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MOST MATTRESS BRANDS BUY THEIR COILS FROM THE SAME FEW VENDORS. WE BUILD OURS.

Most of what you sleep on starts on someone else's factory floor. The majority of mattress brands — including ones that market themselves as premium — buy their coil units from a handful of third-party suppliers. We decided not to. Avocado designs and manufactures our own innerspring units in our Tecate Facility in Baja California, from recycled steel wire to the finished seven-zone support system. The only coils we don't yet make ourselves are our micro-coils — and we're bringing that production in-house within the next few months, too.

Why go to the trouble? Because you can't promise quality you don't control. This radically transparent page explains what an innerspring is, what makes a hybrid mattress, and why owning the process end-to-end produces a more durable, supportive, and sustainable mattress.

 

WHAT IS AN INNERSPRING MATTRESS

An innerspring is the steel coil support system at the heart of a mattress. It's what gives the bed its structure, responsiveness, and durability. In an Avocado innerspring, hundreds of individual steel coils — up to 1,379 in a Green Mattress — are each encased in their own fabric pocket, so they move independently rather than as a single connected grid. That independence is the whole point: each coil responds only to the pressure directly above it. You get precise support, less motion transfer, and airflow that foam simply can't match. And because we engineer and build this unit ourselves rather than ordering it from a supplier's catalog, every coil's gauge, height, and placement is a decision we made — not a stock part we settled for.

WHAT MAKES A HYBRID MATTRESS?

SO WHAT MAKES A HYBRID?

A hybrid mattress pairs a coil innerspring with comfort layers on top — in our case, organic latex and organic wool. You get the support and breathability of steel coils with the cushioning and contouring of natural materials. It's the best of both worlds: the responsiveness and edge-to-edge support of an innerspring, plus pressure relief at the shoulders and hips. Because the core is mostly open space between coils, a hybrid sleeps cooler than all-foam beds — no trapped heat, no chemical cooling gimmicks. Just materials doing what they naturally do well.

MORE COILS,
FINER CONTOURING

Coil count earns its keep in the comfort layer. Our flagship Grand Luxe layers thousands of individually wrapped micro-coils — up to 17,000 across the pillow-top and mattress — above its zoned support base. Where the base coils hold you up, these smaller coils read the fine contours of your body and open thousands of air channels for cooler, calmer sleep. Picture a hand against your back: a few fingers can support you, but more, smaller points spread the pressure more evenly. That's what more coils give you — not firmer, but finer.

COILS MADE FROM RECYCLED STEEL

COILS MADE FROM RECYCLED STEEL

Our coils start as recycled steel wire from a supplier: we don't smelt steel ourselves. We form, heat-treat, and stress-relieve every coil so it holds its shape for the life of the mattress. Our Green, Luxury, and Vegan mattresses use three purposeful gauges: the firmest 14-gauge through the center hip and lumbar zone for support, 15-gauge transition rows, and 16-gauge coils doing two jobs — softer at the shoulders for pressure relief, firmer as border coils around all four sides. Firmness comes from how each coil is built, not wire thickness alone.

OUR PATENTED SEVEN-ZONE SYSTEM

Our innerspring is reinforced on all four sides — left, right, head, and foot — for seven true ergonomic zones, a design we patented (U.S. Patent No. 11,627,813). Firmer border coils run around the entire perimeter, so the surface holds its shape corner to corner, including at the head and foot, where many zoned mattresses leave the edges unreinforced. Three interior zones vary the wire gauge by body region: firmest under the hips and lumbar region, softer at the shoulders. And because the head and foot zones are identical, the mattress is built to be rotated. See our layer-by-layer construction guide.

CERTIFIED TO HIGHER STANDARDS

CERTIFIED TO HIGHER STANDARDS

A certified organic mattress is more than its fabric. The organic standard recognizes structural components like steel coils as approved, non-toxic parts of the certified product — held to its criteria, not exempt from them. Each coil floats independently inside food-grade, non-woven polypropylene fabric and is assembled using an environmentally conscious adhesive made from tested components: waxes (CAS 8002-74-2), resin (CAS 8050-26-8), an antioxidant (CAS 6683-19-8), and EVA polymer (CAS 24937-78-8). Our innerspring is included in the finished-product certifications our mattresses carry — GOTS, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Class I, EWG Verified®, MADE SAFE®, GREENGUARD Gold, and UL® Formaldehyde-Free.

BUILT, NOT BOUGHT.

