The winning bath formula for a good night’s sleep, according to a new survey

Water coming out of a tap into a bubble bath

Credit: Getty

Strong Women


The winning bath formula for a good night’s sleep, according to a new survey

By Lauren Geall

2 years ago

2 min read

Struggling to fall asleep? Give your body a helping hand with these tips for enjoying the perfect pre-bedtime bath. 


There’s nothing quite like a hot bath before bed to get you feeling relaxed and cosy. Whether you’re a fan of lots of bubbles or favour bath salts and scented oils, it’s the perfect way to wind down and enjoy some much-deserved ‘me time’ after a busy day.

But having a hot bath before bed isn’t just a nice experience – it can benefit your sleep, too. Research has shown that having a hot shower or bath before bed can speed up the time it takes to fall asleep due to the drop in core body temperature that occurs afterwards.

A similar drop in body temperature occurs naturally as the body prepares for sleep (it triggers the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin), so by forcing this drop in temperature, we’re giving our bodies the sign that it’s time to enter sleep mode. It’s for this reason that so many experts recommend warm baths and other relaxing activities to patients struggling with their sleep.

But according to new research from Victorian Plumbing, the temperature of the water isn’t the only deciding factor when it comes to enjoying a sleep-friendly bath.

The study of 20 men and women saw the participants tasked with taking baths of different durations and involving different activities to see which helped their sleep the most.

In terms of duration, the brand found that the ideal bath length for women looking to improve their sleep was 30 minutes; men needed a much shorter 19 minutes to feel the benefits.  

The research also set out to investigate the bath-time activities that produced the most sleep-boosting results, finding that reading a book and listening to music were the two most effective activities for sleep. Doing nothing and listening to a podcast came in third and fourth, while watching TV and scrolling on your phone took the two bottom spots.

While the study’s incredibly small sample size means we should take the results with a pinch of salt, it’s nice to know how we can make our pre-bedtime bath as sleep-friendly as possible.

Sleep is one of those things that’s not entirely within our control, but there are things we can do to help our body do its job where possible. Running yourself a bubble bath and reading for half an hour may not completely transform your sleep, but it could have positive benefits. And at the end of the day, having a relaxing bath before bed isn’t exactly the most taxing task in the world – so why not give it a go? 


Images: Getty

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