Why You Can Trust CNET Avocado Mattress Review: Organic With a Luxury Feel
The Avocado Green is probably the most-well-known bed in the organic mattress world. Here's what it's like to sleep on it.
Avocado Green mattress
Score Breakdown
Like
- Organic materials
- Firm, but not too firm
- Comfortable in most sleeping positions
- Great edge support
Don't like
- Motion transfer isn't great
- May be too firm for lighter people
Product details
- Type Latex Hybrid
- Firmness 7 or medium-firm with the pillow top (9 or firm without)
- Trial 365 nights
- Warranty 25-year limited warranty
Avocado has been leading the way in the organic mattress world, largely by making products in its own California-based facility and maintaining control over the entire supply chain. Unlike conventional mattresses, organic mattresses are made with natural materials like wool and latex, plus they're free of any potentially toxic foams, chemical fire retardants or off-gassing materials. Avocado currently makes seven different mattresses, plus bedding, bed frames and furniture.
When I tried out the original Avocado Green mattress for myself, I found that it either met or exceeded my expectations in almost all categories. Keep reading our in-depth Avocado mattress review to find out if the Green mattress is the best choice for you.
Video: Avocado Mattress Review
Watch CNET video producer Owen Poole review the Avocado Green mattress.
First impressions of the Avocado mattress
The Avocado Green mattress decompressed pretty much instantly upon unboxing, and it let off zero off-gassing smell. When I laid down for the first time, I immediately felt comfortable and relaxed. It wasn't too soft or too firm, and I felt well-supported. As I shifted into each of the different sleeping positions, they all felt nice, but my favorite position (stomach) felt best for me as usual. I noticed that the mattress wasn't too firm to accommodate my softer body parts.
Avocado mattress firmness and feel
How firm is the Avocado Green mattress?
With the optional pillow top component, I rate this mattress a seven out of 10 on the firmness scale, which means it has a medium-firm feel (called "gentle firm" on the Avocado site). This is great for anyone experiencing back pain, or heavier sleepers or if you're a back or stomach sleeper. Without the pillow-top, the Avocado Green is around a nine out of 10.
The Avocado Green's firmness profile also makes it perfect for a stomach sleeper or back sleeper, so it makes sense that I felt most comfy in that position.
The Avocado Green mattress can come with an optional pillow top for those that like a softer feel.
What does the Avocado Green mattress feel like?
The main comfort material in an Avocado Green mattress is organic latex. It's an interesting material because it's soft and supple, but also very supportive and durable. It gives the mattress a comforting, pressure relieving and doesn't pull you into its layers like memory foam does.
Instead, the Avocado Green is pretty bouncy. The pocketed coil layer found in the base of the mattress also gives the mattress some bounce. If you opt for the optional pillow top, it'll be a little more cushy and plush.
Avocado Green mattress construction
With any organic mattress, materials are an important factor to consider. The Avocado Green mattress consists of eco-friendly natural materials, including certified organic Dunlop latex, GOTS organic wool and organic cotton, as well as an innovative innerspring mattress unit with five strategic support zones. Due to the design of the innerspring unit and the support zones, the Avocado Green need never be flipped. Rather, it is recommended that you rotate it.
The breathable, organic cotton cover is the first part you'll notice upon unboxing, and the rosettes on top of it are a lovely touch. (Watch your cat around them if you have a mischievous boy like mine -- he managed to unravel one before I realized I needed to keep the mattress covered in his presence.)
These hand-tufted rosettes hold the mattress together without the need for glues or adhesives.
These wool rosettes are actually the end result of ribbons that have been pulled through more than 30 locations inside the mattress. This process holds the layers together without the need for toxic glues or adhesives. Both clever and attractive, the process is officially called "needle-tufting," a technique that originated in the 17th century, per Avocado.
Inside the mattress are two layers of organic latex, two inches of which can be found on the upper comfort layer, plus a one-inch layer in the base. Between those layers are the covered pocketed coils and a few inches of cushy organic wool.
There are two upholstered handles sewn onto both sides of the Avocado mattress, which make it much easier to move it around. You can't see them underneath a fitted sheet either. Nice!
Avocado Green mattress performance
Temperature comfort
I am a bona fide hot sleeper, and I found myself very comfortable lying on this mattress, staying cool throughout the night without a single thought about being too warm. I suspect it's the combination of the latex and coil springs that promote optimal breathability in the Avocado mattress, allowing it to remain cool all night.
Edge support
I tried sitting on and lying close to the edges of the Avocado Green to test the edge support, and felt nicely supported on each area of the mattress. I didn't feel like I was going to roll off at any point while I slept on it, either. This didn't really surprise me after reading about the Avocado Green mattress on the company website, where it notes that the supportive coils are arranged all the way to the edges of the mattress.
