The worst thing anyone can do with their bedding is try to use the same covers all through the year. If you have thick blankets and a lovely warm duvet, that may be perfect for cold nights in January, but far too warm in summer. Similarly, a thin cover that suits a sticky night in a summer heatwave could leave you shivering in winter.
Recognising the flexibility people need, our bedding range has plenty of items for every time of year. Of course, these aren’t just seasonal based on temperatures; there are lots of themed covers for occasions like Halloween and Christmas. Nonetheless, it is important to consider temperatures first when choosing bedclothes for each time of year.
Thankfully, we believe in having products that are both warm and cosy when they need to be but also really good at keeping you cool when it all starts to get a bit hot and sweaty. Nothing does that better than 100 per cent cotton bedding.
Cotton is wonderfully versatile, as it needs to be in summer. There are some days, especially in early summer, that are total washouts, being chilly and windy. Yet the next week it can be warm, sunny and humid, with the long daylight hours of late May and June meaning there is less time for the air to cool down. Then, cotton is great for helping you stay cool.
The reason for this lies in the great properties cotton has, which make it so popular. In particular, while it has good thermal insulating properties against cold, it is great when you get hot and sweaty, due to its very high capacity to absorb moisture. This is useful whether it is used in bedding or in clothes; just think of how much more comfortable cotton trousers are than denim in the heat.
At the same time, cotton does dry out swiftly, so it doesn’t stay soaking wet for long. That is important for when you go to bed on a warm night but the temperature drops overnight, perhaps because the preceding hot day has brought cloudless skies.
Being breathable is another important aspect. Once again, this can be seen in both clothing and bedding: The ability of the material to allow sufficient airflow to prevent the heat building up under the material helps maintain the right temperature.
All this may seem a little distant just now, as the winter nights continue to keep the mercury at or near zero, and umpteen warm, thick layers seem the order of the night.
However, the reality is those hotter days will come, and thinking about this now is a good idea to give you time to choose a design and pattern you like.
Using breathable cotton sheets is among the top tips for staying cool in summer. Also, you should have paler colours, thin sheeting, and have a warmer throw blanket nearby in case the temperature gets cooler and you need to warm up a bit.
Since cotton is so suited to these uses, it is no wonder the material remains so popular. It has been used across the globe for over 5,000 years and it grows naturally in much warmer climates than Britain’s, where its usage as a durable, versatile fabric that maintains temperature better than most is particularly useful. Small wonder it remains popular in a world with many synthetic alternatives.
The higher temperatures that have been the norm in many other parts of the world are now increasingly a feature of the British summer. According to data from the Met Office, June and July 2021 temperatures were at least 0.5 degrees C above the mean for the 1981-2010 period, with most areas over one per cent hotter and a few spots even reaching two degrees higher.
Notably, the greater temperature increase tended to come in the northern half of the UK, covering parts of the Midlands, much of northern England and the majority of Scotland.
This means it isn’t a case of the south becoming a lot hotter, but a levelling out across the UK. Places with milder summers in the past can now expect much warmer weather, so cotton bedding will be useful wherever in the UK you live.
When you come to choose your cotton bedding, you may also want to look at the various designs we have on offer to see how they match your bedroom colour schemes, as well as picking a size that will fit your bed well - be it a single or double bed. You can be sure of finding something that will be just right for you, promising some comfy nights when summer arrives.