Best Early Black Friday Deals on Sleep Essentials

This duvet is now 25 percent off for Black Friday, a sale price that will most likely remain unchanged for the holiday weekend. It was the top pick for luxury comforters. (Brooklinen also makes sheets that excel in CR’s tests and are also on sale; see below.) CR tried the down comforter, but Brooklinen also carries a down alternative option, and both are available in lightweight, all-season, and ultrawarm versions—and every option is on sale. For those looking for a true down comforter that delivers on quality, warmth, and breathability, the Brooklinen is worth the splurge.

Buffy’s Cloud Comforter is the softest choice in our at-home assessment, and it’s now down to within a few dollars of the lowest price we’ve seen. Thanks to its smooth, silky feel and fluffiness, the duvet is comfortable enough to use without a duvet cover. Made of recycled materials, it’s uniformly stuffed in layers to prevent clumping and shedding. The shell material is 100 percent sateen-weave Tencel lyocell.

This duvet is made of a micro-barrier fabric meant to minimize dust and prevent bedbugs, making it CR’s pick for those with sensitive skin. Our reviewer found it very warm and with some weight to it, which may be exactly what you’re looking for. But if you toss and turn, the added weight could feel restrictive, and if you sleep warm, it may be a bit much, especially during summer. But if you prefer a warm, cozy night’s sleep and tend to stay still overnight, it could be worth a look.

The Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Loft Pillow is made of shredded memory foam and excels in our tests for support, no matter your size or sleep position. The Coop also keeps its shape well, showing little to no change in height or fluffiness in our resilience tests. Each pillow comes with extra foam, so you can adjust the filling to your liking. The only area where this pillow falls a bit short is in breathability—it sleeps slightly warm.

This StyleWell pillow, available exclusively at Home Depot, is a great option if you’re a fan of memory foam, especially at this low price. It gets top marks for side sleepers and aces our tests for breathability. The pillow also performs very well when it comes to how its firmness, height, and support change with use. If you’re a back sleeper, you may want to consider other options, however, because it gets middling scores for that type of sleeper.

This pair of microfiber pillows offers very good support for side sleepers but earns just middling scores in our back support tests. And resilience is just so-so. But if you sleep a bit warm, you can find comfort in knowing that these pillows have maximum breathability.

If you’re looking for a solid budget pick, this lightweight set from Amazon Basics could be just the right fit. These microfiber sheets earn good scores in our ratings for strength and wrinkling, but they really stand out when it comes to maintaining their fit, acing CR’s shrinkage tests.

This sheet set was recently on sale for $116, but just dropped an additional $29, making it a great time to get a new set. You’re going to experience quite a bit of wrinkling with the Hotel Collection Egyptian cotton sheets, but if you don’t mind pulling out the steamer to get your sheets smooth, you have a winner with this set. It provides a great fit for mattresses up to 10 inches thick, and it can withstand quite a bit of stretching and pulling. Plus, it aced our shrinkage test—just one of five cotton sheets in our ratings to do so.

This Brooklinen set, like the comforter listed above, is at its best price. It will fit a mattress up to 14 inches thick. Our testers note that these sheets don’t shrink as much as some other cotton sheets we tested. They earn above-average scores for both fit and shrinkage, which means that although they do tend to get smaller after washing, they don’t change all that much over time. Luxe Core sheets are on the softer side, based on our sensory test. Labels along each side that read “short side” and “long side” make clear which way to make a bed.

The Elegear Revolutionary Cooling Blanket kept us the coolest in our tests and was comfortable, soft, and well made. It features smooth Arc-Chill 3.0 Cool Fabric on one side and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton on the other side. It was recently under $30, so it may be better to wait and see if the sale price improves for Black Friday.

Sleep Number’s cooling blanket, which has dipped in price by $8 in the last week or so, has a lot to offer. It’s one of the least cooling blankets we tried, but our evaluators found its lightweight material to be sturdy, cool, and soft to the touch. And even if it’s not the most cooling, it’s so thin that it’s easy to store and is great as a lightweight addition to your bed all year.

