Can you machine wash a yoga mat?

You may have been wondering what was up with the card board in my Day in the Life post. Well, my dog peed in my pole room, again. I tried hand washing it at least three times plus soaked it with a tiny bit of bleach and it still smells. Nothing like a whiff of dog urine as you lean into a stretch, ugh.

I wondered if you could machine wash a yoga mat so I saved it as a last, desperate option. I figured if it gets horribly disfigured, it was smelly garbage anyways. It actually worked! Here's what you need to do:

No agitator in here!

1. Save this as a last resort. They keep making washing machines with all these weird settings (can you tell laundry is not my thing?) so there's no telling what will happen.
2. Make sure you don't have an agitator. I hated our old washer because it ripped clothes to shreds and hubby was not good at separating my nice lacy things out (laundry is more his chore). See the image at right.
3. Use just a little, tiny bit of bleach. I can't tell you the number of times I've ruined things with too much bleach. I would say add about a couple tablespoons of bleach. I tipped the bleach container just until it started flowing and quickly tilted it back up. Usually I'm not a fan of using bleach and disinfecting liberally but not in the case of body fluids. I used cold water to be safe but you could probably use hot water as I doubt the color would bleed out of the foam.
4. Air dry. I hung it on the deck, hoping my dog wouldn't pee on it again. DO NOT put it in the dryer!! It would probably melt and definitely get warped. The dryer is horrible, remember it ruins underwear. 

Notice the white spot?

Everything worked great and I've used it for stretching a couple times since I washed it. Thankfully it now smells pleasantly like laundry detergent. Unfortunately, a bird got to it. Did you see that little spot on my mat? The white one? Yup, some bird bombed it! I washed it off a little but as you can see it was still mostly there when I took pictures. I have no idea how said bird managed this since it was such a small section to aim at (imagining the bird aiming in the air) plus it wasn't under the roof edge or a tree. There must be something about my yoga mat that screams "toilet." I hope this helps you & watch out for birds!