The Secrets To A Warm Comforter

woman in bed

The warmth and quality of a good comforter can be the difference between a good night's sleep. If you are waking up at night feeling cold, you must get a better comforter. If you have to wear layers of clothing or sleep under multiple layers of heavy blankets, you must get a better comforter. A good night's sleep is essential to your health, your clear state of mind and to the way you look and feel. If you are not sleeping well, it will show. A good, warm comforter is going to be an investment in yourself.

Who Needs A Warmer Comforter

If you ever wake up at night feeling cold, you absolutely need a warmer comforter. The human body is meant to sleep for around eight hours every night, but not all eight hours provide the same kind of rest. The first few hours of sleep are just a buildup until we reach REM sleep.

REM sleep is the deep sleep that allows our bodies and minds to fully rest and reset for the coming day. If you wake up in the middle of the night, you are disrupting your REM sleep cycle. Disrupting this sleep cycle and lead to fatigue and might make you feel more tired than you did before falling asleep.

It is essential that when you go to bed you do not wake up cold in the middle of the night.

For some people, the solution to being cold at night is to dump more and more layers onto their bed. Your body can only handle so much weight on top of it before it begins to feel constricted. If your comforters and blankets weigh too much, your body will notice and you will wake up feeling less rested in the morning.

Too many blankets means that your body is not able to fully breath during the night. This is bad for your skin and does not allow your body to reach deep REM sleep as quickly as possible. Instead, movement and blood flow is constricted. This is unhealthy and should be avoided. If you are sleeping under a heavy load, you need a better comforter.

Another way to deal with being cold at night is to wear thicker pajamas. This leads to the same problem as having too many heavy blankets. Your body will not be able to breath or move around as much as it needs to in the middle of the night.

Most people shift their bodies throughout the night. The clothes you wear to bed should be loose, light and comfortable to allow unlimited movement. Your clothing must also ensure easy circulation and breathability. If you are unable to stay warm without thick pajamas, you need a warmer comforter.

What Happens If You Don't Sleep Well

If you are unable to get a good night's sleep because your bed gets too cold at night, you are in trouble. Not getting a good sleep is terrible for your well being and should be remedied as soon as possible. You might be surprised how important sleep is to a healthy, functioning human being.

Sleep is essential to your mental health. If you are tired, you are less able to think and focus. Your emotional health also suffers. You become more irritated and angry at your surroundings. Have you ever seen young children when they do not get their afternoon nap? they are unable to focus, they are cranky and suborn and throw tantrums for no reason. Adults are able to control themselves a bit better than children, but lack of a good sleep has the same effect on us.

Not only does your mental well being suffer when you miss out on sleep, your physical health does too. In extreme cases on insomnia, if individuals are truly unable to sleep, they will die. For most of us, this is not something to be concerned with, but it is a fact that your body needs to rest every night. Scientists have linked lack of sleep to numerous health issues, such as an increase in the risk of heart disease and cancer. Not getting the sleep you need is going to cost you in terms of health.

Finally, it should be mentioned that lack of consistent, quality sleep will result in altering your appearance. You will look more worn and tired. You will more quickly develop wrinkles and will be less able to grow and maintain muscle mass. Lack of sleep has been linked to weight gain.

Do not let your mind and body suffer. Be sure that you get deep quality sleep every night. You deserve it.

Choosing A Warm Comforter

Warmth is often the most important aspect of purchasing a comforter. This is especially true if you live in an environment with cold winters. A comforter which provides the correct amount of warmth is going to important to how well you sleep through the whole night.

There is no industry standard when it comes to warmth ratings for comforters. This makes it very difficult to compare comforters made by difference manufacturers. What one manufacturer labels are "warm" another might label as "cool". While the labels might not be too telling, there are certain things you an look for to figure out which comforter is the warmest.

The material of the comforter is the first thing to consider. Certain fill materials are going to be warmer than others. A warm comforter is more likely to be made from down than from cotton. The fill material is what insulates your body from the cold. The more efficient the insulation is, the warmer our comforter will be.

Warm Down Comforters

Down is the warmest comforter material. No other material is as good at keeping warmth in as a good quality down comforter. Down is also superior at being breathable. This combination of warmth and breathability is why down has been used as the bedding material of choice for kings and queens through the centuries. It is still the most luxurious comforter material.

Down quality can vary. The first thing to look at is to ensure that your comforter is 100% down. The second thing to look for is the fill power. A higher fill power provides more warmth. The highest quality and warmest comforters will have a fill power of 750 or more.

There are different qualities of down, and you can read about them in our down comforter guide. If you are not worried about allergies, a warm down comforter cannot be beat.

If down is too expensive or if you have allergies, then there is still hope. There are other materials that provide quality warm comforters.

Warm Down Alternative Comforters

Down alternatives are synthetically produced fill materials which attempt to mimic the qualities of down. Generally these are able to reproduce the warmth of down, though they may be a bit heavier in weight. What they lack is the breathability that down offers.

At the same time, down alternatives are great for those with allergies or those on a budget. Because the synthetic materials are cheaper to produce, a down alternative comforter can be just as warm as a down comforter, but will cost less.

Warm Wool Comforters

Wool is another option for those looking for a warm comforter. Wool is great at regulating temperature, which means that many people are able to use the same wool comforter year round. When the bedroom is warm, the wool releases heat faster, and when the bedroom is cold, the wool keeps heat in.

Wool does tend to be heavier than down or down alternatives. It has more of a blanket feel. It is a natural breathable fiber and organic wool is not difficult to find. Wool is also great at wicking away moisture, so if you sweat at night, wool is a smart choice.

Avoid Silk and Cotton

When searching for a warm comforter, avoid silk and cotton filled comforters. Both of these natural materials are good for summer weather, but they are unable to trap warmth as well as down, synthetics or wool.

For more information, take a look at our comforter material comparison.

The Weight

A warm comforter depends on the material used to fill the comforter, but also on the amount of material used. An light weight comforter with the warmest down might not be as warm as a heavy comforter with medium quality down. For down, look at the fill power along with the total weight of the comforter. For other materials do the same thing.

choosing a comforter can be daunting. A warm comforter is an investment that should last you for many years.