Solutions for slobbering

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Do you drool when you sleep? I do. To survive inside a plastic tent with a plastic bed and plastic clothing I force myself to sleep on my back. I wish there was a better solution. Is there a better solution?

[PaulW]

As a side-sleeping drooler, I almost always wake up in a puddle. It sucks doesn’t it? While camping, if I have spare clothing, especially a fleece pullover, I use it to cover whatever I’m using for a pillow. If I’m wearing all my clothing, then I use a bandana, which is something I never leave home without. I simply can’t sleep on my back, so that technique doesn’t work for me.

[Steofan M]

I stitched a fleece pillow case for the Montbell UL Comfort Pillow. I still side-sleep, snore and drool but the fleece takes care of the mess.

Thanks, Fleece Pillow Case! You are the best!

[MJ H]

One day I looked at my hiking pillow, which doesn’t have any way to hide slobber stains, and then I realized my home pillow must be like 50% spit by now. I decided not to act on that information.

[Bruce Tolley]

Keeping your mouth closed while sleeping might help.

I use a socalled “Ruby chin strap” to keep my mouth closed at night to force myself to breath through my nose and therefore mitigate snoring, sleep apnea, etc.

Search on Ruby chin strap and CPAP and you will see multiple offerings. The ones from CPAP.com cost a bit more and last a bit longer.

[MJ H]

If your mouth is strapped closed, how do you shout at animals you hear moving in the night?

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I’m pretty sure I’d still drool through my closed mouth. I do when I’m concentrating playing my violin.

I’ve used extra clothes for pillow cases, but the drooling sometimes leaves a mark. Maybe I do need a dedicated pillow case.

[Bruce Tolley]

@MJH
LOL.

Well when I am snoring really loud, I wake up thinking I have heard a bear near my head.

For those other animals, I just wake up and turn on my headlight to see them.

Is that not why we cowboy camp? To be closer to nature, especially in the dark.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I mainly drool at the sight of certain beautiful women.

Even W.C. Fields said, “Of course I like children… 22 year old female children.” Dirty old man! (OOPS!)

[Jeffs Eleven]

I made a loose fitting surgery mask type of thing from some scrap cuben and some trip tease LineLoc 3’s.  Its like a cross between a surgical mask and one of those horse-feed bags.  I can drool all night!

[Gary Dunckel]

This thread had me thinking about 5 years ago when I would take a couple of Benedryl to help me sleep better when in griz country. I quit doing it when I found that I always had a dry mouth in the morning, and I switched to melatonin. Maybe a certain dosage of an antihistamine (eg – Benedryl) could help reduce the nocturnal slobber fest a wee bit?

[David Thomas]

I find the drooling is a function of sleeping with an open mouth.  When I’m congested, I’m a nocturnal mouth-breather and drool on my pillow (one reason to put my PackTowel on the top of my pillow).  When my nasal passages are more clear, I don’t drool at night.

[Franco Darioli]

I have a pillow case made from the end of a silk liner. I stuff something inside it (fleece top/trousers/puffy top…) then make a small pillow shape and double up the end so that the side I sleep on has 3 layers of silk. Easy to wash , dries fast enough.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Seriously though, I carry a light microfiber pillowcase to fit over the top 1/4 of my mattress. Drools can easily be washed out.

Mainly I use it to keep facial oils, sunscreen and mosquito repellant from damaging my mattress fabric. The microfiber dried fast when washed and laid in the sun or clipped on my backpack.

[Kattt]

I wish I had not read these posts.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ “reduce the nocturnal slobber”

The way my dentist explained to me is that nocturnal slobbering is a combination of 1) sleeping with an open mouth and 2) the nerves inside your mouth sensing the liquid and initiating the semi autonomous response of swallowing.

If my dentist is right, an antihisaimine like benedryl might help if it cleared congestion and enabled you to breath through your nose.  Dry mouth is often caused by mouth breathing at night.

 

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Kat,  Well, now unfortunately you can’t “un-read” this thread.
Life is often messy. “Stiff upper lip and chive on” ;o)

But perhaps my pillowcase-over-mattress solution is just me being OCD.

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