how to care for your pilates/ yoga mat
Me holding one of my many yoga mats!
After having MANY Yoga and Pilates mats over the years, I’ve accumulated some knowledge on the subject of how best to care for your Pilates/ Yoga mat!
Looking after your mat well will make the experience of using it nicer, and will also make your mat last in a better condition for much longer.
Here are my top tips for do’s/ don’ts. We’ll start with the don’ts!
DONT’S
Don’t let your mat live in the car
I’ve learnt this one the hard way! When we leave a mat in the car, it is subjected to extreme temperature shifts - when the temperature is hot your car turns into an oven, and when its cold, the temperature often goes below freezing. So it’s a little like moving your mat from the freezer to the oven repeatedly. Subjecting your mat to these extreme temperatures makes the material of the mat degrade, and you often find that the back of the mat will start to crack and crumble.
Don’t let other things squash your mat
When something heavy is pressing on top of your mat, resulting in the mat being almost folded in some areas it is putting extreme stress on the part that is folded. Mats can take this extreme pressure when they are only in that position for a short time, but when they are in that position for a long time, that’s when the damage is done.
Don’t put it in the washing machine
This is another one I’ve learnt the hard way! Even if the instructions on your mat say you can put it in the washing machine, I really wouldn’t recommend this. I’ve only tried this once, and it didn’t do the mat any good at all - the edges were very ragged and I really feel this mat was ruined by doing this. If you are doing hot yoga or you sweat a lot, there are other cleaning methods that I would recommend more than using a washing machine in the Do’s below!
DO’S
If possible hang or leave your mat flat
If you have somewhere you can hang your mat or leave it flat in a spare bedroom or under your bed, this will keep your mat in a much better condition. Constantly rolling puts more pressure on the mat which over time will degrade it quicker than if you can store it flat.
Allow to dry out before rolling up
If you can’t store your mat flat, after you’ve done a sweaty practice, if possible don’t roll the mat up straight away - allow it to dry out before you roll. Rolling up a wet mat is the quickest way to allow bacteria to spread - potentially leading to a stinky mat, or to a mouldy mat - neither of which are ideal. Getting into Childs’ pose at the beginning of class and putting your head down on a mat that smells like someone’s stinky armpits or feet is not to be recommended!
Clean your mat regularly
If you don’t use your mat very often then you won’t need to clean it very often, but if you use your mat 3 or more times a week I recommend cleaning your mat weekly. I would also recommend cleaning your mat before you use it if you’ve lent it to someone else. We come into very close contact with our mat and our own bacteria is bad enough, but dealing with someone else’s isn’t for me! Having a Yoga studio at the height of Covid times means I’m extremely hygiene conscious!
Follow the manufacturers cleaning instructions
If you can’t find the manufacturers cleaning instructions either on the original packaging or online, then I have a few recommendations -
There are specific mat cleaner products that you can buy such as -
Manduka Mat Wash and Refresh - £12 https://www.yogamatters.com/collections/all/products/manduka-mat-wash-refresh-4-oz-lemongrass
Yogamatters Restore Yoga Mat cleaner - £15 https://www.yogamatters.com/collections/all/products/yogamatters-restore-yoga-mat-cleaner
For Hot Yoga type mats, you can use hot water with a few drops of essential oils - citrus based ones (lemon, orange, lime), and also tea tree, lemongrass and lavender all have anti-bacterial properties - they are very concentrated so you only need about 5-10 drops for a small-medium bowl of water. For PU surface mats, I would recommend one part white vinegar to 19 parts hot water. For both of these options, use a lint free cloth and soak it in the water solution, then scrub all over the surface of the mat. Keep washing the cloth out and really rub it hard - you are also getting a free workout! Hang up to dry for a day or so.
For a deeper clean, you can pop your mat in the bath or shower and shower it down - again, give it a really good scrub. Please note that it will take quite a few days for your mat to dry if you shower it down, so I’d only do this if you know you are not going to need to use it for a while!
For drying, if you can get your mat outside it will not only dry much quicker, but also UV rays are known for their germicidal properties, meaning that they can kill microorganisms like bacteria and viruses meaning that your mat will be extra clean!
If you haven’t got a Yoga or Pilates Mat yet, and you’d like some help in choosing one, check out my Best Pilates mats post, and my Best Yoga mats post.
