Can I just get a mattress that is clean, affordable and comfy!? A few months ago I would have said quit dreamin’ man. But NOW I’m singing a different tune.

Buying clean mattresses all started when by boys were ready for “big boy beds.” By that time I knew that mattresses were loaded with junk like: polyurethane foam, formaldehyde, boric acid, antimony, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants) and God only knows what else. These toxic chemicals emit strong gasses and can make people really sick. Like this from The National Institute of Health:

Growing evidence shows that PBDE compounds are escaping from the products they protect and making their way into the products’ users. Moreover, the chemicals may disrupt human thyroid hormone functioning and cause other health effects, promoting many nations to ban or suspend their use in new consumer goods.

Like, no thanks.

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Naturepedic 2-in-1

So I was off to buy my kids a nontoxic mattresses. For them I settled on Naturepedic’s 2 in 1 Organic Cotton Ultra/Quilted Mattress twins. I liked this one because one side is waterproof and the other is your standard cushion side. And at $750 a pop I didn’t want them ruining this mattress as we were still in the thick of potty training at that time – so I thought it was perfect. I bought one the first year and another the second year to space out the financial hit. I got them both on Amazon to ensure speedy delivery.

Anyways, I can say with 100% full confidence these mattress are NOT comfortable. I didn’t realize it at first because I wasn’t personally sleeping on them but after my kids mentioned a few times that my bed was “better” than their bed, I tried to sleep on theirs one night and it was pretty bad. So now I pretty much want to kick myself for spending over $1,500 bucks on mattresses my kids don’t even like. And they are totally one-sided now because the waterproof side is flat and lacks cushion and is even more uncomfortable than the “plush” side.

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Avocado Mattress

Then my next round of mattress buying happened this past winter when we moved into our new house in Atlanta. We went from living in a 1,300 sq ft flat to a 5,000 sq ft, 5 bed, 4 bath home. So all of a sudden I found myself needing like 90 beds. At that time Avocado Mattress reached out to me and introduced themselves. I liked their platform and their price was right so I decided to buy one of their queen latex hybrids with the pillow top option that retails for $1,700.

When I first opened it, it seemed great but then when I got it into the confined space of a bedroom the latex smell overtook the entire second floor – and it didn’t go away. I waited and waited but the smell was just too strong for me. Weeks later, as I approached the 100 day sleep guarantee date, it was still so pungent. So I bailed. I mean, call me picky but I couldn’t live with my whole second floor smelling like a rubber band.

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My Green Mattress

Okay so after that I needed a mattress to replace the Avocado mattress. I had heard about My Green Mattress from a couple of the moms back in Boston but I never really looked into them. Honestly, now I wonder why and I think it was because they were so much cheaper than the other nontoxic brands I subconsciously discounted them as a legit option. (Brains are so weird. How crazy is that!? ) But then my friend Steph (who is SUPER GREEN was also buying mattresses at the time) ordered their Natural Escape and said she loved it so I was totally in.

I ordered their Natural Escape in a queen and I couldn’t be happier. The queen retails for $1,099 but I got it on a sale weekend and paid less than a G. It came super quick and arrived rolled up. After you cut the box and wrapping open, it kind of does this inflation thing (same as most mattresses these days). It’s pretty wild and it can also kick your butt when it pops open – consider yourself warned!

Anyways, I immediately noticed there was NO SMELL even though this mattress is made with natural latex too. So let me back up. My Green Mattress is a sect of the Quality Sleep Shop which has been in business and family owned since 1968. This is good to know because when you buy from a new company, you may get a 10 year warranty but guess what, they could be out of business next year and then you are left in no-mans-land. My Green Mattress also offers a 100 night money back sleep trial in addition to a 10 year warranty (which is also hard to find in the nontoxic mattress world – at least one without a million exceptions).

The My Green Mattress division was created in response to the owner’s daughter who was suffering from allergies and eczema. They were seeing dermatologists and docs about their daughter’s symptoms but then they realized they could alleviate some of her symptoms by switching out her crib mattress. So they made her a clean one and My Green Mattress was born.

My Green Mattress is GOLS + GOTS Factory Certified

AND! In 2019 the My Green Mattress factory became GOLS + GOTS certified which means not only are the materials they are using are certified but also the entire manufacturing process down to materials traceability is certified. I write more on what that actually looks like here. In 2023 they became MADE SAFE certified too.