BETTER SUPPORT STARTS HERE
BETTER SUPPORT STARTS HERE

Frequently Asked Questions

An innerspring mattress is supported by a steel coil system. A hybrid pairs that coil support with substantial comfort layers on top — in our case, organic latex and organic wool. Every Avocado innerspring mattress is a hybrid: you get the support, durability, and airflow of coils plus the pressure relief and contouring of natural materials.
No. Most of our mattresses are coil hybrids, but if you prefer a bed without springs, our Organic Latex Mattress is built entirely from layers of organic latex — no innerspring at all — for a buoyant, responsive feel. Coils and all-latex builds suit different sleepers, so we make both.
Yes — our fabric-encased, seven-zone innerspring is built into firmness options ranging from Ultra Plush to Extra Firm. The coil engineering carries across the line; what changes is the comfort layers above it, with the Firm and Extra Firm using different coil configurations for added support. Avocado is sometimes assumed to be a firm-only brand — that hasn't been true for years.
The innerspring does most of the work under you, yet it's the one component the industry overwhelmingly outsources — bought from a small handful of large component suppliers and wrapped in a brand's own cover. We make ours instead, designing and manufacturing our innerspring units in-house so we control the wire gauge, coil height, heat treatment, and assembly of every coil. We currently produce all of our own coils except our micro-coils, which we're bringing into in-house production in the coming months. Quality you don't control isn't a promise you can keep.
Fabric-encased coils are steel springs each individually wrapped in their own fabric pocket rather than wired together in a connected grid. Because they're separated, each coil moves independently and responds only to the pressure directly above it — which means better contouring, less motion transfer between partners, and a surface that stays steady when someone shifts. We say "fabric-encased" because "pocket coil" is a trademarked term; ours float independently inside food-grade, non-woven polypropylene fabric.
Three different jobs. Bonnell coils are the oldest design — hourglass springs wired together in a connected grid, so movement in one spot travels across the whole bed; they're cheap to make, which is why they still show up even in some beds sold as premium. Fabric-encased coils are wrapped individually so each moves on its own — better contouring and less motion transfer. Micro-coils are a smaller, shallower version used in a comfort layer for fine contouring on top of the support base. Every Avocado innerspring uses individually fabric-encased coils at every layer — never Bonnell units.
It depends on the model and size. Our flagship Green Mattress ranges from 684 individually wrapped coils in a Twin to 1,379 in a Cal King, arranged across seven support zones. Counts vary by firmness and construction — our Firm uses an 8-inch coil unit with up to 1,337 coils, and our Extra Firm uses a dual coil-unit design. For the full coil count and innerspring specs for every model and size, see our coil count and innerspring specifications guide →
Not on their own. Coil count is one factor, but wire gauge, coil height, encasement quality, and zoning matter just as much. A high count in a poorly engineered, unzoned unit performs worse than a lower count in a well-designed one. Where count genuinely helps is a second micro-coil comfort layer — smaller, more numerous coils that respond to finer body contours.
Wire gauge measures the thickness of the steel in each coil — counterintuitively, a lower number means thicker wire, which generally makes a firmer coil. But gauge is only part of it: a coil's height and number of turns matter just as much, so two coils of the same gauge can feel different. We vary coil construction by zone — the firmest 14-gauge coils through the hips and lumbar for support, softer coils at the shoulders for pressure relief, and firmer border coils around all four sides — so support matches your body rather than staying uniform across the bed. Coil count is simply how many springs are in the unit; quality comes from how they're engineered together.
Coil gauge is the thickness of the steel wire in a coil. Counterintuitively, a lower number means thicker wire — 14-gauge is thicker than 16-gauge. Thicker wire generally makes a firmer, more durable coil and thinner wire a more flexible one, but gauge is only one variable: a coil's height and number of turns shape firmness just as much, so two coils of the same gauge can feel different. What matters most is how the gauges are arranged. Avocado zones them by body region — the firmest 14-gauge coils under the hips and lumbar for support, softer coils at the shoulders for pressure relief, and firmer border coils around all four sides.
Our seven-zone innerspring reinforces all four sides of the mattress — left, right, head, and foot — with firmer border coils, plus three interior zones (shoulder, hip, and leg) that use different wire gauges to vary support by body region: firmest under the hips and lumbar, softer at the shoulders. Reinforcing all four sides, rather than only the two long sides as many zoned mattresses do, delivers consistent edge-to-edge support around the entire perimeter. The design is covered by U.S. Patent No. 11,627,813. Is Avocado's coil system patented? →
Our Extra Firm uses two independent coil units stacked together — a "coil-on-coil" build — separated by an organic coconut-fiber pad, with every coil individually fabric-encased and made from 14-gauge double-tempered recycled steel. Two layers of steel doing the support work, rather than coils over foam, is what gives it its firm, high-load feel and stable, even support. It's the most supportive mattress we make.
Strong — and on all four sides. Many mattresses that reinforce their edges do so only on the two long sides; our seven-zone innerspring reinforces the head and foot too, with firmer border coils around the entire perimeter. The surface stays firm and usable right to the perimeter, you're less likely to feel like you'll roll off, and the edges resist the breakdown that makes older mattresses sag where you sit to get up.
Much less than with a connected coil system. Because each coil is encased in its own fabric pocket and floats independently, it responds only to the pressure directly above it — so when your partner shifts or gets up, the movement stays where it happens instead of rippling across the bed. Our pillow-top, box-top, and Wool models add a micro-coil layer that isolates motion even further.
Both, doing different jobs. The coil unit provides support and contouring — because each coil moves independently, it already follows the shape of your body rather than pushing back as one flat surface. The comfort layers above it — organic latex and wool, plus a micro-coil layer in our plusher models — are what add the soft, pressure-relieving cradle at the shoulders and hips. So how plush or firm a mattress feels is set mostly by those comfort layers, not by the coils, which is why the same seven-zone innerspring can sit under everything from our Ultra Plush to our Extra Firm.
Recycled steel wire. Each coil is heat-treated and stress-relieved during manufacturing so it holds its shape and firmness over the life of the mattress, then encased in food-grade, non-woven polypropylene fabric.
A coil is only as good as how it's made. Because we form, heat-treat, and stress-relieve every coil ourselves, they're built to hold their shape and firmness for the long haul rather than softening or sagging early — which is why our mattresses carry up to a 25-year limited warranty, with full non-prorated coverage for the first ten years, plus a 1-year home trial. Durability is also a core sustainability measure: the longer a mattress lasts, the fewer end up in landfills. And the coils are steel — one of the most recyclable materials there is — so where mattress recycling is available, they can be recovered and recycled again at the end of a long life. Do Avocado's coils sag or wear out? →
A squeak almost always comes from the base, not the coils. Because our coils are each sealed in their own fabric pocket, they don't rub against one another or against a connected metal grid the way an old-style innerspring does. When a coil mattress squeaks, the usual culprit is the foundation, bed frame, or slats — loose bolts, a worn box spring, or wood-on-wood contact. Make sure the mattress sits on a firm, flat, fully supported base and that all hardware is tight.
It's very unlikely in normal use. Each coil is heat-tempered steel sealed inside its own fabric pocket, and the coils sit deep inside the mattress away from direct moisture. The main thing that invites rust in any coil mattress is persistent dampness, so use a supportive, breathable base rather than placing the mattress on the floor, and keep the room reasonably ventilated. Under normal conditions the coils hold up for the life of the mattress.
Because every coil is individually encased and works on its own, a single coil doesn't bring down the ones around it the way a connected grid can — load stays distributed across hundreds of neighboring coils. In practice, coil failure is rare given the heat-tempering and stress-relieving each coil goes through. If a manufacturing defect does show up, it's covered by our warranty. Do Avocado's coils sag or wear out? →
The fabric wrap is what lets each coil move on its own — it separates every spring from its neighbors so the coil responds only to the pressure directly above it, which is what gives you contouring and low motion transfer. We use food-grade, non-woven polypropylene because it's durable enough to hold that structure for the life of the mattress and clean enough to pass the finished-product testing our mattresses carry. It's included in our certifications rather than exempt from them — see Are the coils non-toxic? above.
Yes. The innerspring is included in our finished-product certifications — GOTS, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Class I, EWG Verified®, MADE SAFE®, GREENGUARD Gold, and UL® Formaldehyde-Free. Each coil floats in food-grade polypropylene fabric and is assembled with an environmentally conscious adhesive made from tested components (waxes CAS 8002-74-2, resin CAS 8050-26-8, antioxidant CAS 6683-19-8, EVA polymer CAS 24937-78-8). See all of our certifications →
Generally, yes. A coil unit is mostly open space, so air moves freely around each encased spring through the night, preventing the heat buildup all-foam beds are known for. We pair that airflow with naturally breathable organic latex and moisture-wicking organic wool — cooling through material design rather than gels or chemical treatments. Do hybrids sleep cooler than foam? →

