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Short explanation, the thing I'm using now as my summer blanket is actually a tablecloth. I love it, it works great.

Some part of me feels like, since I am a real adult, I should use a real blanket. So what makes a good blanket for hot nights. I've heard linen as a fabric that keeps cool. What else?

Satin will always feel cool to the touch. Had a blanket like that, once. It's not very easy to keep clean, though.

I've used a towel for weight and lack of insualtion.

A vietnamese trick is a long body pillow type thing, so you can lie on your side with one arma nd leg over it and expose the max amount of skin without have sweaty limbs pressing on each other.

Natural fabrics, such as cotton, linen, and silk, are considered the best fabrics for summer, due to their ability to wick away moisture and allow evaporation. This is often referred to as "breathable" fabrics. There is also the category called "Summer Weight" fabric, which are lighter-weight fabrics with a looser weave to allow more air to circulate between you and your clothing.

Cotton also has the ability to wick away moisture (aka sweat) from the body, but as anyone who's ever been outside in a cotton tee and gotten rained on knows, it doesn't dry easily. If it's really hot outside with low humidity, this isn't a bad thing, as it creates pockets of evaporating wetness that cools you down. On a humid day with little evaporation, it's just another soaked sweaty t-shirt.

Linen isn't as good at wicking away moisture, but it doesn't hold on to moisture either. This is one reason why Linen was the underclothing of choice up until the 1800s. It was breathable, easily washable, and highly available as flax was grown everywhere. It's amusing to realize that cotton used to be the luxury fabric, and linen was something even the poorest of the poor could grow and spin. Either way, a lighter-weight linen will always be a good choice for a bedspread or blanket.

Silk. Expensive as hell, but I've heard people swear by them.

LaCroix wrote:Satin will always feel cool to the touch. Had a blanket like that, once. It's not very easy to keep clean, though.

I will say this though-- satin sheets are slippery as heck. Might just have been that we had a cheap set, but it was hard to not feel like we were sliding out of the bed when we laid down.

Elheru Aran wrote:

LaCroix wrote:Satin will always feel cool to the touch. Had a blanket like that, once. It's not very easy to keep clean, though.

I will say this though-- satin sheets are slippery as heck. Might just have been that we had a cheap set, but it was hard to not feel like we were sliding out of the bed when we laid down.

Another problem is a lot of satin now is made of polyester and other man-made fabrics, so it doesn't breathe.

I like open weave blankets for summer. Cotton sheet underneath optional.

^ this is what I mean by an open weave allowing more air to circulate and allow evaporation, which cools you down.

Bamboo fiber. Ignore the hype - yes, it's very slightly antibacterial, but not enough to matter and may not be at all depending on blend and treatment - and focus on the fabric. It's soft, it's extremely comfortable, it wicks and breathes great, and from the subtropics let me tell you, a single bamboo top sheet is all you need for a summer blanket on nights when the humidity permits anything at all to be in play. Come winter, they still feel great. It's a solid year-round option.