Genius ways to use a yoga mat, apart from the obvious

There are lots of ways to use a yoga mat aside from workouts, so don't get rid of your mat if it's past its best.

If you've invested in one of the best yoga mats but you're not planning on booking a yoga or Pilates class every other day, to get your money's worth, it's a good idea to think about what else you could use your mat for.

We've collated a list of ideas to help inspire you - from useful ways to use your yoga mat around the house and in the great outdoors between classes (just be sure you know how to clean it when you're done so it's studio-ready for your next class) to ways to make use of an old mat that's no longer good for class.

32 ways to use your yoga mat

Protector for your car seat

Laying an old yoga mat across your car's seat can help protect it against daily wear and tear if you find yourself driving a lot. It can also help catch crumbs, stray hairs, and dropped coffee, should you need it to.

Many yoga mats, especially older ones or those made from cheaper materials, aren't recyclable so this is a great way to use a yoga mat that's past its best or one you're not planning to take into the studio again.

Picnic blanket

In the warmer months, you could take your yoga mat for a spin outdoors and use it as a replacement for your picnic blanket. Being slightly thicker than a regular blanket, you might even find it's more comfortable to sit on.

Plus, as many yoga mats come with slings or bags to help transport them, you might find it easier to carry (along with your drinks and nibbles) than a bulky picnic mat.

As a back support

Rolling up your yoga mat and placing it against the bottom of your sofa back, office chair, or dining table chair can help support your posture and may even help prevent back pain.

As yoga mats are fully adjustable when folded, and fairly rigid, you can completely adjust the support to suit you and your needs.

Camping mat

Equally, you might have an adventure in your diary that requires you to sleep under the stars in a tent. While exciting, different, and potentially romantic, sleeping in a tent does have the potential to be relatively uncomfortable.

Having a thicker yoga mat - one at least 10mm thick - should help you get an easier night's sleep by providing a little more distance between you and the ground.

DIY knee pad

If you or someone you know loves a bit of DIY, you'll be thankful for an old yoga mat. While certainly not as effective as specially-made knee pads, a thick yoga mat can be a great cushion between your knees and the ground for when you're doing DIY and have to be closer to the ground. Equally, it could work as a knee pad for gardening.

As yoga mats are easy to clean as well, you can feel safe in the knowledge that you'll be able to remove all the mud, dust, and dirt before storing it away for its next use.

Cushioning while moving house

A yoga mat can help protect precious items - like tables, chairs, and mirrors - during a house move. The PVC or rubber, which most mats are made from, means the mat is flexible so you can wrap it around objects for an extra layer of cushioning before putting it in the van.

A thicker yoga mat will be the best choice for this - at least 8mm, but upwards of 12mm to be safe.

Support for standing desk

While the benefits of standing desks for our general health and wellbeing are hotly debated, some people are committed to the standing-while-working approach. If you're one of them, a spare yoga mat is going to come in very handy.

You can put the yoga mat under your feet while you're working. This will help reduce some of the aches and pains in your knees, ankles and hips that come with standing up for hours during the day. However, you should still sit down if it feels uncomfortable and take regular breaks.

Soundproofing

If you're having a party and don't want the neighbours to hear - or you're looking to block out the noise of a neighbour, a yoga mat can be a useful tool to muffle sound and block gaps in doorways or windows that sound travels through.

You could tape the mat to these areas or cut it into smaller pieces to make it more useful.

Draft blocker

In the colder months, there's nothing more uncomfortable than a draft - hearing windy whistling under doorways and then feeling the wave of cold air.

A yoga mat, nestled against a drafty door or window, can help block the wind.

Wall cushioning in a home gym

If you have a home gym set-up, it's important to protect your walls and floors from the impact of weight plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, and more hitting the floor. Even by accident, you could nudge your barbell into the wall when setting up for an exercise, chipping the paint at least.

Having an old yoga mat against the wall or floor in these places can help avoid this.

Rug pad

Many yoga mats are about the same length as a living room or bedroom rug. An old one fixed to the underside of your rug could prevent it from sliding across wooden floors.

If your rug is larger, you might want two or three together. Just make sure the yoga mat isn't too thick, otherwise the rug could come off the floor slightly and be a trip hazard.

Seat alternative at the airport

Find yourself travelling regularly and have an old folding yoga mat? Keep it. It could be the perfect seat alternative if you're at the airport and it's busy so all the seats are taken.

Being foldable, it'll take up less space than a regular mat and you can use it while you're abroad for quick workouts, stretching and meditation as well.

Pet bed

While every animal deserves a more comfortable bed, a thick yoga mat can be a great alternative when you're travelling or if you've just got a pet and haven't managed to buy everything you need for them yet.

A yoga mat, especially a thick one with at least 10mm of cushioning, is a great temporary pet bed. It's also made of material that's easy to wipe down, so perfect for puppies who are still learning.

Children's play mat

If you have visiting children or grandchildren, it's a good idea to have a surface for them to play on - one where you don't mind if it gets messy.

An old yoga mat can stay tucked away in storage until you need it, is easy to clean, and it's a comfortable surface for them to sit on.

Table mat

An old yoga mat can be a handy covering for a crafting table or to prevent potential damage if you work from home on your table.

Simply lay it down (after cleaning it, of course) and place what you're using on the mat on top of your table. When you're done, take it away.

