Does the Purple Mattress Sleep Cool?

Are you a hot sleeper? Perhaps you are going through menopause, or wake during the night with night sweats.

Are You a Hot Sleeper? Why Sleeping Cool Matters

Studies suggest that sleeping in a cool environment is beneficial for getting good sleep and overall sleep health, but what if you aren’t able to cool your body down in order to reap the benefits of a colder night’s sleep? Finding a mattress that sleeps cool enough to be comfortable all year long can be tricky, but it is a search worth undertaking in order to optimize your sleep health and rest deeper each night.

Does the PurplePlus Mattress Sleep Cool?

The PurplePlus Mattress, the top of the line mattress in Purple’s Essentials Collection, is a great option for a mattress that helps dissipate body heat – here’s our full Purple Plus Mattress review for a deeper breakdown of performance, feel, and value.

The GelFlex Grid, an open-air grid made of 1400+ columns unique to Purple’s mattresses, maximizes airflow and releases body heat for up to 4x cooler sleep than competitor mattresses.

If you’re comparing cooling performance against traditional memory foam options, see our Purple Plus vs Nectar Premier comparison to understand the real differences in heat retention and feel.

How the GelFlex Grid Keeps You Cool

All those little squares in the GelFlex Grid easily let air flow and body heat escape.

Airflow, Breathability, and Heat Dissipation

Additionally, the GelFlex material itself doesn’t retain heat, so it is an ultra-cooling option when looking for a mattress that promotes cooler sleep.

Pressure Relief and Support Benefits

In addition to its heat dissipation features, The GelFlex Grid buckles under concentrated weight, providing precise, cradling relief for common pain points such as hips and shoulders, while maintaining support across broad surfaces such as the back and legs. The grid is made of a hyper elastic polymer grid-like structure that responds to your body’s motion instantly. It flexes around your pressure points, while supporting your whole body.

Is the Purple Mattress Non-Toxic and Safe?

If you’re concerned about the toxicity of synthetic gels in your mattress, Purple reports their mattresses to be a non-toxic alternative to other chemically mattresses. Their GelFlex Grid material is CleanAir GOLD and CertiPUR-US certified – as is their high-density polyurethane foam.

The top GOLD rating from Intertek, a third-party quality assurance company, confirms that certified products will reduce health risks related to chemical exposure and meet the standards of other agencies promoting minimal VOC exposure. Purple products won’t produce strong off-gassing, but may be a faint “new mattress smell” at first that comes off as nutty or woodsy, but should quickly fade.

PurplePlus Mattress Specs and Features

• Medium firmness.
• Two inches of GelFlex Grid which helps with pressure reduction, isolation of motion, and balancing temperature.
• Has an added layer of comfort foam, a more porous foam, that helps you sleep even cooler than the other two models in the Essentials Collection.
• The GelFlex Grid is 80% air, which means the structure can breathe, enhancing coolness.

Materials and Construction

The material makeup of your mattress makes a huge difference in how hot or cold the mattress sleeps. The PurplePlus mattress has several layers of foam, topped with the GelFlex Grid, a cooling gel structure that releases heat through the inside of the grid.

PurplePlus Mattress Layers Explained

PurplePlus has five layers of support:

1) GelFlex Grid: dissipates heat and relieves pressure

2) Edge Support Foam: increases support and mattress durability

3) Ultra Comfort Foam: dissipates heat and offers responsive comfort

4) Dual Base Support Foam: stabilizes and supports comfort layers

5) Softflex Cover: breathable stretch material flexes seamlessly

Firmness, Feel, and Sleeping Positions

Some sleepers of the PurplePlus Mattress mention a transitional period where they initially did not sleep well on the mattress as their body adjusted to the GelFlex technology (a period of a few days to a week).

Many sleepers report this mattress is a great option for side and back sleepers but may be too soft for stomach sleepers. The PurplePlus Mattress is 11 inches tall, giving it a medium firmness.

Best Cooling Mattress Materials for Hot Sleepers

There are other mattress materials that can create cooler sleep. According to Raj Dasgupta, Chief Medical Advisor at Sleepopolis, cooling mattresses are effective by absorbing and dispersing your body heat.

The PurplePlus’ GelFlex Grid works to do that, trapping heat in the grid squares and dispersing it. Gels and breathable fabrics work to absorb and disperse heat as well. Let’s explore some other cooling materials for mattresses.

Natural Latex

A natural latex mattress allows for a cooler sleep than many synthetic foam mattresses. Latex mattresses have an open-cell structure that encourages the foam to breathe. Air circulation is optimized within the pinholes of the open-air structure of latex. When you move during sleep, air circulates in and out of the mattress through these pinholes and the open-cell structure, making latex a great material to choose when searching for a mattress that will help you get a cooler night’s sleep.

Gel-infused Memory Foam

This type of memory foam has small gel particles or beads either infused into the mattress’ foam or applied as a layer on top of the memory foam.

Most gel memory foams use either thermal gel, which is cool to the touch, or phase-changing gel, which transitions from a solid to a liquid when the temperature of the mattress rises. Both of these gels are designed to draw heat away from the sleeper, resulting in cooler surface temperature.

Hybrid (Coil + Foam) Mattresses

Hybrid mattresses are made up of a mixture of mattress materials, commonly a combination of innerspring steel coils and memory foam. Some also include gel.

The innerspring coils create airflow throughout the mattress, which helps aid in dissipating heat that would otherwise be trapped. The coil base provides inherent breathability, while foam layers add comfort and support, making this a well-ventilated mattress option.

