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Summary: The Avocado Green Firm Tight Top Mattress has a firmer feel than some of the brand’s other mattresses, but still retains the bounce and comfort that has become synonymous with Avocado. Testing it was a luxurious, effortless experience that left me — if not well-rested, due to my two kids — at least more well-rested and excited to go to bed every night. Between a whole host of sustainability certifications and the natural, thoughtfully sourced materials, this is a fantastic option for those who want to prioritize a clean sleep environment and a supportive, firm mattress.

What I Love:

• This mattress, like all Avocado mattresses, is hand-made in California. Aside from its many sustainability, non-toxic, and organic certifications, it’s also exceptionally well-crafted, with 1,377 individually wrapped coils in seven ergonomic zones for support from head to foot.
• The firmness was great, and it still had a touch of bounce to it (unlike our older, very firm mattress). It was instantly comfortable and beautifully buoyant, allowing me to move freely and stay cool at night. 
• Setup was a breeze, and there was no odor afterward. The mattress was ready within just a few hours, and it met my expectations from the very first night. Plus, it was super convenient to offload our old mattress. 
• Even though I’ve only tested it for a few weeks, Avocado mattresses are legendarily long-lasting, so I don’t have to worry about replacing it any time soon. 

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Avocado mattresses are an investment, to be sure. There’s a reason the brand made it to the top of our list of favorite organic mattresses, though, since the quality is incredible.
• It’s helpful to know the exact firmness going in (and your own sleep profile, if you know it). I happen to know we wanted something firm already, but Avocado does offer some points of comparison to help make an informed decision.
• Since I have a partner, it’s helpful to consider his needs too. At first, this was still a little soft for my husband, but he’d adjusted by the end of the testing period. 

Before I started writing about sustainability and ethical products, I had no idea how many mattress companies use questionable or downright unsafe materials in their products (and how much rampant greenwashing there is).

My family loves sleep with an abiding passion — and my two kids are regularly clambering into our bed for snuggles and book-reading — so our mattresses need to be both ethically sourced and well-made. That means without any “forever chemicals,” flame retardants, or phthalates, among others. Our very old Tempur-Pedic dates back to 2008, and memory foam is made of petroleum-based materials that can release VOCs as they settle. (I actually did not know this until I started doing research for this story!)

“My family loves sleep with an abiding passion — and my two kids are regularly clambering into our bed for snuggles and book-reading — so our mattresses need to be both ethically sourced and well-made.”

Beyond the ethical considerations, we’ve also got some practical issues to deal with. I have terrible dust allergies, and I have to take extra steps to keep my space free of mites, including mattress and pillow covers and regular sheet cleaning. Having a hypoallergenic mattress that helps with this is so important to me. 

From a comfort perspective, both my husband and I have specific needs. Mike is a back sleeper and has lower spine issues dating back to his time in the military, so he prefers a firm mattress. As for me, I have mild sleep apnea and wear a device that prevents me from lying fully on my back, but I’m also an athletic sleeper who moves around a lot at night. Both of us appreciate a firm, but not totally rigid, mattress, so we can move freely without motion transfer (the movement that ripples across a mattress and can disturb the other sleeper). Since it can get very cold and very hot where we live in Boston, we also need a mattress that doesn’t trap heat and allows for airflow. 

With all of this in mind, Avocado seemed to be a solve for lots of our challenges.

About Avocado and their firm, tight-top offering

Avocado’s mattresses are made by hand in California and are extraordinarily thoughtfully made. The brand is 100% GOTS Certified and holds other certifications, including OEKO-TEX Standard 100, GREENGUARD Gold, MADE SAFE, and EWG Verified, among others. Not only that, but they’re deeply, deeply sustainable: Climate Neutral, a certified B Corp, and a 1% for the Planet Pinnacle Award Winner. Our editors have gone through multiple reviews of their mattresses, over multiple years, so the bar was already set extremely high for the brand.

“The brand’s ‘tight-top’ series has a flat, taut surface that creates a smooth and uniform mattress.”

Not only that, but Avocado has a variety of mattress tops that provide a customized experience for people’s sleep preferences and profiles. The brand’s “tight-top” series has a flat, taut surface that creates a smooth and uniform mattress. It’s designed to be both firmer and more responsive. Their firm tight top, which is what I tried, works best for people who like a solid but still bouncy feel. The “edge-to-edge support” means that the coils help with weight distribution and spinal alignment — and help with motion isolation. 

The Avocado Green Firm Tight Top Mattress is particularly useful for people who sleep on their stomach and back, and also works well for people with more mass (like my 6-foot-tall husband) and people who are athletic (which both of us are trying to be). It’s got the airflow and temperature regulation we’re looking for, allows for ease of movement, and — like all Avocado mattresses — bills itself as being extremely durable. 

My review of the Avocado Green Tight Top Firm mattress

I still can’t believe that our old queen-sized mattress was 18 years old — longer than my relationship with my husband. I was excited for the chance to replace it with a brand I liked and trusted.

