Good and Sticky: How to clean your yoga mat

December 15, 2009

Good and Sticky: How to clean your yoga mat

It’s not often that Sticky means Clean. Except in the case of your yoga mat. Either you’ve been using it forever and it’s dirty and the stick is gone or, it’s brand new out of the package and slippery. Either way, the solution is to Wash It!

Either by hand in your bathtub, or on Delicate setting in the washing machine. ONLY A LITTLE SOAP. Hang dry. Putting it in the dryer will cause a strange burning plastic smell to permeate your entire house and you will end up with not just a sticky, but positively GOOEY mat (and dryer). Trust me, I learned the hard way. If you do put it in the dryer, use that AIR setting which is NO HEAT.

Voila!  Clean and Sticky Mat. The way it should be!

Depending on how often you use your mat, and how quickly it becomes dirty – like if you’re doing a lot of hot yoga, wash your mat once a month or every few months. In the mean time you can surface clean it with a little homemade spray. Put 10 drops each of lavender and tea tree essential oils in a spray bottle with water (and sometimes a tbs of vinegar too) and spritz on your mat, wipe dry. Lavender and tea tree both have  antibacterial and deodorizing properties and will leave your mat disinfected and smelling so fresh and so clean!

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