Cooling Mattress Covers and Toppers

Cooling mattress covers are toppers or covers for a mattress that have cooling properties, often using advanced fibers that feel cold against the skin and actively wick moisture away. That way the material that is closest to the sleeper is able to absorb and dissipate heat.

These are especially great options if you already have a mattress you like and have invested in, but that tends to run hot or trap heat. Adding a cooling cover can help you achieve the same level of comfort, with cooling properties that will help you get a cooler night’s sleep. Cooling covers are also ideal for people prone to night sweats or living in humid climates.

Phase Change Materials (PCM)

PCM’s are substances that absorb or release heat when they change states (from liquid to solid or from solid to liquid). When temperatures rise, these materials are able to absorb excess heat to keep the sleeper cool.

When the particles change from solid to liquid, they absorb heat and then they solidify when this stored heat is released.

They help regulate your sleep temperature by acting as a heat reservoir. PCMs tends to be in wax or gel form. The particles are coated with a protective shell and embedded in foams and fabrics without leaking.

Copper and Graphite Infused Foams

Copper-infused memory foam: copper-infused memory foam draws heat away from your body while providing natural antimicrobial and antiviral properties—helping to keep your sleep environment cleaner and healthier.

Graphite infused memory foam: To make graphite memory foam, graphite is either mixed into the foam itself or applied as a thin, separate layer on the top of the mattress. The weight of the sleeper sinking into the foam forces the graphite particles closer together, allowing them to conduct heat through the foam and dissipate it quickly.

Why Sleeping Cool Is Important for Sleep Health

Studies show that sleeping in a cooler environment helps your body fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and move through deep and REM sleep more efficiently by supporting natural temperature regulation.

As night nears and our melatonin increases, our body temperature naturally drops. If the temperature of your room is too hot, it can potentially stop the signal to your brain and body that it’s time to sleep,

making it harder to fall asleep. Once you do fall asleep, remaining in a deep and restful sleep may be harder to achieve if the room or body is too hot.

If your body’s temperature or the temperature of your room wakes you up in the middle of the night, you’re unable to sufficiently move through the stages of the sleep cycle.

Waking during Stage 2 or Stage 3 of deep sleep can have catastrophic effects on the body’s health and immune system over time, as these are the stages of sleep where the body actively repairs itself and regrows tissues, builds bone and muscle, and strengthens the immune system.

That’s part of the reason why having a mattress that allows your body to remain cool at night is such an important factor in overall sleep health. Even if your room is cooled to the recommended temperature (somewhere around 65 degrees Fahrenheit), if your mattress is trapping your body heat without properly dissipating it, you may still have a very warm and restless night’s sleep.

Benefits of Sleeping in a Cooler Environment

• Sleeping in a cooler environment helps your body fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and move more efficiently through deep and REM sleep by supporting natural temperature regulation.
• Cooler temperatures help your body recognize it’s time to wind down, which can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
• Staying cool through the night supports deeper sleep cycles and may reduce middle-of-the-night wakeups.
• Cold sleep can activate brown fat, which may help boost metabolism and support calorie burn.
• A cold bedroom supports natural hormone production, including melatonin and growth hormone, which play key roles in sleep, immune health, and overall well-being.

Ideal Temperature for Sleep

• Aim for a thermostat setting between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 and 20 degrees Celsius) as a good starting point to discover your ideal sleep comfort zone.
• 69% of people reported that sleeping in a cool room enhances their ability to sleep well.
• Studies suggest that anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of individuals experience night sweats or sleep in hot environments.

How Cooler Temperatures Help You Fall Asleep Faster

In a Harvard study, participants were likely to fall asleep faster, taking an average of 6.2 minutes when their body temperature decreased at its lowest (approx. 97.7ºF/36.5ºC). It took participants 20 minutes to fall asleep when they were warmer (98-99.5ºF/37-37.5ºC).

A Japanese sleep society study reported an intervention that lowered the core body temperature of participants by approximately 1ºF (0.5-0.6ºC). This resulted in a remarkably shorter time to fall asleep, an average of 8.9 minutes.

Final Verdict: Is the Purple Mattress Good for Hot Sleepers?

Overall, purchasing a mattress with cooling features can add many benefits to your overall sleep health. If you’re waking in the middle of the night feeling hot, or are struggling to fall asleep with ease at bedtime, consider changing the temperature of your bedroom, and researching other mattress options that promote cooler sleep.

If you’re deciding between different cooling constructions, you may also want to compare hybrid designs—see our detailed Purple Plus vs Saatva Classic comparison to evaluate airflow, support, and temperature regulation side by side.

Bottom line: The PurplePlus stands out for airflow and temperature control, making it one of the best options for hot sleepers who overheat on traditional memory foam.

Tips to Sleep Cooler at Night

Remember, traditional memory foam without any cooling properties will lead to a very warm sleep, as memory foam traps heat and is unable to dissipate it effectively. If you have a memory foam mattress, and are experiencing hot sleeps, look into a cooling topper that has gel, graphite or copper properties. Phase change material toppers are also great options for cooling down the body as you sleep.

If you’re ready to invest in a whole new mattress, check out the mattresses at Purple. All of their mattresses, including the PurplePlus, utilize their GelFlex Grid technology, leading to a cooler sleep each night.

Other options you may want to explore include latex mattresses and hybrid mattresses (a memory foam/innerspring coil combination).

Make sure to turn down your thermostat in the evening, signaling to your brain and body that it’s time to produce melatonin and prepare for sleep. Studies show that the ideal environmental temperature for the best sleep is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.