Yoga Design Lab: Mat Lines, Materials, and Who Each Mat Suits
Yoga Design Lab is a yoga gear brand built around a simple bet: that a yoga mat can be eco-leaning, performance-grade, and visually distinctive at the same time. The company runs its own storefront at yogadesignlab.com, sells directly to consumers worldwide, and is best known for its printed microfiber-and-rubber mats, along with a broader line of towels, straps, blocks, and accessories designed in coordinated prints.
This guide walks through what the brand actually makes, how the main mat lines differ, where each one fits a practice, and how the range compares with other names in the same segment — so you can decide whether the design-first, eco-leaning approach matches the way you roll out your mat.
- What Is Yoga Design Lab?
- The Brand's Design-First Angle
- Yoga Design Lab Mat Lines Compared
- The Combo Mat: Why It's the Flagship
- Cork Mat and Infinity Mat: When They're the Better Pick
- How Yoga Design Lab Compares to Liforme, Manduka, and the Mid-Premium Segment
- Beyond Mats: Yoga Design Lab Towels, Straps, Blocks, and Accessories
- Who Should (and Should Not) Buy Yoga Design Lab
What Is Yoga Design Lab?
Yoga Design Lab sits at the intersection of art and function. The brand commissions colorful, watercolor-style prints and applies them to yoga gear built from materials such as natural tree rubber, cork, and microfiber made from recycled plastic bottles. The official site describes its vision as creating vibrant, eco-conscious yoga essentials — yoga mats, towels, straps, blocks, and accessories designed for a range of practices including hot yoga.
What genuinely separates Yoga Design Lab from the bulk of the mat market is not a new foam or a new grip technology — it is the willingness to make a mat you would describe as visually striking. Plenty of brands make grippy rubber mats; far fewer make ones you would pick because of how they look. Whether that visual angle matters to you is a personal call, but it is the honest differentiator.
The Brand's Design-First Angle
The brand positions prints as a feature, not a flourish. The catalog is organized around coordinated colorways and patterns: mandalas, botanicals, geometrics, watercolor washes. The same prints appear across the mat line, towels, straps, and blocks, so the entire setup can match.
Practically, that means two things for a buyer. First, the mat is part of a coordinated kit rather than a single neutral accessory. Second, design choice and material choice are not in tension here: the prints sit on top of natural rubber or cork rather than PVC, which is the more common substrate in entry-level printed mats.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Yoga Design Lab Mat Lines Compared
The product range evolves over time, but these are the four mat lines the brand is built around:
| Line | Construction | Best for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combo Mat | Printed microfiber towel top bonded to a natural rubber base | Hot yoga and sweaty vinyasa — grip improves as you sweat | Can feel slippery with completely dry hands; needs regular washing |
| Infinity Mat | Polyurethane-type grip top over natural rubber | Dry-handed practitioners who want strong grip without a towel surface | Heavier; the surface shows wear like other PU-top mats |
| Cork Mat | Cork surface over a rubber backing | Practitioners who want a firm, naturally antimicrobial surface | Firmer feel; cork has its own care routine |
| Travel / Combo Travel | Thin, foldable version of the standard mat | Frequent travelers, layering over studio mats | Minimal cushioning on its own |
Three things stand out in that table. The Combo line is the one that made the brand famous and is still the headline product. The Cork and Infinity lines exist for practitioners whose hands do not sweat enough to activate a microfiber surface, or who prefer a more traditional grip feel. The Travel line is essentially a thin mat for layering or packing, not a stand-alone practice mat for most bodies.
If you are weighing the cork option, our standalone guide to cork yoga mats — pros, cons, and how they compare to rubber and PVC covers the material in more depth, and we also walk through how to clean a cork mat without ruining it.
- CORK YOGA MAT: Crafted with natural cork top and eco-friendly TPE bottom for a premium, sustainable yoga and exercise experience, ensuring stability and comfort in your workouts.
- SWEAT and ODOR-RESISTANT CORK: Moisture-proof and odor-free, our natural cork material ensures a clean, fresh Yoga Workout surface, blocking dirt and unpleasant odors for a hygienic yoga experience.
