Yoga mats usually end up smelly and dirty after a few months of practice. There is nothing more unpleasant than inhaling a repellent smell while practicing yoga and working on your breathing consciously. Preventing the mat from getting bad odors is easy if you clean and care for it every time you use it.
Before starting class, it is important to practice yoga with clean feet, clean them after each class and let them air dry, not store them wet.
You can also use a towel on top of the mat to prevent your skin from coming into contact with the mat material and to prevent it from getting stained when sweating. This way you can wash the towel at the end of class and keep the mat clean for longer.
How to make a homemade and ecological spray to clean the yoga mat?
In most centers it is customary to clean the mat at the end of the class, and for this they provide you with specific vaporizers, but you can make the mixture at home with natural ingredients that care for the environment and carry it in your yoga bag to clean your mat when finishing or to spray the mixture before starting if you use the yoga center mat.
Here you have a recipe to make your homemade and ecological cleaning mixture, to disinfect the mat thanks to the antiseptic action of the tea tree essential oil and vinegar and that also leaves a clean smell that helps you breathe better during the yoga practice.
Tea tree spray recipe to clean the yoga mat?
You need a 100cc glass or metal bottle with a sprayer that you can reuse.
- Tea tree essential oil.
- You can use another essential oil whose smell you like, although it is not advisable to mix more than two oils or essences. Some essential oils with antibacterial properties are sage, lemongrass, lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus.
- Vinegar: This is a good natural cleaning product. Better to use white rice or apple vinegar.
- Water: better filtered.
Fill the spray bottle 3/4 full with water (75 cc) and fill with less than 1/4 of the white vinegar (less than 25 cc). Add 15 drops of tea tree essential oil. You can add 5 other essential oils that you like, tea tree combines very well with lemon, eucalyptus. etc
How to make a homemade and ecological spray to clean the yoga mat?
Shake well before use and spray on the mat until it covers the entire surface. Rub the entire surface with a damp cloth. Repeat the process on the other side. Leave the matt hanging so that it dries well on both sides.
If your yoga mat or mat is very dirty or smells bad, try sprinkling baking soda all over the surface and letting it sit overnight. The next morning, spray water and rub the entire surface well with a cloth and let it dry. Repeat the operation on the other side the next night.
You can also put the matt in the bathtub with water and baking soda, rub well and let it soak for a few hours. Dry with a cloth and hang the matt until dry.