You unroll your favorite yoga mat in your usual spot in the studio, sit down, and start preparing for class. Suddenly you get a whiff—what is that awful

smell?

It’s your yoga mat. And it needs to be cleaned. Immediately.

It’s hard to find inner peace on a sticky, smelly yoga mat. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t cleaning our mats regularly, if at all.

Here are some expert-recommended, do-it-yourself ways to show your yoga mat some love.

Use a glass spray bottle. Gina Caputo has been using her black Manduka yoga mat for 13 years. That’s right—13 years. “It’s still good as new,” says Caputo, who has been teaching yoga for over 10 years. To take care of her mat, Caputo buys an empty glass spray bottle and combines either tea tree oil or lavender oil with distilled water. Spray the whole mat and wipe it down with a hand towel for everyday care.

Make your own mixture. Michelle Copland, founder and owner of CoolHotYoga with studios in both New Jersey and California, has a unique mixture in the studio for students to clean mats with. “It’s half vodka, half water, and several drops of tea tree oil,” Copland says. “The vodka is for sterilization and the tea tree oil is antibacterial.”

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