How to Clean a Yoga Mat

By material, with reasons, because the wrong method destroys grip permanently and the right one takes four minutes.

First: what makes a mat dirty

Three things, and they need different responses.

Sweat salts. Mineral residue left behind as sweat evaporates. Builds an invisible film that reduces grip. Water alone removes it.

Skin oils. Transferred from hands, feet and face. This is what makes a mat feel slick rather than gritty, and water alone does not touch it — it needs a surfactant, meaning soap.

Dust and hair. Sits in the texture. A vacuum or a shake handles it.

Most people clean for the third and ignore the first two, which is why their mat is clean and still slippery.

Rubber and PVC mats

Weekly: wipe down with a cloth dampened in plain water. Both sides. Let it dry fully flat before rolling.

Monthly: a few drops of washing-up liquid in a litre of warm water. Wipe over, then — and this is the step people skip — wipe again with clean water to remove the soap. Soap residue left on a mat is slippery, and it is the most common cause of "I cleaned my mat and now it's worse."

Never:

• Alcohol, vinegar in any strength, or antibacterial spray on rubber. Alcohol and acid degrade the rubber surface. It will look fine and grip worse every month.
• Essential oils. They are oils. You are cleaning oil off the mat.
• The washing machine. Water gets into the material and cannot leave.
• Direct sun to dry. UV destroys rubber.

Cork mats

Weekly: damp cloth, plain water. Cork is naturally antimicrobial and needs very little.

Monthly: mild soap solution, then a clean-water wipe.

Never: soaking. Water penetrating the bond between the cork and the backing is the main failure mode of these mats.

Cotton mats

The easy case, because cotton is cloth.

Cotton on both sides: machine wash, cold, gentle cycle, mild detergent, no fabric softener — softener coats the fibres and reduces absorbency, which is the entire reason you bought a cotton mat. Every four to six weeks with regular use, or when it stops smelling of nothing.

Cotton with a rubber base: not in a machine, for the same reason as any rubber mat. Vacuum it, steam-clean if you have a steamer, and spot-clean the surface with a damp cloth.

Both: never tumble dry, never dry in direct sun. Dry flat, turning once.

Drying, which is the part that matters

More mats are ruined by drying than by cleaning.

Flat, not hung over a rail. A narrow rail leaves a hard crease at the fold that takes weeks to come out.

Out of direct sunlight. Fades dye and destroys rubber.

Fully dry before rolling. A mat rolled damp is a mat that will smell within days, and once mildew is in a woven surface it is difficult to remove.

Both sides. Turn it halfway. The underside dries slower because it is against the floor.

Give it four to six hours. Overnight is easier.

Frequency

After every practice: shake it out, and hang or lay it flat rather than rolling it while it is still warm and damp. Thirty seconds.

Weekly: damp wipe both sides.

Monthly: proper clean with soap, or a machine wash if the material allows it.

Immediately: any time you have been ill, or after a particularly heavy sweat.

The one habit that causes almost every problem

Rolling the mat up straight after practice and putting it in a bag.

A warm, damp, rolled mat in a closed bag is an ideal environment for the bacteria that produce the smell. Almost every mat that smells got that way this one way, and the fix costs nothing: let it lie flat or hang for twenty minutes before it goes anywhere.

If you have to leave immediately, unroll it as soon as you get home.

If it already smells

Cotton: wash it. Add half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse — on cotton this is safe and it kills the bacteria producing the odour. Dry flat and fully.

Rubber or PVC: wipe with mild soap solution, rinse-wipe, then dry flat in a well-ventilated place, out of the sun, for a full day. Bicarbonate of soda sprinkled on, left an hour, then vacuumed off, absorbs a surprising amount.

If it persists after two attempts: the smell is in the material rather than on it, and it is not coming out. Time for a new mat.

What about disinfecting

Between the pandemic and shared studio equipment, this comes up.

Soap and water, mechanically applied, removes the overwhelming majority of what is on a mat. It is the same reason handwashing works. For a mat you alone use, that is sufficient.

For genuine disinfection of a shared mat: a diluted disinfectant rated for the surface, followed by a clean-water wipe, and check the manufacturer's guidance because most disinfectants attack rubber. Or — considerably simpler — lay your own thin cotton mat over the top of the shared one, and wash that.