Best Yoga Mat Bags, Carriers, and Yoga Towels

A yoga mat is awkward. It is three feet of rolled rubber that does not fit in a backpack, slides out from under your arm, and picks up whatever is on the floor of the subway. A good bag or sling fixes that for very little money. A yoga towel solves a different problem: the moment a hot class hits the twenty-minute mark and your hands start sliding forward in downward dog.

This guide covers both. We tested full-zip bags, tote-style bags, and simple slings for how well they fit a thick 6mm mat, how easily they load, and whether a damp mat stored inside them started to smell. We also tested full-size and hand towels in heated vinyasa and Bikram-style classes, measuring how quickly grip kicked in and whether the towel stayed put or bunched under the feet.

If you are still choosing a mat, start with our best yoga mats guide, because the mat's thickness and length determine which bag will fit.

What Matters in a Mat Bag

Four things decide whether a mat bag is useful or annoying.

• Fit for your mat. A standard 4mm to 5mm mat rolls to about five inches across. A 6mm mat rolls to six inches or more. Many bags are sized for the thinner mat and will not zip over a thick one.
• Loading. A full-length zipper lets you drop the mat in from the side. A drawstring tube means feeding a rolled mat through a narrow opening, which gets old fast.
• Ventilation. A damp mat sealed in a solid bag grows bacteria and smells. Mesh panels or an open design let it breathe.
• Storage. Whether you need pockets depends on whether you carry blocks, a towel, and a water bottle, or just the mat.

What Matters in a Yoga Towel

• Grip when wet. A hot yoga towel is not there to absorb sweat. It is there to give you traction on a wet mat. The best towels have silicone or rubber on the underside and a surface that gets grippier as it gets damp.
• Coverage. A full-size towel should cover the mat edge to edge so your feet never land on bare, wet rubber.
• Stability. A towel that bunches under your feet in a jump-through is worse than no towel.
• Drying and washing. You will wash a hot yoga towel after every class. It needs to survive that and dry overnight.

Detailed Reviews

1. Gaiam Cargo Yoga Mat Bag — Best Full-Zip Bag

The Gaiam Cargo is a cylindrical bag with a zipper that runs the full length of the tube. That single feature is what makes it worth buying over a drawstring bag. Open it, lay the rolled mat in, zip it closed. No pushing, no snagging the mat edge on the opening.

It fits most mats up to 72 inches long and 6mm thick with room for a folded towel and a strap alongside. Our 6mm rubber mat, which is bulkier than most, zipped closed with some room to spare. The front cargo pocket held two foam blocks, and the small back pocket has a slit for earbuds. The shoulder strap adjusts and has a padded section that stops it digging in on a long walk.

The trade-off is ventilation. The fabric is solid, so a mat that comes out of a hot class dripping should be pulled out and hung up when you get home, not left zipped in until the next morning. If you sweat heavily and want a bag you can leave the mat in, the Gaiam Breathable Yoga Mat Bag trades the cargo pocket for mesh panels.

Best for: Anyone carrying a mat plus blocks, a towel, and a water bottle to a studio.

2. Gaiam Easy-Cinch Yoga Mat Sling — Best Simple Carrier

The Easy-Cinch is two loops of webbing joined by an adjustable strap. Slide the loops over each end of the rolled mat, cinch the D-rings tight, and sling it over a shoulder. It weighs an ounce or two, costs less than a coffee, and fits any mat thickness because the loops simply cinch tighter or looser.

We used this for months as a daily carrier and the only real complaint is the obvious one: the mat is exposed. Rain gets on it, and a sweaty mat pressed against your back on the walk home is not pleasant. There is also nowhere to put anything else. But if your studio provides blocks and your towel fits in your gym bag, a sling is genuinely all you need.

A bonus that regular users discover: unclipped, the strap is long enough to use as a stretching strap for a reclined hamstring stretch.

