A sleep mask for night shift workers

You get home at 8am. The sun is up, the street is waking, and your bedroom blinds glow at the edges. A sleep mask for night shift workers has a longer job than one for night sleepers: it has to keep daylight out for seven or eight hours, through every time you turn over, and it has to be clean enough to wear again tomorrow.

Worth knowing before you read on: we make a flat cotton sleep mask. This guide covers what matters for day sleep in general, and it's clear about what a mask can't do for shift work, ours included.

What to look for in a sleep mask for night shift workers

• It deals with the nose gap, where daylight gets in first.
• It stays put through a long sleep and many changes of position.
• The fabric is easy to wear for hours, in a room the afternoon sun has warmed.
• You can wash it often, because you wear it every sleep.
• You have two. One to wear while the other dries.

If you want to see what night shift workers on Reddit use, we've gathered the recurring recommendations and complaints in a separate post.

Sleeping when the sun is up

Your body clock expects light to mean morning. When you finish a night shift, the sun is telling it to wake up just as you're trying to sleep. That's why the advice for day sleepers starts with light.

UCLA Health's guide to coping with shift work says night shift workers should "avoid daylight when you come off work and go to bed," and suggests dark sunglasses can help. The Sleep Foundation's guide to sleeping during the day recommends blackout curtains first, and adds that "an eye mask may also be effective." It also notes that most adults aged 18 to 64 need at least seven hours of sleep every 24 hours, whenever those hours fall.

So the darkness starts before you reach the bedroom and has to last the whole sleep. The mask is the last layer.

Why blinds and curtains leave gaps

Blackout curtains are worth having, but they rarely fit perfectly, and at noon the gaps are the bright part.

• The sides. Unless the rail wraps around to the wall, a strip of daylight runs down each edge.
• The top. Light spills over a rod or through the space above a blind.
• The middle. Two panels that meet rarely close completely, and a draft opens them further.

A mask deals with all of those at once, because it works at your eyes rather than the window. It has its own gap, though: a flat band stretched across your nose leaves a small triangle of space on each side. With the sun up, that's often the brightest thing you see. Look for a mask with a flap or a shaped panel that sits inside the gap, not a straight band across it. There's more on flat vs contoured masks if you're choosing a shape as well.

A mask that survives turning over for eight hours

The day brings more interruptions than the night. You wake to a delivery, a neighbor's mower, a phone. Each time, you roll over, and each time, the mask gets pushed against the pillow.

A contoured mask with molded cups tends to shift when you're on your side, because the outer cup meets the pillow first. A flat mask has nothing to push back. We've gone through the mechanics in why a mask needs to be flat for side sleeping, so the short version here:

• Flat, with no cups, so turning over doesn't lever the mask off your face.
• A wide strap that goes all the way round, which spreads the hold instead of relying on one thin elastic that loosens over a long sleep.
• Nothing hard at the side, so you can lie on it for hours.

Fabric against your skin for a long sleep

Over eight hours, the side facing your skin matters more than the outside. Cotton breathes and absorbs moisture. Dense foam holds warmth close to your face, which you notice more in a bedroom the afternoon sun has warmed. The Sleep Foundation suggests a cool room for day sleep, and a breathable mask fits with that. It won't cool you down, though, and nothing we make claims to.

Rotating two masks around a hand-wash routine

A mask you wear every day picks up skin oils, sweat and anything left on your face. It's worth washing often, and a lot of fabric masks, DOZZI included, are hand wash only.

For DOZZI, the care label says hand wash in cold water, lay it flat to dry, and keep it out of prolonged direct sun. That last part rules out the sunny windowsill. Dried indoors, a padded cotton mask may not be ready by your next sleep.

Two masks solve it. A simple rotation:

1. Wear one this week, kept on the nightstand.
2. Wash it on your day off, in cold water, then roll it in a towel to press out most of the water.
3. Lay it flat to dry somewhere out of direct sun, and switch to the second mask that sleep.
4. Swap back once the first is dry, and wash the other.

You never put on a damp mask or go without one.

How DOZZI fits a day sleeper

The DOZZI Sleep Mask is a flat cotton mask. Here's what that means for sleeping in daylight:

• A ribbed, shaped nose panel that sits in the gap beside your nose, to help reduce the light that leaks in there.
• Flat, with no eye cups, so there's nothing to push into the pillow when you turn onto your side or stomach.
• About 44 grams, light enough to stop noticing over a long sleep.
• A wrap strap of about 73.5 cm (29 inches) that closes all the way round with quiet hook-and-loop. There's no hard buckle or thin elastic at the back of your head, and it adjusts to different head sizes.
• 95% cotton, 5% spandex, breathable and moisture-absorbing on the side against your skin, and padded where it rests.

It comes in Apricot and Black, alone or in 2- and 3-packs, and you can mix the colors. Black is the one if you'd like a plain black mask. If it isn't for you, email us within 30 days for a refund. You keep the mask.

For a mask to wear and one to wash, get a 2-pack for your rotation.

What a mask can't fix about shift work

Light is one reason day sleep is hard. It isn't the only one, and a mask only handles that part.

Noise. The day is louder, and a mask does nothing for sound. The Sleep Foundation and UCLA Health both suggest earplugs or white noise.

Timing. UCLA Health advises night shift workers to keep the same sleep schedule every day, days off included, so the body clock has one pattern to settle into. That's hard in practice, and it's the subject of a night shift sleep schedule. The rest of the room, from temperature to screens, is in our guide to setting up your bedroom for day sleep.

Your body clock itself. Some people never fully adjust to working nights. The Sleep Foundation reports that roughly 18.5% of night shift workers meet the criteria for insomnia, compared with 8.6% of day shift workers. Cleveland Clinic describes shift work sleep disorder as a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, with trouble sleeping when you need to and heavy sleepiness when you need to be awake. It estimates it affects 10% to 40% of people who work nontraditional shifts.

No mask treats that. If you're sleeping badly for weeks despite a dark room, you're dozing off at work or on the drive home, or you need something to get to sleep most days, talk to a doctor. A sleep specialist can help with light timing, schedules and whether medication makes sense.

Night shift sleep mask questions

What is the best sleep mask for night shift workers?

One that keeps daylight out at the nose, stays put through a long sleep with a lot of turning over, and is comfortable against your skin for hours. For most side and stomach sleepers, that's a flat mask with a nose flap or panel and a wide strap. Buy two, so one can dry after washing.

How should I sleep if I work night shift?

Keep the same sleep time every day where you can, block daylight on the way home and in the bedroom, and deal with noise as well as light. Blackout curtains plus a mask covers most of the light. If it still isn't working after a few weeks, talk to a doctor.

What is the best sleep aid for someone who works night shifts?

Start with the things that don't need a prescription: darkness, quiet and a steady schedule. For melatonin or medication, ask a doctor or pharmacist first, because what suits you depends on your schedule and your health. We'll cover sleep aids for night shift workers in more depth.

Do I need blackout curtains if I wear a sleep mask?

They work best together. Curtains keep the room dim if you get up, and a mask covers the gaps they leave. If you can only get one now, a mask is the cheaper start.

How often should I wash a sleep mask I wear every day?

Often, since it spends hours against your face. Follow the care label. DOZZI is hand wash in cold water and lay flat to dry, out of direct sun. Keeping two masks means you can wash one without skipping a sleep.

Day sleep asks more of a mask: more light, more hours, more washing. Choose one that seals at the nose and stays flat when you turn, keep a second for wash day, and treat it as one part of the plan. The rest is your body clock, and if you've found the opposite, that you rest more easily in daylight, there's more on why you sleep better during the day.