- HOT YOGA MAT: A must-have for all types of yoga, but especially heated and hot yoga classes, as temperatures rise and the cork begins to loosen it will become softer and easier to grip when slightly damp
- CORK COMFORT: Experience the plush cushioning of our cork yoga mats, offering gentle support and resilience for joints and pressure points, ensuring a comfortable practice that nurtures your body and enhances your yoga journey.
- VERSATILE PERFORMANCE: From dynamic yoga flows to intense workouts, our cork mat adapts to your fitness routines, providing stability and support for yoga, Pilates, stretching, and more, allowing you to explore new movements with confidence.
The Combo Mat: Why It's the Flagship
The Combo Mat is the product most people mean when they say "Yoga Design Lab." The concept solves a real problem. In hot yoga or any sweaty practice, a standard rubber mat gets slick, so practitioners drape a towel over it — which then bunches and slides mid-flow. Bonding the towel to the mat removes the bunching.
Three practical implications are worth knowing before you buy:
- Grip behavior is inverted. Microfiber grips better damp than dry. If your hands stay dry, the surface can feel slippery; some practitioners lightly mist the hand area before practice to get the grip on earlier.
- It is machine washable, which is genuinely convenient for sweaty practices but does mean more maintenance than a wipe-down rubber mat.
- Thickness sits in the standard range for a performance mat, closer to a typical 3–5 mm mat than to a thick cushioned one. If you need more joint padding, our guide to thick yoga mats is the better starting point.
- Super absorbent & Non-slip: IUGA yoga towel is made of Premium Microfiber. It acts as an ideal absorbent towel to wipe away perspiration and create a slip free surface. So you can stay focus on your mind, body and breath through entire sessions.
- Corner Pockets Design: No more distractions or re-adjustments, simply hook the corner pockets underneath your mat. So the yoga mat towel is taut and stays firmly in place, which allows you to fully focus your mind and body on yoga practices.
- Easy Care: IUGA machine washable yoga towels for hot yoga non slip provide a layer between you and your mat, saving your time on cleaning mats. Just throw the towel in with the rest of your laundry and it’s ready to go for your next yoga class.
- One Size For All: 72’’X26’’ hot yoga towel is the perfect size for almost all yoga mats. It’s light-weight but 30% thicker than other yoga towels. The textured weave strikes perfect balance between grip and softness. No need to go buy a hand towel. We've got you covered. Because we love adding value to you and your practice.
Cork Mat and Infinity Mat: When They're the Better Pick
Not everyone sweats enough to make a microfiber top the right tool. If you practice slow flow, restorative, yin, or hatha, your hands may stay mostly dry through a session — and on a damp-activated surface that translates into slipping. Two Yoga Design Lab lines are designed around that problem.
The Infinity Mat uses a polyurethane-type grip top, the same family of surface you find on high-end alignment mats. Grip does not depend on sweat; it tends to feel slightly tacky even when dry. The trade-off is that PU surfaces do show cosmetic wear faster than natural rubber, especially under heavy use.
The Cork Mat takes a different route. Cork is naturally antimicrobial and grippy, and it develops a small amount of grippier texture as it warms under your hands. The feel is firmer and more grounded than either the Combo or the Infinity. Care is also different: cork does not like to be soaked, and direct sun degrades it faster than rubber. If you want a deeper look at the material, our cork yoga mat guide is the next read.
Yoga Design Lab competes in the mid-to-premium tier alongside three other well-known names. The honest summary, by angle of differentiation:
- vs Liforme — Liforme is the alignment-focused option, with the body-alignment marker system as its main selling point. Yoga Design Lab does not ship with alignment guides; the design and eco-angle take that space. If you want a mat that tells you where your hands and feet should go, see our Liforme yoga mat review. If you care more about how the mat looks and how the surface handles sweat, the Combo or Cork line from YDL is the closer fit.
- vs Manduka — Manduka built its reputation on longevity: a closed-cell mat that holds up to years of daily practice. Yoga Design Lab's open-cell natural rubber mats are softer underfoot and grippier in sweaty practices, but they are not built to last a decade of studio punishment. The honest trade is grip and feel against lifespan.
- vs the broader mid-premium segment — Yoga Design Lab leads on visual design and on sweat-activated grip (Combo line). It is not the lowest-maintenance option, nor the thickest, nor the longest-lasting. The choice mostly tracks how much you sweat, how much cushioning you need, and how much the aesthetics matter to you.
