(Image credit: Emma Hall https://atlassocialco.com)
Live Science Verdict
The JadeYoga Travel Mat is an easy, eco-friendly travel companion. Because it’s super thin – just 3mm – don’t expect much padding or cushioning, but we love that is it has an open-cell construction and is really sticky - ideal as it means you won’t slip and slide during your yoga session.
Reasons to buy
+
Great grip
+
Eco-friendly
Reasons to avoid
-
No padding
-
Slightly slippery when wet
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The JadeYoga Travel Mat is compact and well designed, and we love that it’s made from sustainable natural rubber. This means it’s not suitable for anyone with a latex allergy, and brace yourself for a rubbery smell when you first open it, which goes away after a few days.
We love how it folds up nicely (as well as rolls), which makes traveling a breeze. It’s pretty lightweight – just 2.8lbs – but there are lighter travel mats on the market. It’s nice and thin, but that means there’s not much padding or cushioning for joints and bones. Depending on your needs and budget, it might not be the right choice for you; luckily we've reviewed plenty more mats in our best yoga mats guide.
The JadeYoga Travel Mat has superb grip and offers a good level of support for all yoga styles. Its sticky surface makes it easy to hold poses without slipping. Throw some sweat into the mix though and it can be prone to being a bit slippy, so it might be useful to have a towel to hand during yoga flows.
JadeYoga Travel Mat: Key specs
Size: 24” x 2” (rolled), 68” x 24” (unrolled)
Thickness: 3mm
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Materials: Natural rubber
Colors: Black, midnight blue, olive green, purple
It comes in two lengths, 68” and 74”, which is great if you’re on the tall side, and four colors: black, midnight blue, purple and olive green.
The JadeYoga Travel Mat can be a bit of a dust and lint magnet so you need to clean it down after each session, but that kind of comes with the territory of sticky mats and is no bad thing in the Covid era. For a quick clean, use mat cleaner and wipe down with a cloth and warm water.
The JadeYoga Travel Mat is made from biodegradable material so avoid harsh soaps and definitely don’t leave it to dry in the sun unless you want to throw it in the trash straight after!
It is durable enough for daily use and thin enough to pack and transport easily, meaning you can carry on doing your yoga practice wherever you are in the world.
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JadeYoga Travel Yoga Mat: Design
The JadeYoga Travel Mat comes in four autumnal colors (black, midnight blue, purple and olive green) and is made from sustainably sourced natural rubber so it’s eco-friendly, and biodegradable – ticking a lot of planet-friendly boxes.
It has a pleasing, simple design and is lightweight enough to easily transport in your suitcase or bag. For that reason it’s super practical, as you can carry it on public transport or under your arm when you’re heading to yoga class - or even for some al fresco yoga in the park, weather permitting.
The JadeYoga Travel Mat contains no PVC, EVA or other synthetic rubber and is made ethically in compliance with all US environmental, labor and consumer protection laws. This is a brand that cares about its carbon footprint, too. For every mat sold, Jade plants a tree (more than 2 million trees have been planted to date).
(Image credit: Emma Hall https://atlassocialco.com)
JadeYoga Travel Mat: Performance
The JadeYoga Travel Mat is easy to unroll and stays fairly flat, although the corners do tend to stick up a bit. For a thin mat it’s supportive enough without being bulky, and it has great traction when moving in between poses. It’s not very padded though, so anyone with weak knees or joint problems might want to consider a thicker mat.
The open cell construction makes it really grippy, which is ideal for daily yoga. But it’s not such a high performer when it gets wet. We found that a sweaty HIIT class made it too slippery, and we weren’t confident doing dynamic moves like jumping squats or burpees on it in case we suffered an injury. For that reason, the JadeYoga Travel Mat is better suited to slower exercises like yoga, Pilates, stretching and meditation.
The only downside of the grippiness is it collects dirt and dust easily, but it’s nothing a wash down can’t resolve.
(Image credit: Emma Hall https://atlassocialco.com)
JadeYoga Travel Mat: Care
Basically, ANY exposure to sun will damage the natural rubber (drying it out, discoloring it, and leading to faster breakdown of the rubber), which includes practicing outside, leaving it in the backseat of your car, or even near a window in your house. Also, the downfall of the stickiness is that not only do your hands and feet stick to it, but so does everything else - dirt, hair, lint. Since it's not a "closed cell" mat, which is what helps it be super sticky, it is also very absorbent of sweat.
Amazon customer
On the whole, the JadeYoga Travel Mat gets rave reviews: 4/6 out of 5 stars on Amazon, with 76% giving it the full five stars.
Reviewers loved the great grip and that it was easy to roll up and take on vacation. They also appreciated that it was made from renewable resources. One Amazon reviewer praised the JadeYoga Travel Mat for being “undeniably sticky” but said it was equally “high maintenance” and needed a lot of cleaning.
Should you buy the JadeYoga Travel Mat?
(Image credit: Emma Hall https://atlassocialco.com)
The JadeYoga Travel Mat is an affordable, eco-friendly choice for traveling yogis who don’t want to compromise on grip or support.
It has great traction and works well for daily yoga practice, but the rubber material means it collects dirt easily and can get slippery when wet, so not the best choice for high impact exercise like HIIT or circuits.
It’s durable, easy to fold away and pack and has a nice design, although limited color choices (just four). We love the eco-friendly ethos of the brand and knowing that our mat is made from renewable resources that won’t cost the earth.
(Image credit: Emma Hall https://atlassocialco.com)
If this product isn’t for you
If the JadeYoga Travel Mat is not for you, here are three alternatives to consider:
The Manduka eKO Lite Travel Mat is one of the most popular on the market and for good reason. Similar to the JadeYoga Travel Mat, it’s made sustainably and has good cushioning (3mm) for daily practice. It’s fairly heavy to lug around at 4lbs but it’s a durable choice from a reputable brand. It also comes in a ton of fun colors.
The JadeYoga Voyager is super light and thin (1.5mm), and folds up to the size of a yoga block making it an ideal choice for yogis on the go or those with limited space. As with all Jade products, it’s eco-friendly but the brand recommends that this mat isn’t durable enough for daily use, so save it for vacations.
YOGO Ultralight Travel Mat weighs just 2.1lbs and is only 1.5mm thick so it’s super compact and easy to pack. As a result it’s not very padded so not good for people who need more support, but it has enough grippiness to enjoy some yoga flows on trips away.
Maddy Biddulph is a freelance health and fitness journalist with over 26 years of experience working for consumer media in the US and UK. As a Level 3 personal trainer and weight loss advisor she is used to trying out and reviewing the latest health and fitness products. At Maddy Biddulph Personal Training, she runs one-to-one and small group sessions, as well as group exercise classes. She specializes in mobility work with seniors and runs regular chair workouts in her hometown of Oxford.
