In order to get a good night’s sleep, the body needs to cool prior to going to bed. To cool the body, glands in the skin secrete sweat onto the surface to increase heat loss, but for cooling to be effective, this sweat then needs to be removed.
Now, James Smith, a former advertising executive, has created a range of sleepwear that has been physiologically and psychologically proven to increase sleep quality, leading to improved health and general wellbeing.
“The sleepwear we have created really does help you get a better night’s sleep, meaning you are more refreshed to face the day ahead,” says Smith.
sleepdeep has created a new fabric called SOMNOTEC, which is made from Lyocell, merino wool and elastane
What’s the problem?
Smith spent three years researching sleep and sleepwear before creating sleepdeep. He spoke with leading experts to understand the science of sleep and discovered the critical role that body temperature plays in ensuring a good quality sleep.
Studies show that room temperatures in homes now exceed 18.3°C, which is above the accepted optimum temperature for quality sleep, with the hottest rooms being those in a flat, semi-detached or end of terrace home.
“Room temperatures in our homes have risen by nearly 6° over the last 50 years and this causes us to be too warm to sleep properly. Sleeping naked is not the answer as sweat stays on the body and causes hot and cold spikes throughout the night that leads to poor quality sleep,” adds Smith.
Studies have shown that sleep deprivation or bad quality sleep can contribute to a whole range of diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental health issues and high blood pressure, costing businesses and the NHS billions of pounds.
People wearing sleepdeep fell asleep 53% faster, woke up 75% less during the night, and experienced 64% more deep sleep
SOMNOTEC
To improve sleep quality Smith developed a new fabric called SOMNOTEC, which is made from a blend of 94% natural fibres.
The innovative fabric combines ultra-fine merino wool known for its natural thermoregulatory properties with a plant-based fibre extracted from eucalyptus trees, which is capable of wicking sweat three times faster than merino alone.
Together, the fibres work efficiently to wick away sweat during the night and keep your body temperature at an optimum level for good quality sleep. The plant-based fibre is also twice as smooth as silk and gives sleepdeep an ultra-soft feel against the skin.
“The problem with traditional sleepwear is that many of the fabrics used are not good at managing thermoregulation,” says Smith. “Synthetic fabrics such as polyester are very poor at absorbing moisture, while natural fabrics such as cotton or silk are poor at evaporating moisture, so we created something that worked.
“I tried to find something that would help me sleep but while there was plenty on offer that tracked sleep quality there wasn't much that improved sleep quality, so I set about changing that. I wanted to create something that you would naturally wear for bed that helped you sleep and sleepdeep does that."
Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from poor quality sleep
Scientifically tested
sleepdeep was tested on volunteers who clocked up more than 1,000 night’s sleep before the right blend of fibres was found. The science behind the sleepwear was led by professor Vincent Walsh, a neuroscientist and sleep expert.
They found that the people wearing sleepdeep fell asleep 53% faster, woke up 75% less during the night, and experienced 64% more deep sleep.
Participants also kept sleep diaries and subjectively rated their sleep quality as 2.5 times better than when they slept naked or wore traditional sleepwear.
Sleep research shows that as adults our sleep quality gets worse as we get older, and the outlook is particularly bad for women, who are twice as likely as men to suffer from poor quality sleep.
“Insomnia is known to be a bigger problem for women, but historically over 90% of sleep research was, and still is, carried out on male subjects,” says Smith. “This is because the menstrual cycle makes it harder to measure the effects of sleep. Our scientific research ensures that sleepdeep works for everyone because it was developed on both men and women.”
Cognitive improvements
They also assessed the cognitive effects of wearing sleepdeep on women, and found that there were significant improvements on concentration, emotion, perception and decision making after wearing sleepdeep sleepwear.
"I was initially sceptical about the idea that sleepwear could improve sleep quality,” says Walsh. “After the first phase of scientific testing, the physiology and psychology of sleep were clearly improved by the absorbency and wicking properties of the textile. In addition to improving sleep quality, further testing showed significant improvements in concentration and other cognitive functions after wearing sleepdeep.”
“Finally, we carried out tactile tests – how does the fabric feel? The results of this were overwhelming. sleepdeep was chosen as the preferred fabric to the touch by 94% of our testers. At the end of the process I think it’s the most clearly applicable piece of scientific research I’ve done in 30 years, and the only one to cause me to invest in a company of any kind.”
Other significant investors in sleepdeep include Tim Ashton, one of the founding investors in British cycling brand Rapha.
“sleepdeep performance sleepwear works with the natural body clock that governs thermoregulation. It helps to maintain the cooling of the body during the night by wicking moisture from the body and preventing hot or cold spikes. During the night, a part of the brain called the hypothalamus works to cool the body in preparation for bed and continues the cooling through most of the night. sleepdeep assists this process.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s sleep science.”