 

Coils: What People Assume vs. What's True

Common Assumption
What's Actually True
AssumptionAvocado only makes firm mattresses.
Reality: Our patented innerspring units are built into five firmness levels of our Green Mattress, from Ultra Plush, Plush, and Medium to Firm and Extra Firm.
AssumptionMore coils always means a better mattress.
RealityReality: Coil count is just one factor. Wire gauge, coil height, zoning, and encasement quality matter just as much. Higher counts are most effective in a micro-coil comfort layer for finer contouring.
AssumptionA taller mattress is a better, more supportive one.
RealityReality: Height comes from the comfort layers and coil profile, not from quality. Our support base is an 8-inch coil unit; total height varies by model and what sits on top.
AssumptionThe coils decide how soft or firm a bed feels.
RealityReality: Support comes from the coils; how plush or firm a mattress feels comes mostly from the comfort layers above them.
AssumptionPressure relief comes from the springs.
RealityReality: Coils contour and support; pressure relief at the shoulders and hips comes mainly from the latex, wool, and micro-coil comfort layers.
AssumptionOne firmness is right for everyone.
Reality: The best firmness depends on how you sleep, and your body type — side sleepers often prefer a plusher cradle for the shoulders and hips, while back and stomach sleepers often want firmer support.
AssumptionAll wrapped coils are basically the same.
Reality: They vary by gauge, zoning, height, and encasement quality — and by who engineers them. Ours are built in-house across seven reinforced zones.