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| Hi Everyone,
This New York Times article is about the potential problems that can come from using communal yoga mats. It may be necessary to register (for free) in order to read it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/fashion/27Fitness.html?ex=1154232000&en=20cf9bf4e8b60576&ei=5087%0A
Brian |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Interesting article but OMG - why would anyone borrow a Bikram mat???   I have done Iyengar yoga for nearly 10 years and not had a problem. My husband, who does no yoga and doesn't go to a gym, has had several cases of athlete's foot and odd fungi in that time. I would be much more concerned about the little whirlpool tubs they use for pedicures |
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| using someone elses mat is icky-bleh |
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| Really, might as well borrow someone's sweaty yoga clothes too. Boy am I glad I got brave and just washed both my mats. |
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| SCThornley - 2006-07-28 1:23 PM
using someone elses mat is icky-bleh
Ditto, don't share my mat, don't expect other people to share theirs either. |
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| i have used communal yoga mats. i have also cared for communal yoga mats.
i actually drag all 40 some-odd yoga mats from the Y to the laundry mat every week to wash them. Then i invoice the Y for the costs and they reimburse me. They are unwilling to keep the equipment clean themselves.
After each use, i ask students to use a water/vinegar spray and wipe the mats down on both sides with paper towels. |
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| zoebird - 2006-07-28 7:33 PM
i actually drag all 40 some-odd yoga mats from the Y to the laundry mat every week to wash them. Then i invoice the Y for the costs and they reimburse me. They are unwilling to keep the equipment clean themselves.
After each use, i ask students to use a water/vinegar spray and wipe the mats down on both sides with paper towels.
One of the things I like about the local studio is they have the receptionist clean the "loaner" mats after each use. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| I have read that vinegar is not a particularly good germicide or "cleaner" but it is a good fungicide, which is the main issue with mats. I also read that it would keep ants out of my kitchen if I sprayed it across thier path. So I did my own Mythbusters and surrounded an ant on my countertop with a ring of vinegar. It kept the little critter corralled for a minute or two then off he went on his merry way.  |
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| Sure it's a problem. I didn't read the NY Times article becasue I don't register my nizzle on the internet any more than I have to these days.
Is this a thread about getting your own mat, cleanign your own mat, or staying off the mat at the gym that smells like feet?
Cleaning a mat?
Vodka works. Those small bottles are just perfect. It's odor evaporates and it kills anything living on your mat. Well maybe not kills but intoxicates the heck out of anything living on your mat.
Not feasible in a communal environment. But I've never heard anyone say "I'm alergic to Vodka" so I guess it's a pretty good cleanser.
I wash my mats in the tub. Warm water and a little Doctor Bronner's. Rinse, wring about 100 times and then hang dry for about 10 hours :-)
Edited by purnayoga 2006-07-29 9:44 PM
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| purnayoga - 2006-07-29 9:43 PM
Cleaning a mat?
Vodka works. Those small bottles are just perfect. It's odor evaporates and it kills anything living on your mat. Well maybe not kills but intoxicates the heck out of anything living on your mat.
Not feasible in a communal environment. But I've never heard anyone say "I'm alergic to Vodka" so I guess it's a pretty good cleanser.
Alcohol is excellent for killing things. However, a LOT of chinese people are allegic to it. Completely floored me when I learned this from a nice girl I was dating at the time. Probably wouldn't be a problem with cleaning stuff though.
I wash my mats in the tub. Warm water and a little Doctor Bronner's. Rinse, wring about 100 times and then hang dry for about 10 hours :-)
Simply Green's pretty good, and supposedly biodegradable. |
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| I saw this "news" on TV recently too. Seems like anyone teaching yoga should more strongly encourage people to get their own mat if they're not going to clean theirs frequently, maybe a little press will help. Most I've seen don't and just have mats available to use, which certainly aren't cleaned every time and I suspect very seldom. Not sure if they aren't aware, or are afraid it would discourage customers, or what - does this come up at all in the typical teacher training? It's nice to have mats for new people or people who forget, but I suspect most people who use them either haven't really thought about it or don't want to cart a mat around. I used to think places that rent mats were nickel and diming people, but it's probably a good idea no matter why they're doing it, especially if it means they clean them.
When I first started that teacher provided mats which I along with most people used, he used one of them himself and never suggested people get their own. I know they didn't get cleaned much if at all. (Though they were really crappy mats that he at least had to replace every few months when they fell apart - probably why his prices were so high.) I have to admit I bought my first mat because I didn't like the crappy ones more than thinking about the hygenic reasons at the time. |
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| white distilled vinegar--without water--has the same potentcy as bleach without the adverse effects. vodka is also a good choice--and you can make your own pretty easily. ethylalcohol or 'rubbing alcohol' and hydrogen peroxide are also good options. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Guess what I did yesterday?????
After going camping, playing around in that dark BLACK rich soil, going barefoot in HOT Georgia and basically all summer, wearing my BLACK Tommy Hilfigers where the ink from the flip flops rubs on my feet, therefore turning them BLACK.....I scrubbed and scrubbed, using the pumice stones and everything....to no avail or at least NOT to my liking and satisfaction....I did something totally unusual yesterday and it worked!!!! I sprayed my feet with BLEACH while taking a shower yesterday...actually, I sprayed my feet and the shower stall, let it sit for a few minutes and then I scrubbed my feet with a pumice stone...Walla...I have white feet again,  That was the neatest thing I think I've ever done...except when I discovered Bleach for housecleaning...I love Bleach for housework - TOURIST, ARE YOU LISTENING....Bleach is the best housecleaner on the market today.....and it's cheap, |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Bleach has saved me many a time  Can't say as I've ever thought of usingit on my feet, although my daughter did use it on her friend's hair once because after they bleached it (usual hair bleach) and coloured it bright pink, his dad got really mad and wouldn't let him in the house (one of those "no son of mine...." macho guys, I guess) with pink hair. So they did the "logical" thing for a couple of 14 year olds and used the household bleach - straight. It worked all right but his hair felt like steel wool This is what happens when mom works and the kids are too old for summer day camp  |
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| A lot of Chinese do not make the enzyme Alchohol Dehydrogenase in their bodies so can not metabolise alchohol. It's not so much an allergy as a poison in this context.
Fee
GreenJello - 2006-07-30 3:45 AM
purnayoga - 2006-07-29 9:43 PM
Cleaning a mat?
Vodka works. Those small bottles are just perfect. It's odor evaporates and it kills anything living on your mat. Well maybe not kills but intoxicates the heck out of anything living on your mat.
Not feasible in a communal environment. But I've never heard anyone say "I'm alergic to Vodka" so I guess it's a pretty good cleanser.
Alcohol is excellent for killing things. However, a LOT of chinese people are allegic to it. Completely floored me when I learned this from a nice girl I was dating at the time. Probably wouldn't be a problem with cleaning stuff though.
I wash my mats in the tub. Warm water and a little Doctor Bronner's. Rinse, wring about 100 times and then hang dry for about 10 hours :-)
Simply Green's pretty good, and supposedly biodegradable.
Edited by Orbilia 2006-07-31 5:54 AM
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| bleach, ammonia, and vinegar are the three best cleansers--and all of them quite cheap. but, ammonia and bleach are more toxic than vinegar, so i use vinegar. ammonia can cause lung damage; bleach can cause skin irritation; both are toxic if ingested.
the bunny likes to lick the floors. so, washing them in vinegar is best for our situation. if the rinse doesn't work completely, i'm not worried about his health when he licks 'salad dressing' off the floor. LOL |
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Communal Yoga Mats and Germs
