Guide to getting your yoga mats cleaned

You heard that right. They aren’t magical flying carpets that indulge in self-cleaning! If you’re familiar with yoga, you’d know that most of your asanas/ workout exercises would encompass within the boundary of your mats. You stand on it, roll over it and if tiredness wins over the hustle, maybe a nap too. For all the time spent, there’s surely going to be some deposit of your body sweat, dead skin and germs there. Over time, this deposit is visible when you roll over the mat after a good hour of physical exercise. A thought may pass by your head – to switch the side. Please, let the thought pass by. Always stick to one side of the mat for landing it onto the surface.

What’s the cleaning ritual you ask. Pretty simple. Just takes a couple of minutes. All you need is some mild detergent or a disinfectant coupled with some soap to get the work done.

You could submerge your mat into a half-filled tray containing a cleaning solution as mentioned above. Keep in mind to use very few mild chemicals as cotton gets the stain off easily and harsh chemicals, in turn, account for more damage than good by ripping the delicate threads costing the durability. Scrub it, starting from one end and follow it over both sides. There’s no worry about colour fade or material shrink. Once you’re through the process, rinse your mat in clean water to remove all the debris.

You could towel dry or squeeze out the excess water and let it air dry for a couple of hours. It is to be noted that a ‘warm sunny outdoor dry’ would be the healthiest option to dry out your mat. You could also opt to wipe your mat with a wet towel soaked in a cleaning solution. This is faster and preferable if you’d want to do it at regular intervals.

A gentle hand is always a must when it comes to caring for the fabric. Vigorous scrub or a machine wash leads to the disorientation of the shape and quality of the mat. If you profusely sweat or practice hot yoga, adding a layer to your mat in terms of a yoga towel, as it’s is advised to avoid constant exposure of cleansing to your mat.

How often should you clean it? Once or twice a month should do. It’s also advised to clean it up a day before if you’ve got an outdoor session to avoid moisture retention. A couple of drops of tree tea oil or natural scents could be added during the cleaning process to help block the body odour.

That is it. It is as simple and essential as it can be. Unhygienic mats could lead to the collection of germs that in a long run could lead to skin irritation, staph infection and ringworm diseases in the worst case. This can be avoided altogether by just sparing a few minutes. Happy cleaning!