A few weeks ago I had the wonderful experience of having a foul smelling yoga mat. I was running late for Hot Yoga and forgot my mat (no biggie), rented a mat for 2 dollars. As you know in Bikram Yoga we go through our standing series and then switch over to our floor postures. Well, I started to notice a really bad odor, and I thought man I am a super clean dude it can’t be me. I then thought these beautiful ladies in front of me have really smelly feet.
Well, as we started our Locus posture with my face planted I then realized it was my mat smelling funky. I was so upset because I should have said something immediately when I was giving my mat because it was very wet. I got back into the present moment and just let it go. As soon as class ended I scrub my face immediately because the smell was tattoo into my skin.
Anyway, lesson learned is to make sure if you rent a mat that you have towels covering the entire mat or if it smells give it back. After this experience I decided to do some research and found a product that helps with the mat cleaning called Gaiam Super Yoga Mat Wash. I like this product because it was easy to use just spray the mat a few times and wipe with a moist cloth, air dry and your done. The ingredients of the scent of the Yoga Mat Wash are all nature, which in include Eucalyptus oil Organic Olive Oil, and Coconut oil.
If you are on a tight budget, I have heard you can actually dump your mat in the washing machine a small amount of detergent. I would advise you to make sure you don’t use a lot of chemicals to clean your mat because the scent will actually release itself from the mat, especially with the intense heat of Hot Yoga. This is something I can vouch for because it has happened to me.
With regards to drying your mat immediately I have heard that you can place your mat into the dryer with low heat for a short time, but I honestly don’t know if this is good idea or not. Try at your own risk! I tend to just have a few mats at home and rotate among them.
Cheers
Dion