Got a question about featherbeds...

[moosmom]

When I bought my bed, I bought a featherbed to put on top to make it cushier. Are they supposed to be taken off when the weather gets warmer? I don't know much about them and because the weather is so hot and humid it's making me sweat in my sleep.

[pomtzu]

Don't know about the featherbed, but my down pillow does the same for me, and my head sweats like crazy using it in the warmer weather. I can't do without it tho, so I just wrap a heavy bath towel around it, and that takes care of the problem. Maybe there is some kind of cover you can get for it that would produce the same results for you.
Good luck..............

[Catty1]

Try a light blanket or even just a sheet instead. I can't imagine using a down comforter where I am unless it's below the freezing point!

[sirrahbed]

I take mine off in the winter, Donna. When it is hot, I think smooth sheets feel cooler than the featherbed topper. You might also try putting a mattress pad *over* the featherbed.

[moosmom]

I've got a mattress pad over the featherbed AND a visco-elastic topper. I think tomorrow I'm going to take the featherbed off. I'm sure it'll be cooler. Thanks everybody!!

[Barbara]

Down or featherbeds are the standard here- but in summer I only use a sheet. (I used to leave the down bed at the end of the bed so that Filou could have his nest in there.)

[moosmom]

Barb,

Filou was one lucky boy!!! Thanks for the advice. I actually slept like a log last night, no sweat. I think sleep deprivation had ALOT to do with it considering I don't remember falling asleep.

[Cataholic]

I have slept with a feather mattress (actually, it is a tick, not a mattress, what we call 'topper') for years and years. I have never taken off the topper in the summer, or any other time, except when J was an infant and I was worried about SIDS.

I also have a feather comforter that stays, like Barbara, at the foot of my bed in the really hot weather.

Feather/down is an insulator...both ways...it is kind of like people that shave their dogs/cats in the summer. That fur has an insulating effect both in the cold AND the heat. I think the feather mattress serves a purpose in the summer.

[sirrahbed]

I keep thinking about this topic and wondering *why* that mattress topper just does not feel right in summer - no reason that it should be hot since it is *under* us in this case - but I can't stand it in summer. There is just something more cooling about smooth sheets that you can't feel with the feather topper. In winter, however, it is SO COZY!!!

I am thinking that the European featherbeds go *over* like covers?......what Americans call down or feather comforters/duvets? Or do they go both under AND over? In summer, I still like my down comforter because it is so light and cool.

[Asiel]

I leave mine on year round because we have the a/c. I store the down comforter though. I think sweating and not sleeping has a lot to do with how tired you are and what you have for supper - I know I'll sweat to death even with the a/c if I have a heavy supper so I try to watch what I eat...key word "try". As for pillows I need the down pillows , anything else is just not comfy.

[kitten645]

It presents warmth during the winter months by trapping entire body heat; a down feather bed will also retain you cool in summer. It's a natural product. Ducks don't shed in summer
Claudia