What is GlacioTex — and how can it be used to help you sleep cooler?

If you're in the market for a mattress to help you sleep cooler at night, you've likely come across GlacioTex in mattress spec sheets. But what is GlacioTex, and can adding it to your mattress really provide you with relief from the heat?

Sleeping hot due to menopause, illness, or natural body composition is a sleep woe of much of the population. In fact, research shows 57% of Americans report sleeping hot at least some of the time.

Investing in a mattress with cooling or breathable materials can help you combat nighttime hot flashes. One such example — innovated by 3Z Brands, a forerunning company in the American mattress market — is GlacioTex, a cooling fiber that absorbs body heat during the night.

Here, we'll be taking a closer look at how this material works — and whether it's worth investing in as you browse this month's mattress sales for a solution to sweltering nights and sweaty mornings.

What are the pros and cons of GlacioTex in a mattress?

Is a GlacioTex mattress worth buying?

GlacioTex is rarely found on budget mattresses. It typically serves as a premium feature or an optional upgrade on mid-range to luxury hybrid and memory foam mattresses. A GlacioTex cover comes standard with the Brooklyn Bedding CopperFlex Pro Hybrid to bolster its cooling capacity alongside copper foams.

For reference, a GlacioTex cooling cover on any mattress in Helix's Luxe range, which includes the beloved Helix Midnight Luxe, adds an extra $187 to the mattress price (on sale). You can add a GlacioTex cooling pillow top to beds in Helix's Core collection for an extra $281 (on sale).

Image 1 of 3

There are some cases where this extra fee is justified. If you are an extreme hot sleeper, the instantaneous, noticeable cooling of GlacioTex is a worthwhile investment.

However, if you are a moderately hot sleeper, a less expensive hybrid model with good airflow and heat-conducting foams like copper and graphite foams should be sufficient for reliable temperature regulation through the night.

Does every cooling mattress need GlacioTex?

As we've explored here, there are many ways mattresses can offer a cool, comfortable sleep. GlacioTex is certainly one effective method of regulating body temperature during the night, but it sits alongside a raft of other options.

It's important to consider the mattress qualities that are most important to you, and if cooling is right at the top of the list, then be sure to check the structure and materials of the bed you're considering before investing.

Alternatively, if you want to give your existing mattress a makeover rather than investing in a full new bed, add a Brooklyn Bedding Luxury Cooling Mattress Protector or a Helix GlacioTex Premium Mattress Topper instead.

GlacioTex alternatives in cooling mattresses

While GlacioTex is included in some of our top-rated cooling mattresses, it isn’t the only effective cooling method.

Here are five other mattress materials and constructions we recommend hot sleepers consider while choosing a mattress:

1. Innerspring and hybrid construction

Innerspring mattresses generally sleep the coolest out of all mattress types, as the empty space between coils promotes the most airflow. Yet despite a structure that allows for the cooling flow of air, innerspring mattresses are not known to be the most cushioning, or all that good at isolating motion.

As more people are looking to invest in a luxury sleep experience at home, and brands are upping their game to provide the most cutting edge offerings, hybrid mattresses have become more popular. These offer a combination of the sturdy support and strong temperature regulation of springs and the cradling comfort of foam.

The best hybrid mattresses are naturally cooler than all-foam mattresses thanks to open coil structures that allow for airflow. The coil layers in these mattresses help to dissipate heat that would get trapped in their all-foam counterparts.

2. Smart cooling technology

Smart beds don't come cheap, but they do offer high-end technology designed to give you the best quality sleep possible. That includes built-in climate control for active cooling.

Independent, automatic temperature regulation is one of the outstanding features you can find in smart bed systems like the Eight Sleep Pod 5. It has advanced temperature control technology that can track the body temperature of two sleepers independently throughout the night, adjusting the warmth of each side of the bed accordingly to maintain the optimal sleep temperature recommended by experts (between 20 and 25 °C / 68 and 77 F).

3. Natural and semi-synthetic materials

Natural mattress materials, such as wool and cotton coverings, are known for their breathability. They're commonly found in the best organic mattresses, but you'll also find them in other builds (usually in the top cover) to boost overall temperature regulation and moisture-wicking.

All-natural latex is another mattress material that's useful for cooler sleep, as its open-cell structure helps air pass through.

Meanwhile, Tencel, viscose, and lyocell are semi-synthetic materials made from wood pulp, using a chemical process to turn them into moisture-wicking fabrics.

4. Infused foam

Memory foam mattresses typically have a reputation for holding on to heat, but the brands behind the best memory foam mattresses are working hard to find solutions that make their all-foam offerings cooler.

One solution that is becoming increasingly popular is infusing foam with elements that have high thermal conductivity, like copper and graphite. When these particles are embedded in mattresses, they can act as a conduit to draw heat away from your body.

Another popular method is to infuse foam with heat-dissipating polymer gels. When you lie on gel foam, it absorbs body heat, preventing it from building up on the mattress surface. The absorbed heat is then distributed across the mattress, helping to maintain a more even temperature.

The result? Hot sleepers don't have to miss out on the blissful pressure relief and hugging comfort of memory foam and can still sleep cool.

5. Phase change materials (PCM)

Phase change materials (or PCM) absorb and release thermal energy by changing from one phase (solid) to another (liquid). They're usually included in the top comfort layers of mattresses and sometimes incorporated into the top cover for the most effective heat dissipation.

Get the most out of GlacioTex

GlacioTex is often sewn into the top layers of the mattress or used in mattress protectors, providing a cool-to-the-touch sleep surface. Therefore, it is important not to negate its cooling effect with the wrong bedsheets.

You should dress your mattress with thin, breathable cotton sheets to maximize the cover's cooling potential. Our bedding expert, Becky George, created a guide to everything you need to know about cooling bedding to find the right sheets, pillows, and comforters for easy, breezy sleep.