How To Clean Your Yoga Mat

Having taken my yoga mat with me to 4 different hotel rooms in the last 2 weeks, I noticed this week - once I was home - that it sort of smelled "like a hotel room carpet". Ew. Not so pleasant. I do take a thin sheet (doubles as a painting drop cloth at home) that I put under the mat as a "barrier" between mat and nasty carpets, but an old sheet is obviously not impermeable.

So I considered applying some of the Gaiam Yoga Mat Spray that Dr Desert Flower got me 2 years ago - it's got organic coconut, olive, jojoba, as well as tea tree and aloe vera. Yes, it smells nice, but the bees and wasps that visit my backyard appreciate the enticing fragrances a little too much, and hover around the mat as I am doing yoga. Slightly disquieting, when I am trying to relax and wash stress away, as I am not a fan of being stung, or accidentally squashing one of the flying creatures with my hand, foot, or bum.

So I did the next best thing - I rinsed the mat in warm, high pressure, direct impingement, shower head water. Both sides. Standing on a stool beside my shower, I reached over the shower curtain and held the 6 foot long mat in the water stream, thoroughly blasting both sides. Then, after "shaking out" the mat, I hung it over a towel rack for rapid Arizona (low humidity) drying. You Can take a clean towel, and roll up the mat in the clean towel, if you live in climates with higher levels of humidity.

The next day, viola, mat is clean, and dry, and ready to be used again. Ambient temp is 65F here in West Phoenix this afternoon - the pool deck and hummingbirds beckon me.