How to clean your yoga mat

Is your yoga mat your place of power? Your holy realm, where you come to rest and recharge with new energy? Then make sure that you give your "holy realm" a thorough cleaning from time to time. Especially with an intensive practice, dirt and bacteria accumulate that nobody can use.

Cleaning your yoga mat

We sweat on it, we stand on it with our feet, we travel with it to distant countries - our yoga mat goes through a lot with us over time. It's not always clean. Because every time we unroll our mat, bacteria, sweat and dirt collect there, which can accelerate wear and tear of the mat and cause an unpleasant smell. Cleaning your yoga mat should therefore be an integral part of your practice. Who likes to practice on a smelly surface?

In addition, it is much better and more concentrated to practice in a clean place. Just as we sweep through at home and keep things in order, we should do the same very conscientiously with our mat. This pays off in the end, because a well-kept mat that you clean at regular intervals lasts much longer.

Clean with a damp cloth

It is best if you wipe your mat with a damp cloth from time to time and remove any dirt. Cloths and disinfectant sprays are available in most good yoga studios.

You can easily make your own disinfectant spray at home: Simply fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of organic apple cider vinegar, and you're done.

You should be careful with essential oils - depending on the nature of your yoga mat, these may leave stains. Reach for high-quality, ready-mixed mat sprays that have at best been tested on different yoga mats.

How often should a yoga mat be cleaned?

Of course, only you can decide whether your yoga mat has to be wiped off daily or whether it is sufficient to wipe it with a damp cloth if necessary. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable with your mat!

In general, it is difficult to give a general answer to this question. An outdoor yoga mat probably needs to be cleaned more often, and we would disinfect a rental mat from the yoga studio more often.

As long as you practice on your own yoga mat and mainly indoors or on a clean surface, we recommend cleaning only as needed - i.e. after about 10 sessions.

How do I recognize a high-quality mat spray?

We'll admit: the idea of ​​a yoga mat that smells like vinegar water at your next yoga session isn't particularly appealing. More and more yogis and yoginis are therefore turning to the yoga mat spray.

Unfortunately, many sprays are based on synthetic ingredients and artificial fragrances, which not only cause headaches, but can also leave stains on the yoga mat or even damage the coating.

When choosing your mat spray, you should therefore pay attention to the following:

• that the ingredients are natural
• that the spray is produced in organic quality
• that the spray is made specifically for yoga mats
• that the smell is pleasant for you

For example, we have tested the Lotuscrafts organic yoga mat spray on all of our mats over a longer period of time to ensure that the coating remains intact and the mats remain spotless and non-slip.

Wash the yoga mat

If wiping with a damp cloth is not enough, you can also wash your mat depending on its condition. Check beforehand whether your manufacturer recommends washing. For example, you can rinse off the Lotuscrafts yoga mat Mudra Studio for a few minutes in the shower.

Afterwards you can rub the mat in the tub with a mixture of warm water and a few drops of vinegar and a cloth. Then rinse the mat again and let it drain in the tub. When most of the water has drained away, you should hang the mat outside or across a drying rack to dry. Never expose the mat to direct sunlight or a heater. In any case, let the mat dry completely so that no residual moisture collects. The mats act like a sponge and soak up the water, so thorough rinsing and drying is important. So only roll it up again when the mat is completely dry.

But the same applies here: Please do not shower your mat too often and only if a damp wipe is really no longer enough. The shower and the subsequent drying put a strain on the material and can impair the slip resistance.

If you practice with a travel mat when you travel, remember to take care of that mat before and after your trip. When we travel, we like to roll out our mats in the middle of nature. If you prefer to use rental mats in studios when you are out and about and you are unsure about it for hygienic reasons, you can use a yoga towel that you simply roll out over the mat.