The water on the yoga mat is deep! How do you choose a yoga mat?
I saw a lot of hateful merchants making very bad yoga mats. Some manufacturers who are carried away by the interests of the market, under the banner of "natural rubber yoga mat", with a few of the ** flaunting the natural rubber in the import production area, its practical domestic rubber not to say, with the lowest grade not to say, and even the emergence of the first scrapped rubber products synthetic reprocessing, excessive abuse of additives, toxicity is very large, the human body is dizzy after inhalation, allergic inflammation, long-term inhalation harm is irreversible! It's really an industry environment where bad money drives out good money. The thickness is not the same, the performance is not the same
Full rubber mats can be made very thin, even 10mm, but such a thin rubber is easy to be torn or abrased, so merchants will apply a layer of paint on the surface, and the only disadvantage of this layer of paint is that it is not slippery enough, especially wet hands! Once wet, it is like ice skating, so many businesses will make the surface of the mat uneven and apply a layer of paint. Such a mat is not recommended for novices, but it is easy to carry and can be used by experts. If it is made into a 3-5mm thick all-rubber yoga mat, it does not need to be coated with this layer of paint, and the surface is made of granules, so the anti-slip performance is good, but the mat is too heavy and inconvenient to carry; The anti-aging and anti-wear ability of the surface of the natural rubber mat will be greatly weakened, and it may not be durable, and although the uneven surface layer increases friction, the skin feel is not good. This thickness of rubber mat is suitable for novices and hall mats. Good quality rubber pads have a high safety factor; Novices, pavilion mats, and special groups can choose; Choose according to your own situation, try to understand the rubber material, and the smell can only be used as a simple judgment; In particular, practitioners who have requirements for the non-slip performance and weight of yoga mats should be carefully considered.
PU natural rubber
Polyurethane is referred to as PU, is an emerging organic polymer material, breaking the world record shark skin swimsuit, German car steering wheel outer membrane and other applications, the advantage is that it is absorbent and breathable, skin-friendly is particularly good, both dry and wet have very good anti-slip, environmental protection and degradable. PU rubber mat as the surface layer, using polyurethane film and rubber substrate high temperature lamination technology made of PU rubber yoga mat, such a mat, the performance of different thicknesses is unified, the surface skin feels delicate, very non-slip, dry and wet have no problem, and the surface layer absorbs sweat, easy to clean, compared with the rubber surface layer is more wear-resistant, delicate, anti-aging, and the use time is longer. With PU as the top layer, the natural rubber in the lower layer does not need to add too many other components, which is the best choice for most yoga practitioners at present. However, it does not mean that every brand manufacturer will use high-quality PU raw materials, and some domestic manufacturers use glue and viscosity to achieve the purpose in order to reduce costs and increase profits or not master this process technology (high-temperature lamination technology). Even if they are all called PU rubber yoga mats, this is why some yoga mats have a strong smell (glue contains formaldehyde and other harmful substances), and their slip resistance, friction resistance, tensile resistance, service life, resilience, especially safety and other properties will be different. For example, PU raw materials and rubber raw materials (mentioned above) are divided into grades: domestic ordinary, "domestic high", "Southeast Asian", Taiwan, "European", "patent customization".
There is also a gap in the level of craftsmanship of each manufacturer, which also causes a huge difference between the brands, in fact, ordinary consumers can not be perceived at first glance, even if it takes a week, it is difficult to distinguish.
A good PU yoga mat is a test that takes time;
Don't believe the copywriting blown by the merchants, and the beautiful and difficult asanas on the yoga mat, try to choose the brands that have been used or recommended by the teachers.
Cork mats
All cork mats and linen mats are environmentally friendly and rustic, and they are also relatively non-slip! But cleaning is very troublesome, if the cleaning is not clean, it is easy to breed bacteria, the mat is easy to get damp, the more embarrassing is the long-term use or moisture after easy to drop the slag and rubber bottom of the composite pad, there may be a risk of glue, need to be carefully selected. I like cork very much, I don't mind that it is not easy to clean, and the mat that lasts for a little shorter time (varies from person to person) can be used.
Suede (imitation suede) suede, made from animals, is believed to be something that many yoga practitioners do not want to see. Now on the market, in order to reduce costs, they are all imitation suede, and composite with rubber to enhance the grip. The advantages are: imitation may be environmentally friendly, foldable, light to carry, rich in color and pattern, gorgeous appearance, wet and non-slip; The disadvantage is that dry hands are not non-slip, most people will spray water on the mat when they use it, the grip is not good, it is not easy to clean, I heard that someone has washed it in the washing machine, but it is still easy to breed bacteria, and I personally think it is very chicken.
It is suitable for high temperature yoga use, spray water before use, **affordable, face control can enter.