Motion transfer
The mattress didn't perform extremely well for my motion isolation testing, which clashed with my expectations from others' reviews about it. As I slowly moved around or rose to stand up from the bed, I noticed the flat-bottomed glass of water I had placed beside me could not be trusted to remain upright. The Avocado Green had very little to brag about motion transfer-wise, at least in the twin size. This is fine with me as I sleep alone, but may not be a great attribute if your sleeping partner is restless on a larger mattress.
Durability
The Avocado Green mattress uses strong steel coils and latex foam, making it one of the more durable mattresses you can buy. Latex foam is more durable than poly and memory foam, and steel coils add even more support and durability to a mattress.
Eco-friendly features of the Avocado mattress
Avocado works in too many eco-friendly ways to name all of them here, but here are just some of the ways it's earned a reputation as one of the top eco-friendly mattress brands on the market.
- Its primary materials (organic cotton, wool and latex) are 100% certified organic.
- Avocado makes all of its products in a California factory, which runs on renewable energy.
- Avocado's mattresses have earned a slew of environmental certifications. All of the mattresses are Greenguard Gold certified -- guaranteeing low emissions -- and they're Fair Trade Certified.
- The company owns or co-owns its entire supply chain, including part of a farmer's society in India where it makes its own natural latex, which is later processed in a co-owned facility. Wool is grown in its own Himalayan herding collective of over 200,000 sheep on over 40,000 hectares of organic pasture.
The Avocado Green is pricier than some conventional bed-in-a-box mattresses, but worth the money.
Avocado Green mattress pricing
Avocado mattress pricing
| Size | Measurements (inches) | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | 38x75 inches | $1,099 |
| Twin XL | 38x80 inches | $1,199 |
| Full | 54x74 inches | $1,399 |
| Queen | 60x80 inches | $1,599 |
| King | 76x80 inches | $2,099 |
| Cal king | 72x84 inches | $2,099 |
Starting at $999 for a twin size, this natural mattress is slightly pricier than some other bed-in-a-box brands. But the high-quality materials and eco-conscious perks make it worth the price, if you can afford it. Like organic fruits and vegetables are more expensive at the grocery store, so are organic and natural mattresses, considering the extra care it took to manufacture the beds. Every once in a while, you can catch an Avocado promo. Right now, Avocado is offering discounts in honor of Cyber Monday. You can also check out the other current promotions on our best mattress deals page.
Avocado trial, shipping and warranty
You can get free shipping or pay extra for in-home service if you'd like Avocado workers to assemble your new bed and remove your old mattress for you.
When you purchase an Avocado mattress, you get a fullone-year sleep trial. This means you can try sleeping on it for an entire year before you decide whether you really want to keep it or not -- yep, that's 365 days. If you don't like it, get in touch with Avocado and it will make arrangements for your refund and mattress pickup. Be sure to keep the mattress in good condition, because it will most likely be donated to someone else. You also get a 25-year warranty, free shipping and returns.
The Avocado Green mattress is available in twin, twin XL, full, queen, king and California king sizes.
The final verdict on the Avocado mattress
In conclusion, if the Avocado Green mattress is in your price range for a new organic mattress, I highly recommend it.
You might like the Avocado Green mattress if:
- You sleep on your back or stomach.
- You have a larger body (up to 350 pounds).
- Organic, eco-friendly or fair trade products are important to you.
- You have allergies or health concerns.
- You have back pain.
- You prefer a medium-firm feel to your mattress (it's a latex hybrid mattress, so there is some "bounce" to it; if you like that feel, this is for you).
You might not like the Avocado Green mattress if:
- You sleep on your side.
- You share a bed with a partner who moves a lot.
- You're on a strict budget.
- You weigh less than 130 pounds (you may find it too firm).
- You prefer a vegan mattress (Avocado does make a vegan version, though, which is made without wool).
How does the Avocado Green mattress compare to other beds?
Avocado vs. Casper
The Casper Original mattress is a popular foam bed from one of the best-known bed-in-a-box brands in the industry. The Casper uses poly foam rather than latex foam, giving it a lighter and airier feel. It also has a zoned layer that's firmer under your back for added support and softer under your shoulders and hips for increased pressure relief. The Casper Original is also a bit softer than the Avocado Green, landing around a medium on the firmness scale.
Avocado vs. Nectar
In the story of the Avocado versus Nectar, you have two very different mattresses. The Nectar mattress is a thick, all-foam memory foam bed that's pressure relieving and slow to respond to pressure. The Avocado Green, on the other hand, is ultra bouncy and responsive. The Nectar feels more like a Tempur-Pedic mattress and has a medium-firm profile. The Nectar mattress is more affordable, but the Avocado Green is going to sleep cooler because of its more breathable materials.
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