Cleaning Your Yoga Mat, Naturally

I'm sorry, I love Treehugger, but this story was just TOO gay for me. Use one of a thousand products out there for cleaning surfaces. Sprinkle some essential oils on there...Don't BUY yet another product that requires packaging. "Makes our vinyasa more relaxing" -- Oh Jesus, I'm going to be sick. That's like bragging.

Thanks for reading, "Joe." Do you practice yoga by chance? Unfortunately not all of our posts can be tailored to one reader and using the word "gay" is not necessarily appropriate. Thanks for your suggestions.

Aren't disposable wipes rather un-Treehugger-ish? What's wrong with a sponge and some homemade soap?

Just plain stupid...Ever heard of a soapy sponge?

this reminds me of when ecover had the white container of all purpose soap, great for everything. next thing i knew, i was in the store and there were a zillion varieties of ecover soaps for every houshold task and surface under the sun but i couldn't find an all purpose cleaner.

maybe there's a market for little wipies to clean off the residue on your hands from the yoga wipies.

i love yoga, and the fragrances sound nice, but individually wrapped disposable cleaning products like these, although these particular ones have a couple of good things going for them, are just to much. they do to the world the opposite of what they are supposed to accomplish for us.

Not exactly all natural or healthy either. Here are the first 4 ingredients in these wipes: "Water, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol, Parabens"

Parabens are linked to cancer and xenoestrogens. Not very green!

Now I just need to know where I can buy some wipes to clean my wipes box.

You may not consider using the word gay appropriate, but since I was the one writing, I'll use my words, m'kay? And yes, I do kripalu.

Thanks nik for posting that info. I just posted something similar over on idealbite's website, as I read their warning about parabens and their recommendation for the jo-sha wipes within two minutes of each other.
Consistency seems like too much to ask!

I agree. Too much eviornmental waste going on here. As a yoga nad Pilates instucot myself, I say put some esential oils on your feet a few minutes before you practice and off you go. If its really gros, soak it in te tub or, throw it in the washing machine on the gentle cycle. Also reale interesting that offence is taken at the wod gay but taking the Lord's namein vain is completely accepable. Interesing.

I agree. Too much eviornmental waste going on here. As a yoga nad Pilates instucot myself, I say put some esential oils on your feet a few minutes before you practice and off you go. If its really gros, soak it in te tub or, throw it in the washing machine on the gentle cycle. Also reale interesting that offence is taken at the wod gay but taking the Lord's name in vain is completely accepable. Interesing.

I agree. Too much eviornmental waste going on here. As a yoga nad Pilates instucot myself, I say put some esential oils on your feet a few minutes before you practice and off you go. If its really gros, soak it in te tub or, throw it in the washing machine on the gentle cycle. Also reale interesting that offence is taken at the wod gay but taking the Lord's name in vain is completely accepable. Interesing.

Wow, I just came here to find a recipe for a natural yoga mat cleaner; I was personally just going to mix some teatree oil with some essential oils and water and use a plain old rag; looks like I'll be going back to that idea! This whole stream is very un-yoga like- who uses the term "GAY" in that way anymore! Glad I am not in your yoga class!

hmmm.... not so chill for a yoga discussion. I found this great DIY mat spray recipe for those still interested:

To make your own all-natural mat cleaning spray, add three drops of tea tree oil, two drops of peppermint oil, and two drops of lavender oil to distilled water. Mix thoroughly and place the solution in a spray bottle. Spray your mat lightly after every use and wipe it down gently with a damp sponge.

thanks for the recipe...i agree, this thread is bizarrely non-yogic.

Great feedback here! Was wondering the same thing about the wipes possibly being decomposable or compostable. What to do if you are a studio accomodating hundreds of people and would like to offer them the opportunity to clean their mat after or before practice? a sponge doesn't seem sanitaty, but paper towels will not get the job done. We have been using tea tree oil and water, but am looking for something sustainable, yet non-bacterial to keep public yoga mats clean...we don't have a facility where we can take the mats home and wash or wash them on site, so it has to be done using some kind of convenience product...thoughts??

If you get a Microban Yoga Mat your mat will stay clean and fresh no matter what. You should still probably clean it every so often too, but the Microban protection (made with zinc) protects the mat against bacteria & fungus. They sell them at www.yogadirect.com