Why You Can Trust CNET Avocado Mattress Review: Organic With a Luxury Feel
The Avocado Green is a top-ranking bed in the organic mattress industry. Here's what it's like to sleep on this luxurious hybrid mattress made of natural materials.
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 isolation isn't great
- May be too firm for lighter individuals
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 is one of the top organic mattress companies in the market and has been awarded many certifications thanks to its use of natural and eco-friendly materials. While conventional mattresses give off that new mattress smell for a while, the natural materials in an organic mattress prevent those smells. These mattresses are also hypoallergenic, meaning the materials are naturally moisture-wicking and resistant to allergen buildup. There are several different bed options with Avocado, including an entirely vegan mattress. Buyers can also find bedding and furniture, including bed frames.
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 review to determine if the Avocado 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. I immediately felt comfortable and relaxed when lying down for the first time. It wasn't too soft or too firm, and I felt well-supported. As I shifted into each sleeping position, they all felt nice, but my favorite position (stomach) felt best for me, as usual. I noticed that the mattress wasn't too firm and felt accommodating for pressure points like my shoulders and hips.
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, 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 on the firmness scale.
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 feeling, and you won't sink down into the layers like memory foam.
Instead, the Avocado Green is pretty bouncy. The pocketed coil layer found in the base of the mattress also gives it some bounce. If you choose to add the optional pillow top, it'll be a little more cushy and plush.
Avocado Green mattress construction
With any mattress, materials are an important factor to consider. The Avocado Green consists of natural materials, including certified organic Dunlop latex and GOTS organic wool and cotton. It also boasts 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. Instead, it is recommended that you rotate it.
The breathable, organic cotton cover is the first part you'll notice upon unboxing, and the needle-tufted rosettes on top are a lovely touch. I would recommend watching 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 the layers in up to 24 different locations on the mattress. This process keeps the layers together without using toxic glues or adhesives. Both clever and attractive, the process is 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 makes 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 promotes 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
Here are a few of the ways Avocado has 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
| Size | Measurements (inches) | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | 38x75 inches | $1,399 |
| Twin XL | 38x80 inches | $1,499 |
| Full | 54x74 inches | $1,699 |
| Queen | 60x80 inches | $1,999 |
| King | 76x80 inches | $2,699 |
| Cal king | 72x84 inches | $2,699 |
Starting at $1,399 for a twin size, this natural mattress is pricier than 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 produce at the grocery store, organic and natural mattresses are more expensive, considering the extra care it took to manufacture the beds. Every once in a while, you can catch an Avocado promo. 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 in most states, and there's even an option to pay a little extra for in-home service if you'd like Avocado workers to assemble your new bed and remove your old mattress for you.
You'll get a full one-year sleep trial when you purchase an Avocado mattress. 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, simply contact Avocado to make arrangements for your refund and mattress pickup (which will incur a fee of $99). We recommend trying your best to keep the mattress in good condition because it will likely be donated to someone else if it is returned. Your mattress also comes with a 25-year limited warranty.
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 made without wool).
How does the Avocado Green mattress compare to other beds?
Avocado vs. Leesa
The Leesa Original mattress is a popular all-foam bed from one of the most well-known bed-in-a-box brands in the industry. The Leesa Original uses poly foam rather than latex foam, giving it a lighter and more neutral feel. It also has a memory foam layer for added pressure relief. The Leesa Original is also a bit softer than the Avocado Green, landing around a medium on the firmness scale.
Avocado vs. Nectar
You have two very different mattresses when comparing Avocado versus Nectar. The Nectar mattress is a thick, all-foam memory foam bed that's pressure-relieving and slow to respond. 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.