Because the Hush Iced blanket is also a weighted blanket, it was the least effective at cooling among the blankets we evaluated for that quality. But it was also much cooler than the other weighted blankets we’ve tried, keeping the evaluator comfortable in 75° F weather. It’s also soft, smooth, and cool to the touch, and you can choose a 15- or 20-pound blanket.

The energy-efficient Airmega 300 was under $300 at Amazon during Prime Day, so this isn’t the best price you can get, but it’s still a significant savings if you need something now. This model narrowly missed the cutoff for a CR recommendation. It’s impressive at removing dust, smoke, and pollen from the air when run at its highest speed, but it’s not very effective at low speed. The model does have its benefits, though. It can handle a large room. It’s not too noisy, even at higher speeds. The controls are a cinch to operate, and the unit, as a whole, is easy to carry and clean. An indicator light tells you when it’s time to change the main filter—a task that’s also simple to do. And, finally, Coway owners are highly satisfied and consider the brand very reliable, according to our survey data.

If you don’t mind some noise, this portable air purifier from GermGuardian may be a solid option, especially with Amazon’s low price, which is the best we’ve seen. CR’s testers find that it’s really good at removing dust, pollen, and smoke particles from the air when running at high speed. But the unit is pricey to maintain because the replacement filters are relatively expensive. The model features a convenient carrying handle, easy-to-use controls, and a programmable timer.

On just about every measure, including moisture output and noise, this owl soars. It’s convenient to use, though not being able to get a hand into the tank for cleaning is a drawback. The 250-square-foot claimed coverage area is on the high end for a small-room model. Other animal figures in this Crane series include Wyatt the Fox, Puffington the Penguin, Misty the Unicorn, Sidney the Sheep, The Crane Train, Hello Kitty, Freddy the Frog, Mya the Monkey, Violet the Hippo, and Elliot the Elephant. They all perform similarly, but this is the only model on sale for a steep discount right now.

The dual-layer Casper Comfy adds a layer of softer foam to a firmer foam base. At only 20 pounds, the mattress topper is fairly easy to move around and the machine-washable zip-off cover (made of polyester, cotton, rayon, and spandex) makes it a cinch to clean. But the topper can’t be flipped.

A solid value pick, this 3-inch topper from BedStory offers a luxe feel, thanks in part to its removable quilted cover. Lab tests found that its two-layer gel-infused-foam design registers warmer, and an evaluator said that it offers a resilient surface with a medium- to medium-soft feel. Highlights include an inner encasement as well as a machine-washable cover that zips down halfway. A nonslip design on the bottom of the cover gives it an extra bit of stabilization, as do its corner straps. BedStory offers a 10-year warranty on all mattresses and toppers.

When it comes to getting more sleep, blackout curtains can be a total game-changer. The Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout Curtains are among the best we evaluated for a number of reasons. Tested in both black and white, these machine-washable panels excelled in their ability to block light and did a good job of providing insulation.

The Mzoo typically costs $23, so you’re saving only a few bucks, but either way this mask is affordable, well designed, and effective at blocking light for most face shapes and head sizes. CR’s team of evaluators had a wide range of preferences and needs, and yet most agreed that the Mzoo mask was a great option.

The JALL Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock usually costs about $40, so this is just a small discount and we’d definitely recommend waiting to see if you can get a better deal on Black Friday. It came out on top in our evaluations from an ease-of-use standpoint. It has two independent alarms (so you can set them for different times depending on your routine), seven alarm tones (including “wind bells” and birds chirping), an FM radio, and a fall-asleep mode that simulates a sunset (though no white-noise option). It was relatively easy to set up and use. According to the manufacturer, it emits a maximum light intensity of 240 lux. Tapping the snooze button will temporarily shut off both the light and the sound. (The advantage: You’re more likely to fall back asleep in the dark. The disadvantage? You’re more likely to fall back asleep in the dark.)

Want to cuddle up in your bath towel? Get the Brooklinen Super-Plush (sold in a pair), available at 25 percent off. These guys are huge. At 53 inches long and 28 inches wide, the Brooklinen towel is what you want to wrap yourself in when the temps are below freezing and the thought of stepping out of a steaming warm shower onto an ice-cold floor chills your heart. These towels were the most absorbent in our evaluation, but they also took the longest to dry.