In fact, I was actually lucky enough to tour the My Green Mattress factory right outside of Chicago, Illinois recently to actually see the entire process with my own eyes. Check it out:

Natrual Escapse is my top MGM pick

So now, I own a Natural Escape and two Kiwi mattress but I’ve also laid on all the My Green Mattress in their Chicago showroom and the Natural Escape is still my fave. This is a hybrid made with:

• GOTS certified organic cotton
• Traceable wool
• GOLS certified organic natural Dunlop latex
• Coil springs

The other thing I wanted to point out is they don’t add any poly foam as filler. If you feel around the sides of My Green Mattress you will literally feel the coil springs – but most companies will fill this space with poly. It’s an aesthetic fix and doesn’t add to the comfort. Love that they went bare bones here. LESS IS MORE.

And they are also willing to customize too. My friend Steph has a son with a wool allergy and they made his Pure Echo without any wool. His mattress is made with only 100% GOTS cotton and innerspring. That’s it!

If you are interested in how the My Green Mattress Natural Escape compares to the Avocado mattress, check out this 2 minute breakdown:

Here are some pics of my Natural Escape in my old house. I love the bed too. (It’s the Lina II raw, recycled teak wood bed by Crate and Barrel.) 

They also have:

• Emily Natural Crib Mattress – $249
• Comfort Latex Mattress Topper – $200+
• Organic Waterproof Mattress Protector – $89+

Some fantastic nontoxic options here!

Comfort

Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Comfort is a make or break quality so give it to us straight Lis! I mean, would you expect anything less from me?!

Here’s the deal. In a perfect world, I want the comfort of that mattress from Pelican Hill, The Four Seasons Maui and The Gasparilla Inn. You guys know what I mean, that plush hotel mattress that has you on your hands and knees scrounging for tags and brand names. Let’s be honest, we’ve all done it. Bad news is, none of those mattress come even close to being nontoxic. It’s just the reality right now. UNLESS you are willing to spend 1/4 of your annual salary on a custom Naturepedic – which by the way I *hear* you can soup up to the max and get it as plush as these fancy hotel ones – you can even customize both sides – but I wouldn’t know because there is no way I can afford that so why tempt myself with something I can’t have. I mean, I will window shop Tiffany’s any day but test drive mattresses I can’t afford? That’s just plain idiotic.

So now that you know where my bar is….lets rate this puppy. So on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being wicked soft and 10 being hard as nails; I would give this mattress a solid 7. Like, it’s firm….but comfortable. I’ve had several guests sleep on it, I’ve slept on it, my kids sometimes sleep on it and everyone says they get a good night sleep. I even have a friend in California who has the same plush-ness standards as me just order it and he said (and I quote), “We seriously love it. I have a featherbed on top too – I wouldn’t say it is hard. Just a notch or two above medium.”

It’s good you guys. It’s good.

And if you prefer something a little more plush, add their latex topper and call it a day. I own 4 of them. I seriously can’t stop buying their latex toppers, it’s not funny. And if you have a king mattress, you can even buy a twin topper for one side to customize.

Price

Show me the money! Seriously, just as important as comfort is PRICE! I mean who cares if it is the most comfy mattress in the world – if you can’t afford it, it’s not an option. But then again, if it’s the cheapest then you know something’s got to give – whether it is toxins or comfort or both.

This price point is literally the breaking point of lowest price possible while still maintaining nontoxic standards. I’m telling you right now, you wont find one cheaper that is as clean as this! At My Green Mattress, you can literally get a one-sided twin for just over $500 (and wait until they go on sale because you can get it even cheaper!) And their top-of-the-line king sells for $1700 which I think is the most expensive one they sell.

I also love that you can finance right on the website too. I did this with our queen and I ended up paying $90/mo for 12 months – I mean, what could be easier than that!?

Where We Are Now

So the Naturepedic twins are packed away at our new place. The second and third bedrooms each have queens in them and the kids rotate between both rooms – sometimes sleeping together, sometimes not. I wish I had known about the Pure Echo when I was in the market because I would have gone with that one all the way for my boys.

As for me and my hubs, we have a 14-year-old Stearns and Foster king – and we still love it. I don’t see us buying a new mattress anytime soon. At this point it’s off-gassed and is still comfy. But when we are ready for a new one, I will totally try a king Natural Escape with a topper. I mean with 100 day money back sleep trial – there’s nothing to lose!

Have you tried?

Have you tried My Green Mattress? What do you think?

Cover photo by @MinimalWall in Instagram.

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