Sunday, June 3, 2012

How to Clean your Yoga mat

A couple years ago, I received a great birthday gift from a very special friend.  It was my yoga mat.

Since then I have used it almost every week for yoga and it has been one of the best gifts yet!  But recently I have worried that my mat may be a little germ infested and need some cleaning.  In the past I have always wiped it down with a mild cleanser but this time I thought maybe I needed a deeper clean.


This afternoon I took my yoga mat out of my car which is were I usually keep it, and put it in my washing machine to wash it.  I was nervous about what would happen but I thought it might be worth a shot.

I set the washing machine to hand wash, put in a tiny bit of my detergent, turned off the spin cycle and set it to go.  And it WORKED! 

Once the machine was done washing, I pulled out my mat and toweled it off a bit to get the excess water off and then hung it up to dry.


I don't think I will be able to use my mat for my usual Monday yoga class tomorrow afternoon, but at least my mat is clean now.  It should be dry in a few days and hopefully to go for my usual Pilates class Saturday morning.





Before attempting, I did some research and found information about how to clean a yoga mat in the washing machine.  I did not put my mat in the dryer and would not recommend it.

9 comments:

Rena said...

Your mat is so cute! How do you have time to run and cross train and be an engineer? I just got a job and now I'm worried that I'll get unhealthy and lose my runner status.

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said...

You know what? Ive had my yoga mat for a year and this never occurred to me. I'm definitely going to toss into into the washer, thanks!

Suzy said...

I clean my mat a couple times a year (when I'm actively using it). I always use the washer as well.

Jamie said...

Great tips! I don't have a yoga mat but if I ever started to go to any classes that use them I would want my own. Too many germs out there!

Being Robinson said...

this is brilliant, i can't get my mat clean with just hand washing it anymore. i am totally trying this. thanks for testing it out!

Anonymous said...

I never thought of throwing it in the washing machine. But that is a great idea, and I mine probably needs it soooo bad.

Nicole Orriëns said...

I like my stuff clean too, and I'm sure doing your yoga exercises will feel much better knowing you yoga mat is nice and fresh!

Mom's Home Run

Rebecca said...

I love the first comment!! Sometimes I think you are superhuman, too. :-)

RunToTheFinish said...

well look at that! i never considered putting mine in the washer, wonder if it only works on the front loader