Have you been looking for a new eco-friendly mattress? We were, too! After conducting our research, we chose to order from Awara. After 4 1/2 months, we have some thoughts about our mattress we’d like to share…We’re covering all of that and more in our 100% honest Awara mattress review from a real person!
If you haven’t already read our Green Mattress Guide, you can see all of the reasons why we decided to buy an Awara mattress instead of an Avocado, Nest, or PlushBeds mattress!
Since organic mattresses are expensive, we were super reluctant to press “buy” and have very high expectations for this mattress. If our Awara mattress is not really worth the almost $2,000 we spent, we’ll absolutely let you know!
Which Awara mattress did we order?
We purchased the Awara Premier Latex Hybrid Mattress on December 26, 2021. Awara basically sells two mattresses: one without and one with the mattress topper. We paid for the one with the mattress topper. With taxes, we paid $2,069.91.
Awara typically offers free bedding (a mattress cover, sheet set, and 2 latex pillows) for free with the mattress. There was also a $200 discount available when I ordered. There was no charge for shipping or delivery.
Some of the reasons we ordered an Awara mattress
- Lifetime warranty & 365 night sleep trial
- Made with organic New Zealand wool, organic cotton, and Rainforest Alliance-certified natural (not organic) Dunlop latex
- Uses silica as a natural fire retardant
- Included free bedding (mattress protector, sheets, and pillows)
- Connected to Rakuten for 6% cashback
- Cheaper than other brands (even WITH the additional $400 plush top)
- Highly rated for side sleeping
Our Honest Awara Mattress Review
Below, we’re sharing our honest thoughts on the Awara mattress we purchased for our home. We did not get our mattress for free or use any special discounts besides shopping during a sale.
Awara Mattress Delivery & Unboxing
Our Awara mattress was delivered on January 4, 2022. From the time we ordered until the moment the mattress arrived took about 9 days…during the winter, during COVID, and during holiday shipping delays.
We felt that was pretty good!
The box was HUGE. There was no way the delivery driver would have been able to bring it to our door on his own. Well, maybe if he dragged it…
We were home, thankfully, so my husband was able to help him bring it in. Our delivery driver actually offered to bring it upstairs for us, so we tipped him $10 for going above and beyond.
The box is purple, which I loved, but we did end up with a couple little purple marks on our cream walls.
Unboxing Our Awara King Mattress
The worst part about the Awara mattress experience was seeing ALL of the plastic wrapped around the mattress. Awara sends you a little plastic cutter to help you break the mattress out of its wrapping, but I was disappointed to see just how much it was.
That definitely doesn’t look like recyclable plastic so we decided to store it in the garage for some gardening projects in the future (mini high tunnels, anyone?).
The mattress plumped up quickly and I don’t remember detecting any smell. We were able to sleep on it that night!
Awara Tranquility Sleep Bundle Free Bedding Kit
The bedding kit was delivered 2 days before the mattress, which gave us time to wash the mattress topper and sheets before the mattress arived.
Although the bedding kit was a selling point for us since it meant we didn’t need to go drop a few more hundred dollars, we actually aren’t that impressed with it.
The Awara free bedding kit included:
- A mattress cover
- Cotton sheet set
- 2 latex pillows
The mattress cover is alright, but I noticed that the seam is starting to rip after just 2 washes.
The cotton sheet set is good. We appreciate that it’s made to fit the mattress, so it’s very easy to put on. However, these are not organic cotton sheets so the quality of the sheets really does not match the quality standards of the mattress.
The latex pillows are way too thick. They are uncomfortable to use as a single pillow, but they are perfect for using between your knees for side sleeping.
Was it worth paying more for a mattress to get the free bedding? Probably not. We probably could have done without the pillows entirely and sourced a higher-quality mattress cover & sheets.
We ordered our duvet insert from Under the Canopy! The case is organic cotton and the fill is recycled polyfill. We purchased the lightweight size and use it on top of a quilt. We love it and are so glad to find linens that fit our standards.
Our initial thoughts about our Awara mattress
So, we transitioned from a queen-size firm memory foam mattress to a king-size hybrid latex mattress. A hybrid latex mattress has a combination of stainless steel springs and a latex pad.
