I am overheating on my Tempurpedic mattress, and am researching wool mattress toppers with the hope that one will keep me cooler while I sleep. My only concern is that I am very sensitive to lanolin.
This is what I do NOT want to happen:
Lanolin in the wool mattress topper gets on the cotton case that covers the topper
Lanolin that got on the topper case gets on my fitted sheet.
Now I have lanolin on my fitted sheet that makes me extremely itchy, or it’ll get on other bedding/clothing that I wash with my fitted sheet.
Has anyone heard of people experiencing reactions to lanolin in a wool mattress topper?
Most of the wool lanolin is removed during cleaning and scouring and there is more about wool allergies in this topic and at the end of post #2 here.
It can vary from person to person and from topper to topper depending on the type of wool used and how it is processed and the construction of the topper but in most cases those who are sensitive to wool or lanolin would be fine with a wool topper because they wouldn’t have any direct contact with the wool itself if it was surrounded by a cotton cover.
If you are uncertain it can also be a good idea to check if the manufacturer or retailer you are dealing with can provide sample that you can either rub or wear against your skin for a day or so to make sure that you would be fine with that specific product.
This is what I’ve tried so far. I hope this helps anyone will similar issues. My main problem is that if I sleep on my back, my back overheats and then I wake myself up scratching (I have eczema).
I went to Nest Organic Bedding in San Francisco and John guided me towards a Sleep & Beyond organic wool mattress topper. As much as I like the idea behind Holy Lamb and their business, their toppers are simply out of my price range.
I also picked up an organic cotton waffle weave blanket.
Results (after 2 nights): I’m sleeping a little bit cooler, but I’m still warmer than I would like to be. I don’t wake up drenched in sweat, but I’m still waking up warm, scooting to a cooler side of the bed, then warming up again and scooting back to a cooler spot. My boyfriend and I tried sleeping separately to eliminate his heat production as a factor, and I’m still sleeping hot.
Ideas for what I’m going to try next:
Replace the plywood boards under my mattress with peg board.
Buy a half-queen Chilipad, although given that they’re so expensive, I’m wondering if I’m better off just giving up on my Tempurpedic altogether and purchasing a new mattress. The thought of doing so hurts a little, as it was expensive and I bought it 8 years ago hoping I’d keep it for a really, really long time. But perhaps keeping it is more expense and trouble than it’s worth…
This site has been very useful and helpful. Thank you! I will post again after I try the peg board.
Outside of more “active” temperature regulation products such as the Chilipad you mentioned … this may be the “best possible” solution with a memory foam mattress for some people that are more towards the “oven” end of the “oven to iceberg” range of sleeping temperature.
Some other suggestions that can also be helpful in some cases are the type of mattress protector or the sheets and bedding you are using (see post #2 here about tracking down issues with sleeping temperature).
I’m doubtful that pegboard under the mattress will have a significant effect since the warmer air would have to go through too many foam layers to reach the pegboard but personal experience always “trumps” theory so there certainly isn’t any harm in trying it.