If you’ve just purchased a yoga mat or are considering buying one, you’re probably wondering how involved cleaning it will be. Thankfully, yoga mats are easy to clean. Yoga mats don’t need intensive care, and need cleaning only once a month. Cleaning ones made of vinyl or rubber is considerably easier than cleaning those made out of jute or cork. Vinyl and rubber mats only require soap and water to clean, while jute and cork mats require cleansers that are less harsh than either of those due to the porosity of those materials.

A little preventative care goes a long way with yoga mats. Before doing any yoga on your mat, you want to make sure the floor that you put it on is clear of any dirt and debris, since they can become impacted into the mat while you are exercising on it. In addition, you will want to take a shower before doing yoga on your mat to prevent any dirt from your body from getting on the mat. Wearing loose-fitting clothing to minimize sweating while doing yoga is also a good idea, since sweat will impact the stickiness of the mat and make it require more constant cleaning. If the temperature of your workout area allows, wearing loose-fitting clothing that also absorbs your sweat, such as sweatpants, is even better since it will prevent sweat from contacting the mat.

If these pre-cleaning rituals are followed, you will only need to give your mat a thorough cleaning once every month or so to eliminate the built-up dirt, sweat, and grime. For vinyl and rubber mats, simply clean it with water and a little bit of soap. Too much soap can leave a residue on the mat making it slippery, and using harsher cleaning products will damage the mat. Vinegar is also a good option for getting the smell of sweat out of yoga mats without damaging the mat. Don’t put your yoga mat through the washing machine, as the violent spinning will seriously damage the mat. When drying your mat, lay a dry bath towel on the mat and roll the mat up along with the towel. Squeezing the mat with the towel rolled up inside it will cause the water to be absorbed by the towel, leaving you with a dry mat.

For yoga mats made out of jute and cork, cleaning with water is not recommended, as these materials are porous and cleaning them with water will speed up the degradation of the mat. Practitioners usually recommend treating these mats like futons, and simply allowing them to air out in a shaded area during the day. If you need a more thorough cleaning for a natural yoga mat, you can use organic cleaners sold by manufacturers of natural yoga mats which contain natural cleaning agents that aren’t as harsh to the materials these mats are made out of as soap and detergent.

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Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
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