The search for comfort appears to be backfiring, with new mattresses causing their owners to overheat in bed.

So which mattresses should you watch out for?

The average Australian spends 27 years in bed over their lifetime - so investing in the right mattress matters.

• Choosing the right pillow
• Mattresses put to the test
• How clean is your bed?

Deidree thought she was doing just that - spending $3000 on the latest pillow top.

“When you first get in it is quite comfortable, and then after about 45 minutes for some reason I start to feel the heat, and the tingling, and then it hits you like a burst,” Deidree said of her new purchase.

Desperate for answers Deidre convinced the manufacturer to come and alter the bed - cutting off the cushy pillow top layer which was supposed to make the bed firmer and cooler. However nothing they tried worked.

More stories from reporter Madeleine Kennard

“If you touch the bed where your body has been, it was like the electric blanket was on multi high - you would not believe how hot it is. I believe it gets into the mid range of forties,” Deidree said.

Lindy is a fellow sleep deprived sufferer, who spent $5000 on a bed, which is more like an oven.

“There has become a definite pattern of when I am uncomfortably hot on what is now appearing to be a pillow top mattress,” Lindy said.

It's a common complaint.

Bedding expert Andrew Waters, from Alexandria Harvey Norman says some bedding materials naturally circulate airflow and are cooler to sleep on than others.

“They absorb heat from the body, and how they dissipate the heat will determine whether you are going to feel warm in it or not,” Waters said.

“If you had a really thick pillow top you are going to sink into it more. Some people really like the feel of that and that is what they are after. They want to feel like they have been encased in their bed. It is like pulling on a woolly jumper.”

There are four main types of materials used in mattresses. Inner spring styles start from $1000. For a natural rubber latex bed, or a latex blend, expect to pay around $3000 plus.

Memory foam - a manmade foam developed from polyurethane - will cost around $5000.

A recent Choice survey revealed latex has the worst reputation for heat retention. The perforations in the core are small and don't allow for much airflow.

Alan Beard produces 7000 mattresses a week and says the solution for hot sleepers is the aero flex fabric which creates 31 per cent better airflow.

“With this aero flex, we did develop it because we do have customers who do suffer from heat retention, or they are hot sleepers, so we started testing with this to put on top of beds to reduce some of that,” Beard said.

Gel is another effective solution for hot sleepers according to Tim Simon from Cool Gelmat.

“A gel product can suck that heat out of you and it gets transferred into the gel. The best thing about gel it can re-cool itself over and over again,” Simon said.

• A.H. Beard - www.ahbeard.com.au
• Cool Gelmat - www.coolgelmat.com.au
• Harvey Norman - www.harveynorman.com.au