B Mat Everyday vs Retrospec Solana 1": Which One Should You Buy?

On a scale these two land within a tenth of a pound: 4.1 for the B Mat Everyday, 4 for the Retrospec Solana 1″. The B Mat is 4 mm of Spanish-made tacky rubber, 71″ × 26″, for $118. The Solana is a full inch of NBR foam, 72″ × 24″, for $39.99.

Spread the same weight over more than six times the thickness and you get most of this comparison. The rubber is dense, grippy and steady. The foam is mostly air, which makes it comfortable to kneel on and hard to balance on. The $78.01 gap pays for grip and stability, and the cheaper mat wins cushion by a wide margin.

Solana owners are close to unanimous about their knees: 255 of 260 knee-support mentions in Amazon’s review summary are positive, and thickness draws 919 positive mentions out of 1,092. Reviews mention exercising on a concrete church floor and relief for a tailbone, and one owner calls it the pillow-top mattress of yoga mats.

GearLab’s buying guide backs thick mats for restorative flows built on long seated and lying holds, or a sturdier mat paired with a blanket or second mat. The B Mat is the sturdier kind. GearLab liked its springy 4 mm in yin and relaxing poses and scored comfort and support 8 in its 2023 review, but that is still 4 mm between a knee and a tile floor, against a full inch.

Retrospec’s Amazon bullets call the Solana firm and say it keeps you steady and balanced. Owners split on that: stability gets 140 positive mentions and 95 negative in the review summary. One owner calls it very comfy for yoga but hard to balance on, and another found it too soft and squishy to be stable for yoga.

The B Mat is the steady one. GearLab found it a solid base for standing sequences, says it stays put and flat through transitions, and counts it among its favorites for arm balances and handstands, largely because it grips the floor as well as your hands.

In its 2023 review, kept apart from the 2026 roundup, GearLab gave it what it called a gold medal for non-slip grip and found its surface friction among the best it measured. Sweat collects on top rather than soaking in, yet traction held even with a hand in a puddle of it.

The Solana relies on ribs pressed into closed-cell foam, which Retrospec calls non-slip. They give a dry hand something to push against, but closed-cell foam leaves sweat sitting on the surface with no tack to cut through it. We wouldn’t take it into a heated class.

The B Mat is 26 inches wide to the Solana’s 24, which helps in wide stances. The Solana is an inch longer. b, halfmoon makes an 85″ long version; the Solana 1″ comes in one length.

Rolled up, they are nothing alike. GearLab says the B Mat rolls to 3.5 to 4 inches across. By our arithmetic, an inch-thick mat 72 inches long rolls to roughly nine and a half, more than twice that, and Retrospec ships it with a nylon strap for carrying.

The B Mat is PVC-free rubber that b, halfmoon’s FAQ says blends natural and synthetic components, and it holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification. GearLab says not to buy it with a latex allergy, and its sample smelled of rubber tires until two days of airing.

The Solana is NBR, a synthetic foam. Retrospec lists it as free of phthalates, heavy metals and latex, with BPA joining that list in the Amazon title. Retrospec warns of a harmless initial odor and says to leave the mat unrolled for a day or two. With a latex allergy in the house, it is the only choice of the two.

Retrospec says to clean the Solana with a mix of gentle soap and water, wipe it down and hang it to dry, and not to submerge it.

The B Mat takes more attention. GearLab says it picks up dirt, hair and lint like crazy and recommends storing it in a mat bag. Its cleaning method starts with a dry wipe, then a damp cloth, adding water-diluted mild detergent when needed and never an abrasive sponge or brush.

Durability is the Solana’s weakest point with owners: 354 of 521 mentions in Amazon’s summary are negative, with reports that the foam tears easily, and one says theirs ripped on its first barefoot use. Soft foam also holds onto dents under knees and heels, and Retrospec’s warranty covers defects for 6 months.

The B Mat wears at its surface instead. Owners in GearLab’s market research described peeling at the hand and foot spots and grip fading over time. b, halfmoon’s one-year warranty excludes normal wear, stains, dirt and sun damage.

Neither brand offers a trial. b, halfmoon gives refunds within 30 days only on mats that are unused and never taken out of their packaging. Retrospec’s direct returns also run 30 days for unused mats, charging a 50% restocking fee if the mat has been used and deducting an $18 return label. Amazon orders of the Solana follow Amazon’s policy.

The B Mat lists at $118 from b, halfmoon in seven colorways at last count; it isn’t on Amazon. The Solana lists at $39.99; check the Solana 1″ listing at Amazon, where it comes in 13 colorways at last count, each priced separately, and holds 4.5 stars from about 15,000 ratings.

Each has a sibling nearer the middle. The half-inch Solana lists at $24.99 with half the foam to wobble on; see B Mat Everyday vs Solana 1/2″. The 6 mm B Mat Strong puts more cushion under the same rubber for $144, and B Mat Strong vs Solana 1″ sets it against this foam.

Buy the B Mat Everyday for yoga with standing work, flows or sweat. It grips hard wet or dry, stays put and gives you 26 inches of width. The trade is lint, a rubber smell at first, latex, and $118 you can’t get back once it’s unwrapped.

The Solana 1″ is the pick if the mat is mostly for knees, backs and floors: physio, core work, stretching or restorative sessions, especially on concrete or tile. It costs about a third as much and is latex-free, but it tears more easily and feels unsteady whenever you stand on one foot.