Feet. Sweat. Grime. Bacteria. This is the reality of the yoga mat you own and practice on everyday. As for the random yoga mat you get out of the bin at the airport’s “meditation room” or at the Library? Fungus. Herpes. You name it… These mats are NEVER CLEANED!
This is not an ad for mat spray. This is just what it is.
Honestly, when is the last time you cleaned your mat?
Yoga has a perception of clean white linens and breezy models flowing through warrior poses on clouds of lavender.
Funk that. Yoga is funky. Yoga is stinky. Those zephyrs are farts. This is NORMAL. Yes, it is gross. Reality is a little funky.
Ok, so here’s where I tell you to do this thing or buy this other thing. Look, I went through 5 mats in 5 years of practice. One mat was so stinky I kept it in the basement of the apartment complex I lived in and neighbors complained that they thought something had died down there.
Advice? What to do?
Clean your mat. Use a quality mat. And reuse your mat!
Here are some ideas on how to reuse old yoga mats.
- Yoga mats are perfect for painting.
- Cushion stuff. We have yoga mats in some of the areas of our garage — underneath surfboards and lining the walls.
- Insulate. I just thought of this one. Insulation is such toxic crap… think of houses (or at least sheds) insulated with old yoga mats!
- Surf Rack pads. I actually tried to turn old yoga mats into a surf rack pad. Why spend $25 bucks for some crappy pieces of foam in a poorly sewn canvas bag?
- Supposedly the yoga mats from the teacher training I attended were donated for pets in some way. I'm not sure the use … perhaps you do?
How do you reuse your mat?