Yoga studio cleaning: mats, floors and air

Why is a yoga studio cleaned differently from a gym?

People in a yoga class are barefoot, and for much of the hour their hands, faces and backs are on the floor or the mat. There are no machines to wipe. The surfaces that matter are the floor itself, the mats, the props and the air, and all of them are easily spoiled by the strong products a gym uses.

A film of detergent on a timber floor is slippery under a bare foot. A heavily perfumed spray lingers in a closed room where a full class is about to breathe deeply. So the method relies on gentle chemistry, very little water and plenty of drying time.

How should studio floors be cleaned between classes and at night?

Most studios have timber, engineered wood, bamboo, cork or cushioned vinyl underfoot. None of these tolerates standing water.

• Between classes, a wide microfibre dust mop is run from the far wall towards the door to lift hair, lint and the fine dust that comes in on clothes and bags.
• Damp spots of sweat are then wiped with a wrung microfibre pad. The floor should feel dry within a couple of minutes.
• At night the whole floor is damp mopped with a pH neutral cleaner made for the floor finish, and the pad is changed as soon as it greys.
• Edges, corners and the strip under the mirror are done by hand, because that is where hair collects.
• Oil soaps, polishes and steam mops are kept out. Oil and polish make the surface slick, and steam drives moisture into the joints of a wood floor.

Shoes are the other half of floor care. A shoe rack and a mat outside the studio door keep out most of the grit that would otherwise scratch the lacquer.

How are mats and props kept clean?

Shared mats are wiped after every class and never rolled damp. A wet mat rolled up in a warm store room smells within a day and can grow mould within a week. Hanging rails or a slatted rack let both faces dry.

The cleaner has to suit the mat material, and the table in this guide gives the usual split. Where a studio buys one type of mat, the maker's care sheet settles the question.

Fabric props are the items most often forgotten. Bolster covers, blankets and eye pillow covers are laundered weekly in a busy studio, and more often after hot classes. The inners are aired in a dry room. Blocks and straps are wiped or washed on a rota so that every item is done at least once a week.

What changes in a hot yoga room?

By the end of a class a heated room is closer to a steam room than to a studio. Sweat reaches the floor in quantity, humidity is high and the room stays warm for hours, which is everything odour and mould need.

• After each class the floor is mopped with a disinfectant cleaner the floor maker permits, and the pads are changed often and laundered hot.
• The heating is switched off and the room is ventilated or cooled with the doors open until the surfaces are dry.
• Skirting, mirror frames, door seals and the wall behind heater panels are wiped daily, since condensation runs down to them.
• Mats used in hot classes are washed, not only sprayed, and used towels are bagged and taken away the same day.
• Infrared panels and heaters are dusted cold and dry with the power isolated, as their maker directs.

How do you keep the air in a studio fresh?

Stale air in a studio nearly always traces back to damp fabric, a dirty filter or a room that is shut tight straight after class. In Dubai the windows stay closed for much of the year, so the air conditioning does all the drying and filtering.

Filters and return grilles in a studio load quickly with lint from towels and clothing and should be checked monthly. A coil that smells musty when the unit starts needs cleaning by an AC technician, and no fragrance will cover it for long. Candles and incense leave a fine soot on ceilings and diffusers, so high surfaces need wiping more often where they are burned.

The MELLS surveys the studio, fits the cleaning times around the class timetable in a written quotation and checks each visit against it.