B Mat Everyday vs Gaiam Essentials: Which One Should You Buy?

The Gaiam Essentials is 6 mm of soft PVC at 72″ × 24″, with a carry sling on the Amazon listing and a list price of $22.13. The B Mat Everyday is 4 mm of tacky rubber made in Spain, 71″ × 26″, sold only by b, halfmoon for $118.

So about $96 more gets you a thinner mat. The money pays for grip and a steadier surface, not cushion, and the B Mat is fussier to keep clean, contains latex and is much harder to send back. How much your hands sweat decides most of this.

GearLab gave the B Mat Everyday its own review in 2023, back when b, halfmoon still sold it as B Yoga. The mat needed no breaking in, and its testers rated it one of the tackiest they had tried, dry or wet, naming it their first choice for sweaty hands. Sweat doesn’t soak into the rubber; it sits on the surface, and the traction held regardless.

No outlet we trust has put the Essentials through a test. Its Amazon listing promises superior grip in every kind of yoga, heated classes included. Owners disagree: of 206 reviews that bring up grip, 111 are unhappy, mostly about hands and feet sliding once they sweat. The closest GearLab data comes from Gaiam’s Premium 6mm, another sticky PVC mat, which managed 4 out of 10 wet in the 2026 roundup. With dry palms, either mat will do.

On the B Mat, some of GearLab’s testers found a dragged foot catching on the way into the next pose, and many ended up stepping instead. The reviewer’s view was that anyone who doesn’t sweat heavily may find it overly grippy, particularly in flowing Ashtanga or vinyasa.

The same surface grabs whatever is on your floor. GearLab says it collects dirt, hair and lint at a remarkable rate and suggests storing it in a mat bag. If you share the room with a shedding pet, count that as part of the price.

The cheap mat is the thicker one, and its soft foam is gentler for kneeling on a hard floor. Owners are divided even so: 71 of the 201 thickness mentions in Amazon’s summary are negative, some saying it feels thinner than expected.

The B Mat has less material and more resistance. GearLab pressed a pen into it under a cinder block and saw the rubber give slightly and spring back quickly, and its testers liked that firmness under sensitive elbows and knees. It also found the mat a solid base for standing sequences, which soft foam struggles to be.

If padding is the priority, b, halfmoon makes this mat in 6 mm too; our Strong vs Everyday page explains what the extra 2 mm changes.

Length is a wash: 72 inches for the Essentials listing we link against 71 for the B Mat. Width is not. The B Mat’s 26 inches leave room for a wide-legged squat or a long wingspan, a point GearLab’s testers appreciated.

Check the length before you order the Gaiam, because Gaiam’s own site lists a shorter 68″ × 24″ Essentials at $19.98, minus the sling. b, halfmoon offers an Everyday Long at 85″ × 26″.

The Essentials weighs 3.5 pounds and arrives with its sling. The B Mat is 4.1 pounds and rolls up to a tube 3.5 to 4 inches thick, by GearLab’s account.

Both smell when new. Gaiam’s listing says to air the Essentials for 2 to 3 days before use. GearLab likened the B Mat’s odor to rubber tires and found it had cleared after two days in a shaded spot.

After that, the B Mat wants more attention. b, halfmoon asks for plain water and neutral soap, a full dry, rolling logo side out and no long spells in sunlight, and says to leave the mat in its packaging until you use it, to prevent oxidation. GearLab found water stains on its sample and suggests a darker colorway. The Essentials is closed PVC, so a damp cloth deals with it.

The B Mat is rubber, which b, halfmoon’s FAQ says blends natural and synthetic components. It contains no PVC and holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification, and GearLab steers anyone with a latex allergy elsewhere.

The Essentials is PVC. Gaiam sells it as latex-free and lists six phthalates it leaves out. If anyone in your home reacts to latex, the Gaiam is the only choice of the two. If it’s PVC you want to avoid, the B Mat is the one without it.

In GearLab’s market research, B Mat owners commonly described the surface peeling at hand and foot spots and the grip weakening with long use. b, halfmoon’s one-year warranty doesn’t cover that kind of wear, and the brand pitches its mats as built for two years of practice or more.

Soft PVC foam tends to flatten where you load it instead. Gaiam offers a lifetime guarantee on the Essentials without publishing what it covers; our assumption is manufacturing defects, not a mat that has thinned under your knees.

b, halfmoon will refund a mat within 30 days of delivery, but only if it has never left its original packaging, and it treats sale purchases as final. The Essentials comes through Amazon, so Amazon’s return policy covers it.

The Essentials lists at $22.13, and some colors run cheaper than others, so compare them on the Gaiam Essentials listing at Amazon. The B Mat Everyday is $118 at us.bhalfmoon.com in seven colorways at last count. b, halfmoon doesn’t sell it on Amazon, and it rates 4.8 stars from 173 reviews on its own site.

If better grip appeals but $118 doesn’t, GearLab’s Best Value Upgrade sits in between at $66.99. Our IUGA vs Gaiam Essentials page sets it against the Gaiam.

Choose the B Mat Everyday when sweaty palms are the problem, you practice most days of the week, or you’re tired of resetting your hands in down dog. Expect it to catch in fast flows and to pick up lint.

Buy the Gaiam Essentials if you’re new, practice now and then, want the softer floor for stretching, need a latex-free mat, or aren’t ready to spend $118. Bring a towel if you sweat.