Exercise machine pad

If you've recently invested in an indoor bike or treadmill, you might want something underneath it to protect your floors. A yoga mat, no matter how thick, could be just that - provided you don't want to use it again.

The PVC, rubber, or cork material that most yoga mats are made from is also good for catching runaway sweat droplets as it's easy to clean.

Pet feeding mat

If you have a messy pooch who likes to cover the area around their bowl in water splashes or discarded kibble, you could put a yoga mat underneath their bowl.

Being so easy to clean, an old yoga mat is the perfect thing to catch these crumbs. Many mats are antibacterial as well, so they don't hold onto smells as easily as other materials.

Drawer liner

An old yoga mat cut into specific shapes would make a great liner for a chest of drawers. You could use the thick material to help protect delicate objects from damage or being thrown around as the drawers open and close.

You could also use the mat strips to divide up the drawers and separate your clothes.

Storage divider

Being so flexible, an averagely-sized yoga mat can be squeezed into smaller spaces than you might expect - including storage. You could use your yoga mat to divide up a box of belongings, snaking the mat through the space to divide it up into different compartments.

If it's a darker yoga mat in colour and a darker space, you'll hardly notice it's there.

Temporary pathway in your garden

Garden going through some renovation? Putting down an old yoga mat on soil or grass can help prevent damage and uneven wear temporarily while a more permanent pathway is being built.

It can also show people where to walk, meaning they're less likely (we hope) to walk over seedlings or plants.

Floor protector for furniture

Just got a new carpet and want to avoid those unsightly indents for a little longer? If you have an older yoga mat, try putting it under the bed, chair, or sofa so it can be a barrier between the furniture and the carpet.

Be mindful though that this is likely the end of your yoga mat, unless you don't mind your mat having four very distinct marks in it where the furniture sat.

Temporary waterproofing

Many yoga mats are designed to get through heavy workouts or even hot Pilates, where condensation and sweat will certainly cover the mat. This makes an old yoga mat the perfect temporary waterproof cover for your garden, garage or home.

If you have a leak or want to protect an outdoor area from rain, just sling your yoga mat over the top and you'll see the beads of water slide right off it.

Always check the properties of your yoga mat before trusting it with this though, just in case yours isn't water resistant.

Liner for your car boot

As yoga mats are so easy to clean and relatively water resistant by design, they can make for a great car boot liner.

Throw muddy boots, wet jackets, or anything else you've got dirty or wet on a day out in the countryside, into your boot and the yoga mat will prevent the actual lining from getting dirty or damaged.

Portable changing area

If you're having work done in your home or always find you have people coming in and out of your home in muddy boots or dirty trainers - and you'd really rather they take them off - then you could use a yoga mat as a temporary changing area for people.

They can either sit on the mat to take off their shoes, given the mat is slightly more cushioned than the ground and more comfortable than leaning awkwardly against a wall, or you could use the mat as a storage spot for their shoes.

Beach towel alternative

Just as you can use a yoga mat as a sleeping mat when you're camping or as a picnic blanket alternative, you could use your yoga mat on the beach instead of a towel. Unlike a towel, a yoga mat is wipe-clean so you can just brush away the sand when you're ready to leave.

However, as a yoga mat is made of plastic-based materials, you might find it's not suitable to use in warmer beach environments as the PVC or rubber could get uncomfortably hot.

Crafting supplies

If you've used your own yoga mat for everything else, maybe it's time to cut it up and turn it into something new.

You could create a decoration for a seasonal event by cutting up a festively-coloured yoga mat into particular shapes. For example, a red yoga mat could become the outline of a red nose for Rudolph.

Use it as a sunscreen in your car

Keeping in mind that most yoga mats are made of PVC or rubber - so they may not fare well in truly high temperatures - a yoga mat could be a good makeshift sunscreen for your car.

Being fairly wide and long, they could nestle against your car's windscreen to stop the inside from getting too warm in the summer months.

Outdoor cushions

If summer has arrived early and you're ready to have friends round, but haven't quite had time to update your garden furniture, a yoga mat could be just what you need.

Rolled up, a yoga mat resembles a long waterproof cushion - at least that's how your guests can choose to see it if they want additional back support.

House plant liner

Line up your house plants on top of a yoga mat before you water them to catch any stray streams.

As yoga mats are designed to be relatively water resistant, the water should just roll right off or you can mop it up before it goes on the floor.

Suitcase cover

When there aren't any holidays on the horizon and your suitcase needs storing, wrap it up in an old yoga mat to prevent any accidental damage to the wheels, handles, or casing.

If you're anything like me, your loft is packed to the brim already, so a little extra padding around a hard-shell suitcase would go a long way to keeping it scuff-free.

Shelf liner

Cutting off strips of your yoga mat, you could lay the material down on the bottom of a shelf in your kitchen to protect drinking glasses from being accidentally chipped. Given that yoga mats are designed with a little extra padding, they can keep your glasses secure when they aren't being used.

The PVC, rubber, or cork material that most yoga mats are made from is also quite grippy, which can prevent unhappy accidents of knocking a glass or ceramics out of the cupboard when you're reaching into it.

Temporary bath mat

Need to shop for a new bath mat but haven't quite had the time? A yoga mat that's still got its stickiness is a great stand-in.

You can get out of the shower or bath confident that you'll not fall over on tile flooring as yoga mats are designed to withstand a fair amount of sweat so will be able to handle your wet feet.