Best for: Minimalists, people who walk or bike to class, and anyone who keeps their mat at a studio and only carries it occasionally.

3. Manduka Yogitoes Yoga Mat Towel — Best Hot Yoga Towel

Yogitoes invented the grip-backed yoga towel and the current version is still the best one. The underside is covered in small silicone nubs that lock onto the mat surface so the towel does not shift when you jump through or step forward into a lunge. The top surface is a fine microfiber that becomes noticeably grippier as it absorbs sweat.

That last point is what separates a yoga towel from a beach towel. In a hot class, the first ten minutes on a dry towel can feel slightly slick. Once it is damp, grip locks in and stays there. Experienced hot yoga practitioners mist the towel with a water bottle before class starts to skip the dry phase entirely.

At 71 by 24 inches it covers a standard mat edge to edge. It is made from recycled polyester and, in our experience, survives hundreds of hot washes without losing the nubs. The price is the only drawback. It costs more than some mats. The Manduka eQua Mat Towel is a cheaper, softer alternative without the silicone backing, better for warm classes than truly hot ones.

Best for: Hot yoga, Bikram, and anyone whose hands slide on their mat in a normal vinyasa class.

4. Manduka eQua Yoga Hand Towel — Best Hand Towel

Every heated class needs a small towel at the top of the mat for wiping the face, the hands, and the occasional puddle on the mat. The eQua hand towel is a 16 by 26 inch piece of suede-like microfiber that absorbs quickly, wrings out easily, and dries in under an hour hung on a hook.

It does not have a grip backing, which is fine because it is not meant to be stood on. Some practitioners lay it under the hands in downward dog as a mini mat towel, and it does slide a little in that role. Its real job is to keep sweat out of your eyes and off your palms so you can hold a pose without losing grip. It also works as a mat wipe after class, paired with the spray below.

Best for: Anyone who takes heated classes, and as a general gym and travel towel.

5. Manduka Yoga Mat Wash and Refresh — Best Mat Spray to Carry

A mat that goes home wet and dirty in a sealed bag is how mats start to smell. Keeping a small spray bottle in the bag pocket means you can wipe the mat down before it ever gets rolled up. Manduka's Mat Wash and Refresh is a water-based cleaner with a light natural scent, safe on PVC, TPE, and natural rubber, and it leaves no slippery film. It comes in a small bottle that fits in the Cargo bag pocket.

Spray lightly, wipe with the hand towel, and let the mat air out for a minute before rolling. That thirty-second habit doubles the life of a mat. For the full routine by mat material, including a DIY recipe, see our guide to cleaning a yoga mat.

Best for: Anyone who practices away from home and rolls a sweaty mat into a bag.

Sizing a Bag for a 6mm Mat

This is the most common reason mat bags get returned. Bag listings are vague about which mats fit, so measure your mat instead.

Roll the mat tightly and measure the diameter. A 4mm PVC mat rolls to around four and a half inches. A 5mm mat to about five. A 6mm dense rubber mat rolls to six inches or slightly more, and a 6mm mat that does not roll tightly (some TPE mats spring open) can reach seven.

Then check the bag's stated interior diameter or circumference. If the listing only gives a circumference, divide by 3.14 to get diameter. You want at least half an inch of clearance, and more if you plan to slide a towel in alongside. The Gaiam Cargo fits up to roughly six and a half inches, which covers most 6mm mats. Extra-long 84-inch mats need a bag specifically sized for them, since most bags top out at 72 to 74 inches.

Slings sidestep this entirely. Any mat thickness fits because the loops cinch.

Ventilation and Mat Smell

The unglamorous truth about mat bags is that they are a bacteria incubator. A mat that comes out of a class damp with sweat, zipped into a solid fabric bag, and left in a warm car for the afternoon will smell by evening. Repeat that a few times and the smell does not come out.

