NYT - Yoga Mats are Dirty
Thursday July 27, 2006
The New York Times has an article today on the likelihood of picking up a fungal infection or warts from a borrowed mat at your gym or yoga center. Turns out many places that offer mat rental lack the time and money to regularly clean mats properly, which makes sense if you've ever found yourself prostrate on a stinky mat. My advice is to buy your own mat. It's a very small investment (as little as $20) and so much more hygenic. I've been using my PVC-free Harmony mat and it's holding up very well. If it seems like a pain to carry the mat around, cheer yourself up with a cool mat bag and think about your bacteria-free feet.
Comments
Not to mention getting your face up close & personal with the mat… Ugh.
I was hoping that your article on dirty mat was about cleaning your personel mat. I need to clean mine and would like suggestion, Thank you Jan Hackett
Jan, I do have some tips on mat care here:
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogafa1/f/slipperymat.htm
best,
Ann
I was also concerned about the overall cleanliness of communal yoga mats even though the studio I attend is very clean and regularly wash and air their mats. I have seen other class participants with very bad fungal feet using the communal mats and after I experienced a number of sty’s in my eyes after lengthy face down poses in a communal mat, I decided to buy the skidless yoga mat which I lay over the top of the communal mat. I laid it the wrong way for the first class -rubber nubs upward rather than downward] so t there was bunching up and constant readjusting, but after I put it the other way round, all was well. Planting ones face/forehead/feet squarely on comnunal mats and getting sweaty oursleves – it just makes sense for greater hygeine to have your own mat or a mat overlay personal to you.