Once the mattress had been delivered to a nearby warehouse, I got a call to set up a four-hour window for my delivery time. Once set up, I got multiple notifications that the truck was on its way, and the delivery men were on time. Additionally, it was so easy to schedule to have our old mattress taken away — and the switch happened the same day as the new one’s arrival, before the kids got home from school. 

“It was so easy to schedule to have our old mattress taken away — and the switch happened the same day as the new one’s arrival.”

The mattress came compressed: The movers carried it in as a small roll and then “released” it once they got to our bedroom, cutting into the plastic covering so it popped out onto our Tempur-Pedic box spring. They told me to give it a few hours until it was ready to lie on, and sure enough, the mattress slowly “inflated” and was ready to go a few hours before bedtime. 

The setup couldn’t have been easier. There was no off-gassing (a slow release of trapped chemicals) or odors, and we also didn’t have any break-in period. The mattress was ready to go that night, and felt just as firm and buoyant as expected. Hilariously, because our old mattress was so tight, we’d been using a mattress topper for extra cushioning. We added it on top of the Avocado mattress and under our sheets as a force of habit, but ended up almost rolling off the bed as a result; the springiness and firmness of the mattress were more than enough as-is.

“There was no off-gassing or odors, and we also didn’t have any break-in period. The mattress was ready to go that night.”

Now, the mattress sits high on the box spring in our room. Both of us love this: My husband because he’s tall and me because I like being high above the ground for ventilation. We may not always need the box spring if we decide we don’t need it or end up changing our bed frame, but for right now, it’s the perfect fit for our space.

The mattress was softer than I expected, and I wasn’t used to just how much bounce a new, non-memory foam mattress would have. It’s heavy but easily maneuverable when I’m changing the sheets (which I still do often, even though the mattress is hypoallergenic), and the quality looks and feels exceptional: No loose threads, no soft spots or sagging, and totally rigid sides. My body gently settles into the mattress but is then gently and firmly held — a nice bounce-back experience, in other words. There’s no squeaking or noise while we move around, and it feels like a quieter sleeping experience than our old mattress. 

Thus far, the mattress has also been a dream to sleep on.

I can’t say I’ve had an easy few weeks in that department, since my kids have been plagued by illness and we’ve had our fair share of midnight wakeups. But when I have been able to sleep, I feel wondrous in the morning. Our old mattress was starting to sag in the middle, so waking up on my side of the bed without having migrated overnight was a welcome surprise. I never woke up from discomfort trying to move positions (a common problem with our old mattress), and the light, floaty feel helped me with restful sleep — the only drawback being that I did not want to get out of bed in the morning. The temperature control was top-notch, and it was much easier to stay cool in bed at night. 

“I never woke up from discomfort trying to move positions, and the light, floaty feel helped me with restful sleep.”

The only downside is that Mike’s back is a tiny bit sore after a few weeks with the mattress. But (in a nice bit of cosmic alignment) he realized the root cause is lack of exercise. So the mattress is actually motivating him to be healthier. He also feels better now than he did the first couple of nights sleeping on it, so I suspect the pain is due to the change, instead of the mattress being wrong for us. As a worst-case scenario, next time we know to get the .

So, is it worth it?

The queen size of the Avocado Green Firm Tight Top Mattress is currently priced at $1,699.00 — which is absolutely more expensive than other eco-friendly mattresses on the market. But I’m of the opinion that you get what you pay for with such a big-ticket item. Considering the amount of time I spend in bed, both awake and asleep, I want to make sure that a mattress isn’t triggering my sensitivities or wearing out easily. It’s an investment I’m more than willing to make, and, frankly, I’m hoping to replace the kids’ mattresses with Avocado alternatives when we need to.

“This mattress is terrific for anyone who likes a firmer mattress that still has bounce and softness.”

Based on what I saw, reviewers who felt dissatisfied were generally getting the wrong firmness for them. It’s worth noting, though, that Avocado allows buyers to try out the mattress for up to a year, and it’s apparently very straightforward to contact the brand with any concerns or complaints. And the brand does have sales around the holidays (including Memorial Day and Black Friday), so keep a close eye on the page for more potential savings. Avocado mattresses are also eligible if you have an FSA or HSA account.

This mattress is terrific for anyone who likes a firmer mattress that still has bounce and softness. If you’re a stomach or back sleeper (or, like me, you move around a lot), this could be a terrific fit. And, if you like something softer, Avocado has options for you. It might not be the best fit if you have a medical condition that necessitates a highly specific configuration. But, if you like not worrying about the materials in your mattress and whether it’s going to last a long time, this could be a great addition to your bedroom.

This story is in partnership with our friends at Avocado

Katherine J. Igoe is a writer and editor who covers fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, with sustainability at the core of her work. She’s written for The New York Times, The Cut, InStyle, etc., and been a contributing editor at Cosmo and Marie Claire.