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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

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, which we buy from a steel supplier. We don't smelt steel or draw wire ourselves. They form, heat-treat, and stress-relieve every coil so each one holds its shape and firmness for the life of the mattress. What we do is control the quality, gauge, height, and temper of each coil. Our flagship Green Mattress uses three purposeful wire gauges: 16-gauge perimeter coils for edge support, 15-gauge through the center, and 14-gauge flanking the shoulder and hip zones. That's engineering; you can only guarantee when you're the one running the line.

OUR PATENTED SEVEN-ZONE SYSTEM

Most "zoned" mattresses reinforce only two sides. Ours reinforces all four — left, right, head, and foot — for seven true ergonomic zones. It's a design we patented (U.S. Patent No. 11,627,813). Three interior zones use different wire gauges to support your shoulders, hips, and legs exactly where each needs it. The four reinforced edges keep the surface consistent, corner to corner, and hold their shape over years of use. And because the head and foot zones are identical, the mattress is built to be rotated — so it wears evenly and lasts longer. 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 833 individually wrapped coils in a Twin to 1,379 in a 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 — and counterintuitively, a lower gauge number means thicker, firmer, more durable wire, while a higher number means thinner, softer, more responsive wire. Coil count is simply how many springs are in the unit. Quality comes from how they're engineered together: we vary wire gauge by zone — firmer 14- and 16-gauge coils at the perimeter, shoulders, and legs; a slightly softer 15-gauge through the hips — so support matches your body rather than staying uniform across the bed.
Our seven-zone innerspring reinforces all four sides of the mattress — left, right, head, and foot — plus three interior zones (shoulder, hip, and leg) that use different wire gauges to vary support by body region. Most zoned mattresses reinforce only the two long sides, giving five zones; reinforcing all four sides produces seven and delivers consistent edge-to-edge support around the entire perimeter. The design is covered by U.S. Patent No. 11,627,813.
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. Most mattresses that reinforce their edges do so only on the two long sides; our seven-zone innerspring reinforces the head and foot too. 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.
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.

 

Coils: What People Assume vs. What's True

Common Assumption
What's Actually True
AssumptionAvocado only makes firm mattresses.
RealityThe same seven-zone innerspring is built into five firmness levels, from Ultra Plush to Extra Firm.
AssumptionMore coils always means a better mattress.
RealityCoil count is one factor — wire gauge, coil height, zoning, and encasement quality matter just as much. Higher counts help most in a micro-coil comfort layer, for finer contouring.
AssumptionA taller mattress is a better, more supportive one.
RealityHeight 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.
RealitySupport 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.
RealityCoils 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.
RealityThe 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.
RealityThey vary by gauge, zoning, height, and encasement quality — and by who engineers them. Ours are built in-house across seven reinforced zones.