How to Wash Your Yoga Mat in the Washing Machine

How to Wash Your Yoga Mat in the Washing Machine

After you’ve spent weeks or months using your yoga mat, it’s only natural that it has collected quite a bit of sweat and grime over time and you may not want to spend the extra money on a wash for your yoga mat. But what if you found out that there’s another way? Below, you can find out exactly how you can wash your yoga mat in your washing machine.

Using the washing machine

When you wash your yoga mat in the washing machine, you must be sure to wash it separately from your colored clothing. While many people are cautious about washing their yoga mats in the washer, it is a completely reasonable solution for those of you who don’t want to spend the time scrubbing at it on your hands and knees.

To wash your yoga mat, it is best to use a mild detergent. You can either do so by buying a pre-made detergent, or by creating your own solution with vinegar. The most important thing to do when you’re washing it in the machine is to remove it before the spin-cycle starts. Even if you put the cycle on low, you’ll have to remove it to air dry it, because you can damage your mat otherwise.

You should be cautious, however, because there are several yoga mats which should not be put in the washing machine. To know if yours is suitable, you can check your yoga mat’s manufacturing website. The majority of eco-friendly yoga mats are not meant to be put in the washing machine, though, because the materials and manufacturing process used to make cco-friendly mats can cause them to deteriorate with the rinsing and washing cycle of the washing machine.

Homemade cleaner recipe

If you want to make your own homemade cleaner for your yoga mat, you can follow the following machine-washable recipe:

Ingredients:

  1. 3/4 cup water
  2. 1.4 cup of white vinegar
  3. 4 drops Lavendar oil
  4. 3 drops Tea Tree oil

Directions:

Combine the above for ingredients in a bowl and mix well. You should adjust the amount of white vinegar you use, depending on how strong you want your mixture to be; however, remember to keep it rather mild for the washing machine.

Once these ingredients have been combined, you can put the cleaner in a spray bottle for every day use and when you want to clean your mat in the washing machine, you can pour it from the bottle. You should only clean your mat with the washing machine once a month or once every two months, because excessive cleaning will cause your mat to deteriorate.

Conclusion

It’s only natural that your yoga mat soaks up dirt and bacteria over time, which is why you need to clean it enough to prevent it from deteriorating. That being said, you must also be sure on how often and in which manner you should be cleaning your mat, because this irresponsible cleaning can also damage your mat. Above, you can read about how to properly wash your yoga mat in the washing machine. You might also want to check out our longer article on how to clean a yoga mat.

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