About the selection and maintenance of yoga mats

Yoga mats are almost a must-have for practicing yoga. There are many yoga mats on the market, and the famous brands are dazzling. As consumers, what should we consider when purchasing? How to choose a yoga mat?

Materials and brands are the most important things that everyone should pay attention to when purchasing yoga mats, and they are also the key to determining the price of the mat. You must not be blinded by beautiful designs and cheap prices and ignore quality.

Before purchasing a yoga mat, you should consider the following points:

1. What is the material, TPE or PVC, or other material? TPE is an environmentally friendly material that can degrade naturally, but PVC is not;

2. Is it easy to clean? Usually TPE is scrubbed with a wet towel and then dried;PVC mats are foamed and absorb water, making them difficult to clean and difficult to dry;

3. When laying on the ground, is it easy to pave without wrinkling? Some yoga mats are uneven on the ground;

4. Will it slip after sweating? MM who is prone to sweating should pay special attention to this. If it slips, it will be difficult to practice the posture method;

5. Is it easy to carry? Should I bring a backpack? If I go out to practice, it is very convenient to have a backpack.

Based on the above points, I would like to give you some suggestions for reference:

1. Press it with your thumb. If the marks on the yoga mat have not popped up for a long time, it means that the elasticity is not enough. Many PVC cushions say they are 6MM, but the material is not enough at all, only 1. 1-1。About 2 KG will inevitably lead to insufficient density and poor elasticity. Normal is 1. 4-1。Only a 5KG 6MMPVC cushion can be elastic enough to effectively protect the knees and soft tissue of yoga practitioners;

2. Wet a small piece of yoga mat and imitate the situation after sweating to see if it slips. If what slips is that the PVC foam particles are too small. Mats made of TPE generally do not slip;

3. Use an eraser yoga mat to test whether the material breaks easily? This is a good way to test PVC mats;

4. Pay attention to the material of the yoga mat and choose an environmentally friendly one. Traditional yoga mats are made of PVC, which is a long-term source of plastic pollution and can pollute the environment. Moreover, the smell of plastic will also affect the effectiveness of the exercise. There is no way to eradicate the smell of PVC mats, and there is no such thing as non-toxic and tasteless;

5. Environmentally friendly yoga mats are made of natural latex, hemp and other natural materials and do not contain PVC. Currently, TPE is a popular yoga mat that is environmentally friendly. Someone asked why TPE yoga mats also smell?

The TPE yoga mat is encapsulated with plastic film, and the TPE itself can also degrade, especially at high temperatures. TPE is a double layer and the two layers are glued together with strong glue. It is packaged after leaving the factory, so the smell of the glue will take a while to dissipate. When packaging TPE yoga mats, in order to prevent the mats from sticking together, a layer of talcum powder and the like will be applied to the surface, which is also one of the sources of the taste. Therefore, the smell produced by TPE yoga mats is plastic film, super glue, and slippery surface coating, because the smell cannot be dissipated when the mat is encapsulated.

Solution: After unpacking, wipe it with a wet towel and clean water and dry it in a ventilated place. There will be no peculiar smell in the future.

After having your own yoga mat, you should not only take care of it carefully, but also clean it frequently. To ensure hygiene, it is best to clean it once a week.

For ordinary simple cleaning, wipe it directly with a wet towel and dry it, or you can use two cups of water and 4 drops of dishwashing detergent to put it into a sprayer, spray the yoga mat, and then use a dry cloth to dry it.

When not in use, roll up the TPE mat and tie it with hair buttons, or lay it flat directly. Do not fold it, otherwise creases will appear and severe cracks will occur.

If the mat is very dirty, you can use a neutral cleaning solution to clean it directly with water. Cleaning powder water is not recommended. Because it is difficult to wash off washing powder residue, it can make the yoga mat slippery. Gently scrub the mat with a cloth dipped in neutral cleaning solution, then rinse it off with clean water. Finally, roll up the yoga mat with a dry towel, suck off excess water and dry it. In addition, do not let the sun shine directly on yoga mats made of PVC and TPE, which will accelerate the aging of the materials. (Internship Editor: Wu Jinyu)