It had been years since I laid on a coil mattress and immediately, I was unhappy with the Awara mattress. It felt too soft and springy like a cheap hotel mattress. I had some soreness in my hips for a few nights, too. I really felt like this mattress was going to be a bust for me and a huge waste of money.
We had to keep the mattress for 30 days to give it a full trial, so I figured we’d just ride it out. I was unhappy though. Here I thought I was getting this perfect mattress for several thousand dollars, but it felt like a cheap hotel mattress!
Gradually, my feelings challenged
Over the next couple of weeks, I noticed that I was sleeping more deeply than normal. I was waking up feeling more rested. The best part was that I had no pressure point pain in my hips and I could actually sleep on my side again!
You have no idea how much I like sleeping on my side. It’s the most comfortable way for me to sleep, but it often hurts my lower back.
I’ve come up with a variety of solutions for side-sleeping, like sleeping with a pillow between my knees, but I usually still end up in pain.
Since we switched mattresses, I actually go to the chiropractor less!
How we paid for our Awara mattress
As a former credit counselor, I’m very picky about debt and never recommend charging something before you have the cash to pay it off.
Since we had several other large purchases to make at the same time, we decided to test out breaking our payment apart into monthly installments with Affirm.
Affirm is like old-school layaway.
Basically, you break apart your bill into 6 equal payments and pay for those until the debt is paid. We had a 0% interest rate (otherwise I would never have even bothered with it). We also had the money in the bank to pay the debt in full if needed.
Since a lot of people use programs like Affirm, we wanted to see how the process worked and if we would recommend it for others.
Affirm actually worked better than we expected. The payments always posted on time and we never had a single interest charge. We were able to send extra on our balance every month to try to pay it off even faster. We’ll have ours paid off over a month early.
I will say that even though we had a positive experience with Affirm, I personally felt uncomfortable using the service. I did not like having the debt weighing over me. What if our income dropped? What if we had an emergency that required the cash we had on hand?
We actually did experience both of those issues and having another bill to manage made it more stressful.
Personally, carrying consumer debt just adds more stress. I’d much rather just save up for the total and then order the item.
If you’re trying to afford an expensive organic mattress on a budget, try sending $100-300 per month instead. Then, when you’re ready, order the exact one you want.
So at 4 months in, how do you feel about your Awara mattress?
Overall, I really like our mattress! It really is very comfortable. My back feels better and I love, love, love that I can sleep on my side again!
Our animals love it too and we really enjoy having a big bed. Although the Awara doesn’t absorb movement as much as a thick memory foam mattress, I typically cannot feel when my husband gets out of bed before I wake up.
Since we have not had any problems with our mattress, we don’t have any experience working with the Awara company itself to solve any issues. I do still have a little bit of a weird feeling knowing that they mostly sell conventional mattresses. In some ways, I would have preferred to have purchased from a company that only offers sustainable mattresses.
What do we wish we did differently?
I definitely wish I didn’t prioritize getting the bedding included in my price as much as I did because we don’t think the free linens were up to the standard we normally like.
Although I am happy with my mattress, I think I could have spent less on a comparable mattress if I purchased from Eco Terra. They offer a very similar hybrid latex mattress with internal coils. We’ve seen the king-size of their Hybrid Latex Mattress sell for as low as $1,299 on sale (normally $1,599).
Especially with the sale price, we could have gone to Under the Canopy and purchased the organic cotton mattress cover & percale sheet set and still paid several hundred less than Awara.
Read more Awara mattress reviews:
It is *really* hard to find Awara mattress reviews from REAL PEOPLE. Almost all of the review are from mattress review sites, not people who actually sleep on these things!
Miranda Schroeder had a very similar experience that she shared in her own Awara mattress review. She also notes some challenges with the super-heavy box, a little discomfort the first night, and growing to love the mattress over time. She agrees that the king-size is perfect for critters, too!
Mamavation wrote a mega post about organic mattresses & the marketing claims different companies use to sell them. She has some questions about Awara’s sourcing that we might want to dig into.
Any questions about the process or our mattress? We’re happy to answer! We’ll also come back to post a 1-year update in January 2023 to let you know how we feel about our mattress a full year-in.
