This review is not sponsored or endorsed. It is based on my own opinions and experiences.
Why Get a Non-Toxic Mattress?
When looking at mattresses, there were definitely many that looked comfortable and luxurious. People usually want something that is going to help them sleep well at night. But what most people don't think about is what the mattress is made of. Are there toxins lurking in your mattress?
When you bring a new mattress into your home, right away you will notice a chemical offgassing smell. This is also true of many other household products, but mattresses are important because this is where you are going to be sleeping for hours every day.
With a good non-toxic mattress, you will not experience that chemical smell. Instead the mattress is made of healthier, non-toxic, natural materials. These mattresses are also typically more eco-friendly. Avocado is a carbon negative company meaning they offset more emissions than they produce.
Materials
The Avocado green mattress is made of 100% GOLS certified organic latex, 100% GOTS certified organic wool, 100% GOTS certified organic cotton, and recycled steel springs. They also have a vegan mattress that does not contain wool.
This mattress also doesn't contain any flame retardants. Flame retardants belong to a class of chemicals known as PFAS chemicals or "forever chemicals" that are highly toxic. They can disrupt the endocrine system. Instead, the mattress contains wool which is naturally flame resistant. This mattress is also free of formaldehyde, phthalates, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Cost
I'm not going to lie; this mattress is expensive. It costs $1600-2100 for the queen size depending on whether or not you purchase the pillowtop option. We personally had to save up and wait to purchase this mattress. They also offer financing options including those that are interest free.
Warranty and Free Trial
This mattress has a 25 year limited warranty. What that means is for the first 10 years, you receive full coverage if something happens to your mattress. For the remaining 15 years, the coverage is limited. Mattresses should last at least 10 years, and judging by the quality of this mattress, it will probably last longer than that (I expect closer to 15 years).
The Avocado green mattress also comes with a 1 year free sleep trial from the date of delivery. So within the first year you decide you don't like your mattress, you can return it for free. This was reassuring for me when I went to go buy this mattress. I was nervous about purchasing a bed in a box without trying it first. But because of the free trial, I felt more secure about my purchase.
Shipping and Communication
This was the one negative experience we had with Avocado. We ordered the mattress and foundation for the bed in mid-August. Just under a week later, the foundation arrived. We were told ahead of time it had shipped and had no problems with the foundation. The mattress, we were told, would take about a month to ship. It actually came about three weeks later.
When the mattress was shipped out, we did not receive any notification that it had shipped. The day it arrived, we had no idea that it was coming until we were about to head out the door. We had to go out of town for the day. Just as I was putting on the kids' shoes, my husband's phone rang. It was the delivery company saying that they were a few blocks away and would be delivering our mattress in the next half hour.
It was slightly stressful for a few reasons. One, we could not wait around for the mattress to arrive because we had a scheduled appointment. Two, we had not prepared our room to set up the mattress. And three, we had this expensive mattress sitting on our porch all day.
When we reached out to Avocado, they did apologize but also said that this happens because the package does not always get scanned into the system which notifies the customer that the mattress has been shipped.
While the shipping and communication was poor, we did really like the mattress itself.
Size and Weight
Latex mattresses are heavy. This is important to take into account when selecting a shipping option. We ordered the king pillow top Avocado green mattress and it was 167 lbs. If you have any kind of steps, multiple levels in your home, or physically unable to lift much, get the in-room delivery. If you have to move this mattress, make sure you have several strong people to move it.
The foundation is not as heavy as the mattress, but is still somewhat heavy. I was able to slide the box across our one story home on my own.
Unboxing
When you receive this mattress, it comes compressed in a box. When we went to open the mattress, it opened really fast, knocking my husband into the wall. So, I would recommend following the unboxing instructions and opening it carefully with plenty of open space to expand.
The foundation was extremely easy to put together if you follow this video. It took us only a few minutes and it doesn't require any drilling or screws.
Offgassing
This mattress does not have a chemical smell when you open it. However, there is a light, natural scent (it smells like wool) in the beginning. The smell only lingered for the first 2-3 weeks and then went away. I only noticed it when I was laying on the bed.
Comfort
Before I get into what it is like to sleep on the Avocado green mattress, I want to mention something first. My husband and I are both average size adults. So if you fall on the smaller or larger side, you may have a different experience than us. I mostly sleep on my side, and my husband is what they call a combo sleeper (he can sleep in any position). Your weight and the way you sleep influences how your body puts pressure on the mattress. So just take that into account.
I was initially uncertain about how I would do on this mattress, even the pillowtop version. I usually do better with softer mattresses, and this one is on the medium-firm side. But I was surprised that this mattress is actually very comfy for both me and my husband. If we hadn't purchased the pillowtop, I'd say this mattress would be too firm, but with the pillowtop, it is just right.
I think the reason why it feels so good is that the support is even throughout the mattress. With our old mattress, there were spots where the mattress just lacked support, and we often woke up with sore necks and backs. We have not had back or neck problem while sleeping on the Avocado mattress. My husband has also been having less migraine headaches.
As a side note, this mattress may give you slight discomfort the first couple days. I think there is a slight "break in" period where I woke up with some soreness, but did not experience this after the first 2-3 days. My husband did not have this experience at all.
Motion Transfer
What I mean by motion transfer is when your partner is moving around in the bed, do you feel the bed shake? Our old mattress was literally like a trampoline. When one of us moved, the other would almost always wake up.
This does not happen as much with this mattress, but the bounciness of the mattress is about medium. So, the movement is not enough to wake me up at night. However, if I am awake, I will feel the bed move slightly. It does not creak or make any noise.
A Couple More Things...
This bed is really breathable because it is made out of natural materials. So we don't get hot sleeping on this bed. I would highly recommend getting bedding that is made out of natural materials like cotton, hemp, or linen as well to increase breathability.
The avocado mattress also has very good edge support. This means the edges of the bed are sturdy, and you won't feel like you are about to fall off the bed if you sleep near the edge.
Lastly, if you get this mattress, make sure to rotate it every month for the first 6 months and then every 3 months after that.
Overall, we are really happy that we purchased the Avocado green mattress, and hope to get many years of healthy and restful sleep.
Have you purchased or are you considering a non-toxic mattress? Leave me a comment below!
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