How to Wash Your Yoga Mat
Having a yoga mat that ended up absorbing all of that sweat from the stretch-based exercise routines might take a toll on it. Not just about the smell but the quality of the mat as well. Not all yoga mats have explicitly mentioned how often it should be washed or if it can be amenable to various types of detergents available in the market today. With that in mind, all that is left for you to do is check some DIY alternatives in trying to wash your yoga mat.
- Check any disclaimers found in the package or box that contained the yoga mat.
There are some yoga mats that would explicitly state against getting it cleaned in the washing machine. Surely, it can withstand the rumble and tumble going on in the machine. But it can affect the flatness of the mat even if you dry it under the sun or in an area at your home. Also, it’s not the same rumble and tumble that your yoga mat endures whenever your yoga sessions escalate into advanced, almost contortionist levels of stretching routines. Worst case scenario is seeing your mat dry and retaining a wrinkly, bumpy texture.
- Check out some yoga mat spray cleaning solutions in the market.
The shop where you bought your yoga mat might even recommend some brands compatible with the brand that you have purchased. They are usually in spray form sold with a free piece of microfiber cleaning cloth or some other rag made of towel cloth. You spray the solution on the mat, rub the excess liquid with the cloth along with the dirt, filth and grime that you are trying to remove and hang the mat out to dry. Using a wooden bench to lay the mat to dry under the sun in springtime or summertime often helps in drying out the odors as well.
- Creating your own cleaning solutions help.
If some of the brands that you have tried in the past to clean or wash your yoga mat may have affected the material found in it. So in case you have already moved on with a new yoga mat, the key to maintaining it is by concocting your own cleaning solution. A safe formula to use in cleaning your mat every after session or at least twice a week is mixing 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vinegar in a spray bottle plus 2 drops of tea tree oil. The antibacterial properties in the tea tree oil and vinegar help in cleaning and deodorizing the mat. Cleaning procedure is somewhat similar to the procedure involving commercially manufactured spray cleaning solutions as explained in the previous number. Drying the mat under the sun will help in ridding the item of the vinegar odor.
- Use the bathtub to clean the yoga mat indoors.
In winter, cleaning your yoga mat to be dried outdoors is not possible. The best alternative is to soak it in lukewarm water in the bathtub containing water, vinegar and some tea tree oil. Using conventional laundry detergent diluted in water in the bathtub is a safe alternative. Mildly scrub while underwater and press a little to squeeze out the water and dirt. Hang to dry by the shower railing.
Learning how to wash and clean your own yoga mat helps in maintaining it while saving money to buy for a new yoga mat. Finding the right material to help you with your fitness regimen is best done in identifying which item allows itself to be cleaned, hung and dried for the next 24 hours at most when done indoors or about 10 hours out into the garden under the sunlight for about 8 to 10 hours. See which cleaning solutions work best for your yoga mat and enjoy your next stretching sessions on it for the longest possible time,
