Good Morning Readers!
This is Stella and she is a Boston Bulldog. She is frequently guilty of crimes such as whimsical over-the-shoulder glances, extreme cuteness, and general mischievousness. Her brother Stanlee is also guilty of these crimes, in particular the habitual mischievousness.
So here I am ready to go, the glorious morning sun creeping in through the back door shining on my yoga mat, all laid out and ready to go.
On to another Butt-kicker from PilatesAnytime before I go into the restaurant and serve liquor and beer to the day drinkers of West Hartford, Ct.
And then I made the mistake of walking away for 5 seconds….
And return to a whole world of ew.
That would be mud, a chunk of grass, and dog drool on my yoga mat. For the purposes of my morning workout I just grabbed a wet paper towel to swab down my poor mat, however you may begin to see why a deeper clean might be necessary.
The dog hair is really difficult to get off, but usually I have found that soaking it gets the hair off. The difficulty really begins with the dirt stains that sink in after a few weeks.
I know that any feedback here is something like, “Ok, so don’t let the dogs track mud and grass and drool all over your nice mat, silly.” However, for anyone who owns a dog or two you will understand that it’s really their house and they have just given you the privilege of living in it and conveniently providing food.
Onto the deep clean process. A few sources I looked into suggested using a combination of water, a few drops of essential oil, and vinegar. I honestly never even tried this because I hate the smell of vinegar (this is a problem also noted in a few sources). An alternative to the vinegar is lemon juice, however I was also worried that the acidity of the lemon would erode the material of the mat.
The BEST diy cleaning solution that I have constructed is as follows:
- Hot water
- A bit of coconut oil
- A few drops of dish detergent
- A tablespoon of baking soda
About once a week I mix this up in a bucket (I am not one to take exact measurements, so I apologize but it is pretty intuitive; if your bucket is overflowing with suds you may have overdone the detergent).
I opt for a clean ‘rag’ or as those who hate the word rag would say, a dishtowel. A sponge does not get all the dog hair off because there isn’t enough friction created by the wiping motion, and a paper towel just disintegrates. Again for those of you who own pets you are familiar with the art of removing dog hair-the trick is to get it a little damp and then wipe vigorously until it starts to form a ball..like lint!
The solution works wonderfully for me, the coconut oil leaves a nice soothing coconutty smell, meanwhile the detergent works to counter the oil so the mat is not greasy or slippery afterwards.
According to the sources I noted when originally researching the best cleaning solutions, the oil is important because otherwise the material of the mat can get eroded and cracked. I just couldn’t bear the thought of working out on something that smelled of tea tree oil.
About once a month I fill the bathtub about half full and add the same solution to the water so the mat can take a soak for about half an hour.
Just so you know, which I’m sure you do, you can go online or really to any yoga/fitness store and buy a mat cleaner. I just get really diy-happy sometimes.
That’s all for now!!
“How to Clean Your Yoga Mat.” The Chopra Center. N.p., 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Aug. 2017.
Cespedes, Andrea. “Best Way to Clean a Yoga Mat.” LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 11 Jan. 2017. Web. 01 Aug. 2017.
Deelarenti Pilates 
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