Although yoga studios typically offer cleaning products for your mat after class, there’s rarely enough time, or available product, for every single yogi to clean their mat between classes. Instead of losing your post yoga Zen over a cleaning issue, give your mat the TLC it deserves using this DIY yoga mat cleaner at home.
DIY Yoga Equipment and Mat Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 3 parts water
- 1 part white vinegar
- 6-10 drops of your favourite essential oil. (A combination of tea tree, lemon and orange oil are highly recommended for their antibacterial and antifungal properties).
Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a spray bottle and mix gently. Spray your yoga mat from head to toe, and wipe down with a microfibre cloth. Repeat the process on both sides. For those of you who have a home practice, remember to give your other yoga equipment a little TLC too. Yoga bolsters, blocks and straps can be vacuumed using a soft brush attachment, and then, wiped down using your DIY cleaner and a microfibre cloth.
Deep Cleaning
If you practice hot yoga, or often do stretches on your mat after a high-intensity workout, its important to give your mat a deep clean. Giving your mat a deep cleaning on a monthly basis, will help remove sweat, skin cells and oil build-up. To clean, place your mat into your bathtub, or fold into the bottom of your laundry room sink. Fill your bathtub/sink up until the water has completely covered your mat. Next, add a few drops of tea tree oil and a pump of all natural liquid soap to the water. Let your mat soak for a couple hours, flipping the mat over after the first hour, to ensure the mat is fully soaked. Rinse your mat until the soap residue is gone. Since, it’s impossible to fully wring out a yoga mat, remove excess water by rolling it up as tightly as you can, a few times, and then hang to drip dry. It typically takes at least 48 hours for your mat to completely dry.
