Toxin-Free Yoga Mats | Safe, Sustainable, Kurma Quality

Would you buy a yoga mat that is bad for your health or for the environment?
Most likely your answer to this question is a definite “no” – and still there is a chance that you actually might have bought one.

Health and environmentalism are implicit in the philosophy of yoga. For this reason, there has always been a certain degree of genuine eco-awareness in the yoga industry. What is relatively new, though, is the industry’s tendency to market each and every product with a bombardment of health-related or environmental promises. You will hardly find a yoga mat these days that is not at least “eco-friendly”.

The problem with these promises is that there often is no sheriff in town to set standards or regulations, basically leaving “eco-friendliness” a self-defining term. Without scientifically sound data provided to back these promises up, how can you be sure that every yoga mat in the market is in fact as harmless as it sounds?

For over 25 years, the International Association for Research and Testing in Textile and Leather Ecology has set the standard at Kurma. Since 2012, our German-made GRIP Series PVC mats have met the rigorous Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX®, Product Class I—certified safe even for babies. When developing the GECO Series rubber mats in 2020, Kurma ensured they met the same high standards.

This certification involves around 100 annually updated tests for harmful substances like AZO, DOP, phthalates, BPA, lead, and dioxins. While strict certifications come at a cost ... "we believe it's the only way to guarantee the safety of our mats—both in use and at the end of their life cycle".