom, too, which has created a gorgeous duvet that did a brilliant job of keeping us temperate. Meanwhile, Dunelm and Silentnight offer some good budget options.
Now that you have your summer duvet sorted, read our edit of the best mattresses to buy in 2024