In any case rubber in order to be useful and get its elastic properties we all know and love has to be vulcanized.
Rubber mat off gassing.
The smell of your new mat may not indicate that it contains toxic chemicals.
If it s made from pvc probably.
All rubber will smell to some degree.
Off gassing is an important consideration in the selection of flooring especially in a place where thereis little ventilation as the basement.
A binder typically a urethane is added to the recycled andsynthetic rubber to form the flooring or paving material.
Off gassing also known as out gassing refers to the release of airborne particulates or chemicals dubbed volatile organic compounds vocs from common household products.
Manduka recommends wiping their natural rubber mats with a solution of 50 50 organic cider vinegar and water or manduka s mat restore a vinegar based solution note.
Potential sources of off gassing range from construction materials to carpeting cabinetry furniture paint and any number of household goods.
If it s made from pvc probably.
A better way to gauge the safety of your mat.
These compounds have been trapped in the rubber but as the mat is exposed to the air and let in place for a while the release of vocs will slow down and the odor will fade.
Nearly all scents and odors derive from vocs.
Tips for washing your natural rubber yoga mat.
It is important to note that the smell is natural and not a result of off gassing from toxic chemicals.
It took about 4 weeks but i think they have finally finished off gassing now.
Does that mean it s off gassing toxins.
Natural rubber products which we ll discuss later on this article have a strong smell for the first several weeks until they air out but they aren t off gassing toxins.
Just because a rubber floor smells does not mean it is off gassing harmful vocs.
The more and lower quality recycled content in your floor the more smell and the higher a chance of dangerous voc emissions.
Rubber is a very generic term but usually it refers to natural rubber poly isoprene or synthetic rubber polybutadiene.
The smell was never super strong but it definitely has a plastic odor.
Many mats that are free from harmful materials and dyes contain natural rubber which can be pretty stinky at first.
Try better quality of floor mats as rubber smell from floor mats can be equally danger as toxic it self replace them if required and smell is not bearable by you.
Even virgin rubber will have an odor to it albeit much less strong than tdr recycled rubber.
When you smell the rubber from a mat you re actually smelling the mat giving off volatile organic compounds or vocs.
So unless you can store them in such a manner that they can off gas for several weeks i think you will be stuck with the smell for a while.
If it s made from natural rubber no.
