There are some different materials from which factories make yoga mats:
-PVC
-TPE
-EVA
-NBR/PVC
What are their different points? How to choose your favorite yoga mat?
EVA yoga mat is the lightest one. If you need a light mat or you always travel and practice yoga during your journey, EVA yoga mat is the best choice. But an EVA yoga mat is easy to change its shape and hard to recover. EVA material looks like this:
PVC yoga mat is another choice if you think EVA mat is too light and too soft to use. PVC foam mat is heavier than EVA and has a good ability to keep the original shape. So a PVC yoga mat is most widely used in yoga studios and yoga homes. PVC foam material looks like this:
TPE yoga mat is made from some kind of rubber and eco-friendly material. TPE yoga mat is a composite mat, in the middle of which is a type of fabric to keep the mat in the original shape and two layers of foam rubber – on top and bottom. So you see TPE yoga mat in normally two different colors. TPE yoga mat is like below picture:
NBR – What is it? NBR is a kind of nature rubber, NBR yoga mat is foam NBR/PVC, i.e. mixed from NBR and PVC, one is rubber, one is plastic. NBR mat is soft, durable and good at support as it if from nature rubber. But it is normally thicker than 8mm, so NBR yoga mat is indeed exercise mat, instead of yoga mat. NBR exercise is like this:
The cheapest is EVA mat, then PVC and NBR mats, the most expensive one is TPE yoga mat.