Three ways to handle it. The first is a breathable bag with mesh panels, which lets moisture escape. The second is the routine above: spray and wipe before rolling, then unroll the mat at home. The third, which works with any bag, is to leave the zipper open a few inches on the walk home and hang the mat as soon as you arrive.

A bag with a wipeable interior also helps. Cotton canvas absorbs moisture; coated polyester does not.

Comparison Table

Product	Type	Fits 6mm mat	Ventilation	Storage	Price
Gaiam Cargo Bag	Full-zip bag	Yes, up to ~6.5 in	Low (solid fabric)	Large front pocket, back pocket	$22–$28
Gaiam Easy-Cinch Sling	Sling	Any thickness	Full (open)	None	$7–$10
Yogitoes Mat Towel	Full-size towel	N/A	N/A	N/A	$45–$60
Manduka eQua Hand Towel	Hand towel	N/A	N/A	N/A	$16–$22
Manduka Mat Wash	Mat spray	N/A	N/A	N/A	$12–$16

Getting the Most Grip From a Hot Yoga Towel

A towel does not fix a slippery mat by itself. A few habits make a big difference.

Mist before class. A dry microfiber towel is slick. Spray it with water from a bottle or dampen the hand and foot zones before the first sun salutation.

Match the towel to the mat. Silicone nubs grip a textured mat surface far better than a smooth one. On a very smooth PVC mat, a towel can still shift. A mat with a textured top, like the ones in our non-slip mats for hot yoga guide, pairs best.

Do not rely on the towel to absorb. When it is saturated it stops absorbing and becomes a wet layer. The grip still works. The hand towel handles the excess.

Wash it every time. Machine wash cold, no fabric softener (it coats the fibers and kills grip), and hang or tumble dry low. Fabric softener is the most common reason a towel "stops working."

Common Mistakes

Buying a drawstring bag. Feeding a mat through a narrow opening every day is exactly the friction that makes people stop using the bag.

Leaving a wet mat sealed in. Even for a few hours. Unroll it at home.

Using a beach towel in hot yoga. Cotton terry bunches, slides, and gets heavy when wet. It is worse than nothing.

Washing a yoga towel with fabric softener. This is why your towel lost its grip.

Skipping the hand towel. Sweat in the eyes during a balance pose ends the balance pose.

What you wear matters as much as the towel in a heated room. Our guide to what to wear to hot yoga covers fabrics that do not turn into a wet sheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a 6mm mat fit in a standard yoga mat bag?

Often, but not always. Measure your rolled mat's diameter and compare to the bag's interior. Most 6mm mats roll to about six inches, and many bags are sized for five. The Gaiam Cargo fits most 6mm mats. A sling fits any thickness.

Do I need a yoga towel for regular, non-heated classes?

Only if your hands slide. In a room-temperature vinyasa class most people are fine on a good mat. If you sweat heavily or have a slick mat, a towel helps at any temperature.

Yogitoes vs eQua: which towel should I get?

Yogitoes for hot yoga. The silicone nubs keep it locked to the mat when you are dripping. The eQua mat towel is softer and cheaper and works well in warm classes, but it can shift in a truly hot room.

How do I keep my mat bag from smelling?

Do not seal a damp mat inside it. Wipe the mat before rolling, leave the zipper cracked open on the way home, and hang the mat once you arrive. Wipe the inside of the bag with a mat spray every couple of weeks.

Can I put a yoga towel in the dryer?

Yes, on low. High heat can damage the silicone backing on grip towels over time. Air drying is safest and microfiber dries fast.

The Bottom Line

For most people the answer is two purchases. The Gaiam Easy-Cinch sling if you carry only a mat, or the Gaiam Cargo bag if you carry blocks and a towel too. Then the Yogitoes towel if you take heated classes, with the eQua hand towel at the top of the mat. Keep a bottle of Manduka Mat Wash in the bag pocket so the mat goes home clean. Total cost for the full kit is under a hundred dollars, and every piece will last years.