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Today we’re going to take a look at one of the best natural mattresses on the market – the Avocado.
We’ve got a lot of materials and questions to cover here today, so we’re not going to beat around the bush with a long-winded introduction…
Let’s get started.
Key Components Of An Avocado Mattress
Let’s dive right into this product and get our teeth into the most interesting and most important section of this review – the construction breakdown. We’re going to take a look at this product layer by layer to see what you’re getting inside for your money. We’ll tell you what we like (and don’t like about each material), how natural it is, and how it works with the rest of the mattress as a whole.
As you may have already guessed, this is a hybrid mattress. What this means is that it uses different layers of different materials all stacked on top of one another. This allows a final product to be created that benefits from all of the strengths of its different materials while compensating for any of their weaknesses at the same time.
Pillow Top (Optional)
Avocado allows all of their mattresses to be upgraded to a pillow top version, which we strongly recommend you consider. As the name suggests, this is essentially a huge pillow that is stitched permanently on to the top of the mattress.
It’s filled with pure natural latex (which we will talk about later in this construction break down) and it’s extremely comfortable. It transforms this from a reasonably luxurious product into a resort-style presidential suite mattress – if you can afford the extra $200 to $300, you’re not going to regret upgrading.
New Zealand Wool
This is one of the softest upper layers we’ve ever come across on a mattress – and best of all, it’s completely natural. This soft thick layer is made from 100% pure New Zealand wool and the product really benefits from the properties it provides.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of a high-quality wool top section to a mattress like this. Wool is still one of the most desirable materials used in clothing, bedding, and mattress design – despite all the technological advancements we’ve made with artificial materials.
It’s naturally breathable, which means that air can move in and out of the mattress easily – providing excellent levels of ventilation. The wicking properties of wool are also exceptional, and this means that any sweat that enters the mattress throughout the night will be quickly drawn away from the sleeper – keeping things comfortable.
One of the biggest problems with using natural wool in a mattress like this is the potential fire hazard it can cause. Wool is one of the most flammable materials that can be used in mattress design, and normally it requires the use of some pretty hard-core chemicals to make it flame retardant enough to meet today’s strict safety standards.
However, these flame retardant chemicals are not eco-friendly, and they are not good for the environment…
Which is why the Avocado doesn’t use them.
Instead, they have used Jooma New Zealand wool, which is naturally a good flame retardant (compared to normal wool). There’s no artificial additives or chemicals inside of it whatsoever, and as an added bonus – it’s hypoallergenic too (so it’s great for people with allergies).
Silica Fire Retardant
Despite the Jooma wool in the layer above being much better than normal wool in terms of fire protection – it’s not quite good enough on its own to make the entire product safe enough. Avocado needed to provide more flame retardant materials to ensure that their customers (and their insurers) can sleep safe and sound each and every night.
Note: If you’re wondering why this is such a problem for the Avocado when other products generally don’t make a big deal about being flame retardant – it’s because they are creating an all natural product. Making almost any material resistant to fire is a trivial task if you don’t mind soaking it in harmful chemicals – when you’re trying to be eco-friendly, it’s much more difficult.
This layer has been included to provide the protection required. It’s made from naturally hydrated silica, which is an organic material that is often used in food products. It has been rated as “Generally Recognised As Safe” for consumption by the USDA. It’s been tested for toxicity and carcinogens several times – and no negative consequences have been found from ingesting this material (so it’s safe to say you’re going to be fine lying on it underneath a thick layer of cotton and wool).
The silica works hand in hand with the flame retardant wool above to provide the protection this mattress desperately needed. It turns it from a potential tinderbox, into a mattress that can compete with any other chemical based products on the market in terms of fire safety.
Dunlop Latex Foam
Latex is one of the best natural materials that can be used in mattress design, and it’s also one of the most expensive.
The raw materials for Latex come from rubber trees and there are countless miles of forests all over the world (mainly in South East Asia) that are grown specifically for this purpose. The sap of the rubber tree is what contains the materials needed to make latex, and it’s drawn from the tree in a sustainable way that does not permanently damage it.
Fun Fact: Because of the amount of carbon dioxide that a rubber tree absorbs throughout its life, latex foam is almost a carbon neutral material – even when processing is taken into account.
There are two main ways that you can process this raw sap into latex foam, one is called the Dunlop method and the other is called the Talalay method.
The Dunlop method is the oldest and simplest method of creating latex foam. It uses less chemicals, it can be formed into massive sheets, and it creates the most eco-friendly version of the material.
