MandukaPRO Yoga Mat – Premium 6mm Thick Mat, High Performance Grip, Ultra Dense Cushioning for Support and Stability in Yoga, Pilates, Gym and Any General Fitness

The reviews about slipping on this mat when it is new scared me a lot. But, I really wanted the 85x26 inch size and the really awesome density of this mat. Upon receipt the mat was stupid slippery. Like unable to even hold a warrior 2 pose slippery! I read all the salt scrub conversations and wasn’t really sold on that as a solution. Then I read a reddit review from a guy who believes the slippery film is a non stick agent used in manufacturing to prevent the mats from gumming up the machinery. That made sense to me. He suggested scrubbing it down with dish or laundry detergent designed to remove oily residue. Well, I paid a lot for this mat and if I couldn’t use it I would have been pretty mad. So.... I took it outside and washed it with dawn and a dish sponge with an abrasive (but non scratch) side. I used hot tap water and scrubbed really well. I sluiced it with hot water to rinse and dried outside for a few hours. The next day the mat looked perfect, no discernible effects of the scrubbing showed. I tried it out and it was much better but not quite there. I repeated the process without the fear of hurting the mat that might have made me a bit gentler the day before. I scrubbed hard! Over every inch with the sponge and a brush. Sluiced and dried as before. I am very pleased to say my mat is now no slipperier(?) than any previous mat I’ve had to break in. Not perfect yet but I’m confident it will be soon. I now LOVE this mat. It is stupid heavy but I drive to class so not an issue. Do yourself a favor and put the mat in your Amazon cart and just visit it periodically. The price changes several times a week, up and down between $146 and $104 and points in between. I pulled the trigger at $104. I’m pretty happy.

I decided to try a Manduka Pro mat because my Ashtanga teacher and another one of my experienced yoga teachers highly recommended the mat for durability, comfortability, and practice experience. My Ashtanga teacher has 2 Pro mats that she’s used for 15 years, and they hardly look worn at all.I was concerned about cushion for the knees - like, is the Pro mat too hard? (I need someextra padding for my knees. They hurt kneeling on hard surfaces because they were injured years ago in a fall.) My teacher friends assured me it was comfortable, even on knees.I know people usually get a Pro Lite for use outside the home/at the studio, but I wanted the extra cushion for my knees, so I got a Pro (6mm) for the extra padding (and extra width!). I love it!! It is a heavier mat than most, but I still take it to the studio without a problem. (Even my 12yr old brings her Pro mat to the studio for Ashtanga practice without a problem.)I use the Pro mat for meditating, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, and several other styles of yoga. I use it for Yin sometimes too, but I usually bring my extra squishy mat for that practice, just to give a more comfortable feel while I hold poses for 5 min. Either that or sometimes I put a blanket on my Pro mat.The Pro mat did come with a slippery residue on it. I did the salt treatment and also scrubbed it with a bit of water and grease cutting dish soap. That worked pretty well to get maybe 75% of the slippery residue off. That was enough to use it for my practice. Beyond that, in my mat bag I keep a dish sponge with a (blue) gentle scratchy pad on one side, and I just gently scrub the mat when I’m done with practice. That has helped a lot to get the last bit of slippery coating off my mat.I love that the Pro is good for my knees but still a good surface for doing balance poses on. I don’t have much of a problem doing tree pose on the Pro. On squishier mats, that felt ok on my knees, I’d have to step onto the floor for some of the longer held or more complicated balance poses/sequences. I don’t have to step off the Pro mat.I love this mat! I got the “colorfield” blue one because I thought it was pretty and I figured I’d have the mat for a long time, so I might as well get one I really enjoyed!Another note:I was also able to try a Pro Lite before I decided on purchasing the Pro. I think the Pro Lite is an excellent choice for someone who doesn’t need the extra knee support or cushion, or wants a lighter mat to carry to practice, but still wants the same surface the Pro mat has.

I got the XL 85” Pro mat and I love the extra space and the thickness/durability of the mat. It was however slick upon first opening of the package and I went through a 2 day process of fixing this issue and it worked great! I started by following the salt scrub instructions on the inside of the package and when it was time to take the salt off I scrubbed HARD with lots of elbow grease, not taking it easy on the mat at all. Rinsed and let air dry. Followed this with a scrub of Dawn dishwashing liquid and rinse well. Let air dry. Then clean with Manduka Mat wash and let air dry. Lastly I cleaned heavily with a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and filtered water as an acid to break down any left over oils or soap residue.I know this sounds like quite the process but my mat is now as grippy as it can get and just as grippy as my Eko mat.I hope this helps someone out with the slick factor. I’ve used the mat several times and have no problems with down dog or sliding off the mat. I can totally see how this mat would last a lifetime. I highly recommend the extra long for the added space as it has been SO nice even for a shorter 5’6” yogi.

Love the color and thickness of this mat - feels very substantial and I have friends who have had this same mat for more than 5 years and its still in nearly perfect shape. The only negative is that the mat is a little slippery if you are sweating. Again, everyone I know with this mat says it needs time to break in and many of the reviews note this as well. My previous Jade mat had a great grip from the beginning and was not slippery at all but after about 2 years it both looked and felt worn. So, if this mat takes a little time to break in but lasts for years, that seems like a good trade off to me.