When you’re on your yoga mat, it should give you the feeling of a relaxing escape from all of the stress that you’ve encountered all day long.
Instead, if you sweat a lot, it might feel like you have a Slip ‘N Slide in the center of your yoga studio.
To survive your sweaty yoga practice, especially if you’re doing hot yoga, at times it isn’t enough to only have a non-slip yoga mat.
Fortunately, the best yoga towels that we’ve used will help to keep your feet and hands exactly where they are supposed to be. That way your focus can be on calmness and mindfulness, instead of your sweaty feet and hands.
What Is a Yoga Towel?
Do you really need a toga towel? What are they used for?
Why can’t you simply take one from the bathroom, and drape it over your mat?
While you could always decide to use a regular bath towel, I think you’ll be disappointed with the result.
Yoga towels have been designed to absorb moisture, similar to a regular bath towel. However, yoga towels are designed so that they fit on top of a yoga mat to provide a non-slip surface that gives you extra stability and grip while you are doing your poses.
This results in most of them being made out of special fabrics (and even silicone or rubber at times) to make sure that during your practice you stay face-plant free and safe.
However, contrary to popular opinion, it isn’t necessary to spend $60 when buying a yoga towel. There are yoga towels that you will be very excited to own without them having to cost a fortune, and there are many different options to choose from when it comes to price points, towel size, and style.
What’s the Best Yoga Towel To Use With Sweaty Hands and Hot Yoga?
1. IUGA’s Non-Slip Yoga Towel Is an Affordable and Highly-Rated Option to Cover All of Your Bases
IUGA Non-Slip Yoga Towel: The IUGA yoga towel is one many experienced yogis are currently obsessing over, and it makes a great addition to any yoga practice. It is an even better option compared to many of the more expensive towels.
This towel’s premium microfiber material quickly absorbs moisture and also dries fast for safe practice. Its textured weave offers the perfect balance between grip and softness.
Compared to other brands, it is a bit larger and thicker to provide more cushioning. However, it still quite lightweight, surprisingly enough. There are even corner pockets on the towel to help it stay in place, for any pose you might be doing.
The best thing of all it that it is inexpensive, and a hand towel is included for free to dry your seat and a spray bottle to clean your mat. Note that you can either use commercial yoga mat cleaners or DIY cleaners (e.g., using vinegar to clean your yoga mat).
2. This Beautiful Yoga Design Lab Towel Is Available in 12 Different Attractive Designs
Yoga Design Lab Non-Slip Yoga Towel: Your current yoga mat can be given a complete makeover by using a hot yoga towel from Yoga Design Lab.
With 12 beautiful designs such as Serenity, Geo Blue, Mandala Rose, Chevron Maya, and Floral Flow you will definitely have the most attractive yoga mat in the studio.
The designs are printed using non-toxic, eco-friendly inks that are water-based but won’t bleed or fade when put into the washing machine.
This towel is also very absorbent, lightweight, and can prevent your feet and hands from slipping while performing some of the harder poses.
3. This Bikram Hot Yoga Towel by Shandali Becomes Even Stickier as You Are Sweating
Shandali Stickyfiber Hot Yoga Towel: The Shandali Stickyfiber is the ideal yoga towel for yogis who love to sweat. It has been designed to be used with sweaty practices like Bikram yoga since it is made out of a silicone web-grip bottom which offers a whole new level when it comes to non-slip stickiness.
The wetter this towel gets, as you sweat more, the better it will grip. You can also wash and dry this towel in the washing machine.
The Shandali Stickyfiber towel is available in five different zen colors and is well-suited not only for hot yoga but for any yoga practice. Even if you do not perform hot yoga, but sweat profusely, you will be very happy with this towel’s quality.
4. This Gaiam No-Slip Yoga Towel Is Very Travel-Friendly and Can Be Packed Inside of Your Carry-On
Gaiam No-Slip Yoga Towels: If you don’t want to lug around another item to the yoga studio or if you travel a lot, this yoga towel from Gaiam is ideal for you because of its lightweight, thin design.
Although it has a non-slip bottom and double-layer microfiber, it is just 1.5 millimeters thick. This means it can be folded up into a very small square or rolled up along with your yoga mat once your yoga class is over.
However, don’t be fooled by its lightweight, thin design. It can still absorb your sweat and also ensure that you don’t slip due to the natural rubber that’s woven into the towel’s microfiber. It is available in five different double-sided colors so that you know at all times which side is up.
5. This Top-Rated Yoga Towel Is Good for Both Your Wallet and the Environment
Susama Sport’s & Hot Yoga Towel: Even though this towel usually is quite affordable, so many of my yoga friends rave about this towel and say how much they love it.
A small family-run business makes the towel. The family is entirely dedicated to creating high-quality products. The Susama yoga towel is both eco-friendly and budget-friendly.
It doesn’t require a lot of energy to wash since it is very lightweight and quick-drying. As you sweat, the microfiber material becomes even more non-slip. It is very soft and absorbs all moisture while you are practicing yoga.
6. This Towel Is Made To Stay Cool And Dry For As Long As You Do Yoga
Mission VaporActive Yoga Mat Towel: This Mission Vaporactive towel has become my go-to towel since I can’t the way the mat feels clammy or warm under me.
With the special VaporActive fabric that’s used, it attracts all of the moisture from your body to quickly remove it through an evaporation process.
Also, it comes with framed corner pockets which wrap around the mat so that everything is kept in place. Even better, permanent non-slip technology doesn’t ever wash out.
Therefore, unlike other mats, so that even after numerous classes is still stays safe.
7. When Other Yoga Mats Come up Short, Consider an Extra-Long Mat
The YogaRat XL Yoga Towel for XL Yoga Mats: Most yoga towels have been designed to fit with standard-sized yoga mats. However, if you have an extraordinarily wide or long yoga mat, then your best bet is the YogaRat XL towel.
The towel measures 26 x 85 inches that can accommodate even the tallest yogi. I have a taller friend, who is around 6’2″, who hates when his head or feet hang off the end of the yoga mat.
So he bought an extra-long mat, and this towel goes with it perfectly. The textured and thick microfiber weave is an excellent combination of supportiveness and softness, yet it’s extra grippy and absorbent.
So whether you are enjoying a Bikram hot yoga class or doing yoga on the beach, having the proper accessories, like a high-quality yoga towel, is very important for your yoga experience.
Do You Really Need a Yoga Towel?
Whenever you’re sweating during yoga class, it is easy to tell the difference between someone using a bath towel compared to a towel specifically designed for yoga.
The majority of yoga towels are made out of moisture-wicking materials which make it a lot easier to confidently perform the more challenging yoga postures without needing to worry about sliding or slipping.
From my own personal experience, it wouldn’t be possible to do hot yoga without a towel to help me through my yoga flow easier and faster.
If you are just getting into yoga now at a yoga studio or public gym classes that provide the yoga mats, you can take your yoga towel with you in order to help minimize coming into contact with unwanted germs.
These towels are ideal to use in a hot yoga studio where due to the hot temperatures it is impossible to avoid sweating.
So whether you are an advanced yogi or a beginner, when a towel is added to your yoga gear collection it can make your yoga classes more carefree and enjoyable. Plus you can read this article if you need more information about what to wear to hot yoga class.