The Talalay method is the most recent kind of way to make latex foam. It improves upon Dunlop latex slightly as it’s a little softer and it contours more. The flip side of this is that the process is much more resource intensive, it’s much more expensive, and it’s much worse for the environment. Additionally, Talalay latex can currently only be made in a limited size without it becoming too expensive to be a viable material. As such Talalay products often glue several sections of latex together to create a mattress sized final product.
Because Avocado wanted to make the most eco-friendly product on the market – they have decided to use the original Dunlop construction method for their latex.
Natural latex has a huge amount of properties that inherently make it suitable for mattress design. Most notably it has some contouring properties that are reasonably similar to memory foam.
Note: Don’t expect the magic contouring properties of memory foam to be recreated in this layer exactly – because that’s not what latex is like. However, there’s a certain similarity to the two materials, and it’s very supportive.
Latex is much better than many other materials (including memory foam) in terms of thermal regulation. The material has no pockets of air or other ways for heat to get trapped and cause hotspots throughout the night – it wants to naturally distribute heat throughout the entire mattress. This works hand in hand with the breathability of latex and the huge amount of airflow that it promotes through its natural structure.
Latex is also a very responsive foam – which is one of the reasons that many chemical-based products still opt to use the material in their hybrid design patterns. When you get into a pure foam product that doesn’t have latex in it, you can sometimes feel like you’re just kind of sinking into the mattress like quicksand. There’s no push back of any kind, and while it’s not going to be a deal breaker for most people – it’s an unnatural feeling.
Latex, however, doesn’t have this problem, it’s well known for the little reassuring bounce that it gives to a mattress – and the Avocado benefits from its inclusion massively.
Pocketed Coils
This section is the most important and interesting section of the whole mattress – which is quite a statement considering the ingenuity that has gone into making a mattress of this quality from only natural materials.
Many people get independent (or pocketed) coils mixed up with innerspring mattresses – which is a shame, because they are entirely different things with different levels of performance.
Innerspring mattresses are the oldest kind of spring based mattress in the world. They have been used in some form or another for countless years, and throughout that time they haven’t really changed all that much in their design. Different materials and improvements have come along, but more or less – they’re the same thing.
The way innerspring mattresses work is that they’ve got a number of coils inside of them, all the coils are connected to the coils next to them – usually by a strong wire. This interconnected matrix of coils is then usually connected to a firm outer frame for stability.
When you lie down on an innerspring mattress all the coils are going to compress – regardless of if you are directly lying on them or not (because they are all connected). This means that the shape that is created in the layer is more like a “dip” than something that resembles your body shape. It’s not very accurate, and it’s not very supportive – but up until a decade or so ago, it’s all we had.
Independent coils (or pocketed coils) are the latest iteration of spring based mattress technology. As the name suggests, in these products the coils are not connected to any other coil in the layer. This means that they will only compress if you are lying directly on top of them – you could drive a car over one side of this mattress and the coils on the other side would remain completely uncompressed.
This means that the shape in the layer is much more representative of your body shape. It’s kind of like the contouring effect you get from memory foam, but it’s using coils instead (and it’s much less accurate too – but you get the idea). This independent system provides huge amounts of support compared to an innerspring, and it’s much more comfortable too.
Note: We’re not talking about a small improvement here, the difference is like comparing some normal comfort foam to advanced memory foam. It’s almost like an entirely different material.
This independent coil technology is more than enough to provide the levels of support you’d expect from a product in this price bracket, but Avocado haven’t stopped there. They’ve included a zoned support system.
There are 3 separate sections in this pocketed coil layer, each has a different kind of spring in it. There are soft springs, medium springs, and firm springs and they have been specifically configured to provide benefits for side sleepers.
Because side sleepers have the unhealthiest spinal alignment, they need more support in some areas of their body, and less support in others to rectify the issue.
Zoned systems like this are an amazingly simple yet super effective design pattern that isn’t unique to Avocado – but they are far from standard. Avocado is the only natural mattress brand that uses a system like this that revolves around springs (as far as we know) and we take our hats off to them for including it. It’s exceptional.
The material that the coils in this layer are made from fits in nicely with the eco-friendly natural ethos of the brand too. It’s all made from recycled (or upcycled) material that has been ethically sourced while being manufactured with reasonably environmentally friendly methodologies.
High-Density Latex Foam
The base of this product is the most boring layer of all – which is pretty standard across all mattresses. It’s made from a higher density of latex foam that’s very similar to the latex we talked about above.
It provides very little support, and its main purpose is to provide a bit of stable padding for the coiled section above to rest on so it’s not in direct contact with the bed frame. It’s an unsung hero that quietly does its job well so the rest of the mattress can get on with the business of giving you a good night’s sleep.
Avocado Mattress Coupons
Avocado is one of the more generous brands when it comes to coupon codes and discounts. They usually have some kind of promotion running that will lower the amount you need to invest in your mattress.