For a wider take on the mat category, our pillar guide to the best yoga mats lays the field out by use case.
- ✅TRANSFORM YOUR PRACTICE – This Premium Yoga mat is designed to be the most innovative & comfortable mat on the market to optimise your home exercises. BALANCE - The mat is longer, wider and thicker than many other mats - 72.8" long x 26.8" wide and 0.16" thick, giving Yogis the space they crave, with perfect balance between firm stability and comfortable cushioning whilst staying lightweight.
- 🤸♂️ULTIMATE GRIP – This premium mat benefits from the ground-breaking Liforme “GripForMe” material that gives you unparalleled warrior-like grip whilst practicing.
- 🙏REVOLUTIONARY ALIGNMENT SYSTEM – Our intelligently designed unique “AlignForMe” system helps guide and prevent injuries to Yogis of all experience levels, maximising Yoga enjoyment.
- 🌍TRULY PLANET FRIENDLY – Liforme incorporates the most ‘body kind’ specially engineered eco-polyurethane and rubber. These mats are PVC free and made using high quality non-toxic materials that keep the mat clean and hygienic.
- 😀MADE BY YOGIS, FOR YOGIS – Liforme Yoga Mats are loved and adored by 100s of 1000s of Women and Men worldwide. Join the Liforme family with this unique, comfortable and thick Mat. ✅FREE BAG INCLUDED - Carry and protect your mat with the exclusive Liforme Yoga mat bag.
Beyond Mats: Yoga Design Lab Towels, Straps, Blocks, and Accessories
The same printed-design approach carries over to the accessory line. Yoga Design Lab makes matching yoga towels (some with grip dots) so you can extend the print theme across your setup; yoga towels are also the natural companion to any non-towel-top mat when you start sweating more than usual. The cork and foam blocks come in coordinated colors, which is the kind of detail studio owners tend to care about. Straps — both for stretching and for carrying the rolled mat — round out the set.
If you are still assembling a starter kit, our yoga for beginners guide covers which props are actually worth buying first — most new practitioners need far less gear than they think.
- Natural Cork: Elevate your yoga practice with our eco-friendly, non-slip Gaiam Cork Yoga Brick, perfect for yoga, Pilates, and more.
- Modify Your Poses: Ideal for all skill levels; shorten or deepen your stretches effortlessly. Dimensions: 9"W x 5.5"H x 3"D, lightweight at 1.5 lbs.
- Rounded Edges & Superior Grip: Designed for your comfort, the rounded edges and textured surface provide excellent grip and control during challenging poses.
- Perfect Dimensions: Measuring at 9"W x 5.5"H x 3"D, this yoga brick provides ample support for optimal alignment and posture.
- Versatile & Portable: Compact and lightweight, this cork yoga brick is your go-to fitness accessory for home or gym workouts.
Who Should (and Should Not) Buy Yoga Design Lab
Good fit: hot yoga and power vinyasa practitioners who sweat enough to activate a microfiber surface; anyone who values distinctive design and wants the mat, towel, strap, and block to look like a set; eco-conscious buyers who prefer natural rubber, cork, and recycled PET over PVC.
Weaker fit: dry-handed practitioners doing slow styles on a towel-top mat (consider the Infinity or a PU-top alternative instead); anyone who needs thick joint cushioning; buyers who want the lowest-maintenance option possible and would rather wipe down than machine-wash.
Yoga Design Lab is best known for its printed mats — especially the Combo Mat, which bonds a microfiber towel surface to a natural rubber base — and for pairing bold artwork with eco-leaning materials like cork, natural rubber, and recycled PET.
Yes — that is its core use case. The microfiber top grips better as it gets damp, which suits hot yoga and sweaty vinyasa. With completely dry hands the surface can feel slippery, so it is a weaker choice for slow, dry practices.
The brand builds its mats from natural tree rubber, cork, and microfiber made from recycled plastic bottles, avoiding PVC. As with any brand, eco claims describe materials rather than a fully impact-free product.
The Combo Mat is machine washable in cold water with a mild detergent. Hang it to air dry and avoid the dryer. Rubber-base and cork models should be wiped down and kept out of direct sun.
Have a correction? Contact us.
Last update 2026-09-10. Price and product availability may change.
Recommended: