How clean is your yoga mat?

You don’t have to be a clean freak to wonder (or even worry) about what type of bacteria or viruses might be lurking on the surface of that mat you’re about to use for the yoga class at your local studio. Common cold? Poison Oak? Swine flu?

Just to affirm your possible worries (and I am not trying to deride any yoga studios here!), when I owned my own studio, I must admit, we probably didn’t clean the mats as much as we could have or should have. In fact, as a sole proprietor, the prospect of washing so many mats at once was overwhelming. I was never even sure about the “right” way to clean the mats. First, I tried using my washing machine at home. It took about 20 loads and I couldn’t figure out how to dry them. The dryer seemed like a poor option; and they took forever to dry hanging on a line outside. I tried a commercial disinfectant spray, and students complained about the “toxic” odor. I tried a natural mat cleaner. That worked better (although it still took me a long time and a lot of scrubbing!).

• Stirlen Chi ™ Yoga Mat Cleanser: http://naturalfitnessinc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_2_21&products_id=48  
   
• Love My Mat 100% Organic Yoga Mat Cleaner: http://lovemymat.com/au.html
   
• Yoga Mat Cleanser Spray: http://sunshineyoga.com/8-oz-yoga-mat-cleanser-spray.html
   
• Yoga Mat Cleanser: http://www.iriestar.com/yoga_mat_cleansing_spray.html
   
• Yoga Mat Cleansing Spray: http://www.theyogawarehouse.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MSC901