They generally release coupons around holidays (major or minor) and you can get up to $200 off your mattress in some cases. They also like to throw in free gifts from time to time, their 2 free pillow promotion has been running for quite a while, and it’s very popular.
How Much Do Avocado Mattresses Cost?
The only “downside” to the Avocado is that all this natural technology and engineering aren’t cheap, and it’s a premium product with a premium price tag.
Here’s a price list that’s correct at time of writing:
- Twin $959
- Twin XL $999
- Full $1,199
- Queen $1,399
- King $1,699
- California king $1,699
Avocado Mattress Review
Now we know about the kinds of materials inside the Avocado (and what they do). Here’s what we think about the mattress as a whole.
Comfort
This is a super comfortable mattress, the combination of latex and New Zealand wool makes you feel like you’re being cradled by this product while simultaneously floating on top of it. The additional pillow top provides even further comfort and luxurious opulence, and we strongly recommend you consider adding the upgrade if it’s within budget.
Support
The pocketed coils in this mattress are exceptionally supportive and will give you all the performance you need for a good night’s sleep. The latex in this product adds a little bit of support too – but it’s inconsequential in all honesty compared to the coils. The zoned nature of the coiled layer is the cherry on top for us, it’s one of the most supportive natural mattresses on the market.
Cooling
This is a super cool sleeping surface, we’d be shocked if we heard someone complain about the temperature it sleeps at. The latex foam in this product is a naturally excellent thermal regulator and it promotes huge amounts of ventilation. The coiled section adds further cooling through the massive amount of free-flowing air it contains inside of it (the coils themselves are comparatively small in terms of volume compared to the size of the layer).
Pricing
We would love it if this product was a little cheaper, it would be able to rival Avocado’s non-natural competitors and we’d imagine it would be much more widely purchased. However, we understand why this mattress costs as much as it does, the huge amount of latex inside it is not cheap, and considering the performance it provides, it’s great value for money.
Pros And Cons
Pros
- Completely natural materials
- Good for the environment
- Super supportive
- Zoned coil system
- Cool sleeping surface
- High-quality latex foam
- Super soft New Zealand wool
- Great brand with a huge reputation
Cons
- Could be a little cheaper
Commonly Asked Questions Regarding Avocado Mattresses
What Is The Vegan Avocado Mattress?
Avocado has done their homework and they have realized that a large number of people who are likely to appreciate the benefits of a natural mattress are more likely to be vegan. The standard avocado mattress doesn’t harm any animals, but it does use animal products (the New Zealand wool).
This presented Avocado with an opportunity, and they created a vegan-friendly version of their product to capture the potential additional customers.
We’d like to be able to tell you about some wonderful material that Avocado use instead of wool, but that’s not what’s happened. They’ve simply removed the wool layer altogether (but they haven’t reduced the price).
This does alter the feel of the mattress slightly, it’s a little less luxurious in our opinion – but that doesn’t stop it from being a super comfortable product.
Note: You can remedy this lack of luxury by opting to purchase the latex pillow top that we mentioned in the construction section above – do this and you’ll quickly get the opulence back.
Do Avocado Mattresses Come With A Warranty?
Yes, you get a 25-year comprehensive warranty as standard with every Avocado mattress that will protect you against manufacturing defects.
Do Avocado Mattresses Sleep Cool Or Hot?
As we mentioned in the review section above, this is a very cool sleeping surface. The natural thermal regulation properties of latex combined with the huge amounts of ventilation from the coiled layer will satisfy even the warmest sleepers.
How Long Do Avocado Mattresses Last?
The only issue with latex is that it’s a little less durable than most other mattress materials. We’d imagine you’d get 10 years of use out of this product before you started noticing issues – which is still pretty good.
Are Avocado Mattresses Good For Side, Back Or Stomach Sleepers?
All sleeping positions are going to be comfortable on this mattress.
Back sleepers and stomach sleepers are pretty easy to please on any mattress that’s not extremely firm or soft. Side sleepers have the largest needs – but the zoned support section caters to them perfectly and provides optimal spinal alignment.
We Recommend Avocado Mattresses For People That:
- Care About The Environment – You’re not going to find many products that are this eco-friendly
- Are Vegan – There are not many high-quality vegan products on the market, and this is one of the better ones
- Sleep On Their Side – The zoned support section of this product is custom made to address the spinal alignment needs of side sleepers
Conclusion
So there you have it, that’s what we think about the avocado mattress.
It’s one of the best natural products on the market, and the way it uses the various materials inside of it is very impressive to us mattress nerds. If you’re looking to get a great night’s sleep without harming the planet – then it’s more than worthy of your consideration.
