What Is OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 — and What Does Class I Mean for Your Mattress?

When a mattress brand says its products are "non-toxic," that phrase means nothing on its own. There is no federal agency that defines it, no third party that audits it, and no standard that enforces it. The word is marketing, not verification.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is verification.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is an independent testing and certification system administered by the OEKO-TEX® Association, a network of independent textile research and testing institutes founded in 1992. It tests finished textile products — and every component inside them — against more than 1,000 substances known or suspected to harm human health, including formaldehyde, heavy metals, pesticide residues, phthalates, and dozens of other chemical classes.

The key word is finished. A brand cannot earn OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification for a mattress by certifying only the outer fabric, or only the cotton, or only the latex. Every component — every thread, every foam layer (if present), every accessory material — must be tested and confirmed safe. If a single component fails, the finished product is not certified.

This is why finished-product OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification is rare, especially for innerspring mattresses. An innerspring mattress contains dozens of distinct components — encased coils, multiple comfort layers, edge support materials, ticking fabric, quilting materials, fire barriers, and more. Each one must be independently tested and pass. There is no shortcut and no exception.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 assigns products to one of four classes based on the intended user and the degree of skin contact involved. The classes are:

Class I — Products for babies and toddlers (up to 36 months). The most restrictive testing thresholds of any class. Designed for the users whose bodies absorb substances at higher rates relative to body weight, whose respiratory and immune systems are still developing, and who have the longest exposure relative to body size.

Class II — Products with direct skin contact intended for adults, such as underwear, bed linens, and shirts.

Class III — Products with partial skin contact, such as outer garments.

Class IV — Decorative materials with no skin contact, such as curtains and upholstery fabrics.

Class I does not mean "certified for babies only." It means tested to the most stringent thresholds available under the standard — thresholds that protect the most vulnerable users. A product certified at Class I is certified beyond what Class II, III, or IV require. When a brand achieves Class I certification for an adult mattress, it means the product has been held to the same testing standards as an infant crib mattress — and passed.

GOTS — the Global Organic Textile Standard — and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 are both independent, third-party certifications. They test for different things, from different angles, using different methodologies. Neither replaces the other.

GOTS governs what is permitted to enter the supply chain from the beginning: it prohibits synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and hazardous chemical inputs from the farm through the finished product. It also establishes social and labor standards across the manufacturing chain. GOTS is one of the few standards that span the entire supply chain and certify the finished product — not individual components marketed under its name. GOTS defines what is organic.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 tests what is present in the finished product: it screens the completed mattress — every component — against a comprehensive list of harmful substances, regardless of how or where those substances may have entered. It answers a different question: not "what was prohibited at the source?" but "what is actually in this product right now?"

The two standards are complementary and overlapping by design. GOTS reduces the likelihood that harmful substances are introduced in the first place. OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 verifies that they are not present in the finished product. Together, they close gaps that neither covers alone.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is one of six finished-product certifications that every Avocado mattress carries simultaneously. No single certification catches everything — which is why the system is designed to layer:

GOTS — prohibits synthetic pesticides and hazardous inputs from the farm through the finished product; certifies the entire mattress, not individual components.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, Class I — tests the finished mattress against more than 1,000 harmful substances; Class I thresholds are the most restrictive category under the standard.

MADE SAFE® — screens the finished product against thousands of substances known or suspected to harm human health, aquatic life, and wildlife, including carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and reproductive toxins.

EWG Verified® — requires complete ingredient transparency and health-based screening, with publicly accessible product listings.

GREENGUARD Gold — certifies against chemical emission limits specifically for bedrooms and living spaces, including children's rooms.

UL Formaldehyde-Free Claim Verification — independently validates that no added formaldehyde or formaldehyde precursors are present.

Each standard tests for different substance classes through different methodologies and against different exposure pathways. The result is a compounding system: organic integrity from farm through finished product, harmful substances screened at the product level, health and ecosystem hazards assessed, airborne chemical emissions tested in the room where you sleep, ingredient transparency required, and formaldehyde independently excluded.

As of January 2026, Avocado is the first American mattress brand, to our knowledge, to achieve OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Class I certification across every mattress, crib mattress, pillow, and mattress topper it sells. This includes our adult mattress line — not only our crib mattresses.

Achieving Class I on an adult mattress is not a standard commercial requirement. It is a choice to hold an adult sleep surface to the same testing thresholds designed to protect a developing infant. We made that choice because the logic is straightforward: if a material is safe enough for the most vulnerable user, it is safe for everyone. And because the people sleeping on our mattresses — including pregnant people, nursing parents, individuals with chemical sensitivities, and anyone who spends eight hours a night in direct contact with their sleep surface — deserve the same standard.

This certification was confirmed by Hohenstein, an OEKO-TEX® Association founding member institute. Certificate number: 24.HUS.86422.

You can verify the scope of any brand's OEKO-TEX® certification — including exactly which products are covered — using the OEKO-TEX® Label Check or by scanning the QR code on the product's certification label. The Label Check shows the certificate number, the certifying institute, and the specific articles covered. It takes 30 seconds and removes any ambiguity about what a brand's certification actually covers.

We encourage you to use it for every brand you consider — including ours.

OEKO-TEX® certification varies widely across the mattress industry. Common variations include:

Component-level certification — a brand certifies the cotton fabric or the latex foam under OEKO-TEX®, but not the finished mattress. The certificate is real; the coverage is partial.

Class II or III certification on the finished product — a brand certifies the finished mattress, but under a less restrictive testing class than Class I.

Finished-product certification on select models — a brand certifies one or several mattresses, but not its full product line.

No finished-product certification at all — a brand holds material-level certifications only, which do not verify what is present in the assembled product.

The only way to know which applies is to check the certificate. The OEKO-TEX® Label Check will show you the certificate number, the scope of coverage, and the class level. A certificate covering "yarn" or "fabric" is different from one covering "mattresses." A certificate issued at Class II is different from one issued at Class I.

For Avocado, certificate 24.HUS.86422 covers mattresses, crib mattresses, pillows, and mattress toppers — the entire finished product line — at Class I.

Most mattress certifications apply to materials, not to the assembled product. Certifying a fabric or a foam layer is straightforward — it is a single component with a defined composition. Certifying a finished mattress at Class I requires that every component pass independently and that the assembled product — including the coil system, the fire barrier, the quilting layer, every thread, and every accessory material — meet the most restrictive thresholds under the standard.

For innerspring mattresses specifically, this is technically demanding. The coil encasement, the edge support, adhesives, and the ticking — all must pass. If any one component fails, the finished product is not certified. There is no partial credit.

Class, I add another layer: it requires that the entire finished mattress meet thresholds designed for infant and toddler exposure — not just adult exposure. Those limits are more restrictive across every substance category tested.

This is why, to our knowledge, finished-product Class I certification for adult mattresses is something no other American mattress brand has done across its full product line.

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