How yoga mats are made

The first sticky yoga mat was a piece of carpet underlay, cut to towel size by a teacher in Germany.

stations: 6
things upstream: 22
raw sources: 9
steps from the ground: 6

The short version

A mat's bubbly grip can come from foaming. Two Chinese patents stir PVC paste with plasticizer and a foaming agent, spread it onto a tensioned mesh, then pull it through a hot chamber where it expands. The foamed sheet cools, sets and is cut to the ordered size. Fabric-backed and rubber mats follow other routes, some of them vulcanized instead.

Blend the paste

PVC paste resin is stirred with a stabilizer and a foaming agent, then plasticizer goes in until it forms an even, spreadable mixture. Raw materials follow a set formula, which differs by maker.

Goes in
PVC Plasticizer
Tension the mesh

A mesh cloth is drawn onto a needle rail and pulled tight and flat. It gives the finished foam something to hold onto.
Spread the paste

A blade or brush runs the paste across the moving mesh in a continuous coat. Machine zones are warmed and set before the run begins.
Foam in the chamber

Needle plates carry the coated mesh into a hot chamber. The paste plasticizes and the foaming agent swells it, leaving visible bubble points on the front and a flat back.
Cool and set

The sheet leaves the chamber, gives up its heat gradually, and sets in its final form as it is cooled further.
Cut to order

A cutter frame at the tail of the line is adjusted to the length and size each order calls for, usually near 6 feet by 2 feet.

End of the lineYoga mat

Worth repeating

Before modern mats, people practiced yoga on bare ground, on kusha grass, or on deer or tiger skin.
A PVC yoga mat may need over 500 years to decompose, and even a natural rubber one 80.
One exercise-mat patent vulcanizes a foam compound under a fabric layer, so the foam squeezes up through the fabric's pores as grip bumps.