Gaiam Essentials 6mm vs Lululemon The (Big) Mat 5mm: Which One Should You Buy?

The Gaiam Essentials is 6 mm of soft PVC foam, 72″ × 24″, sold with a sling at a $22.13 list price. The Lululemon Big Mat pairs an absorbent polyurethane face with an FSC-certified natural rubber base, 84″ × 28″, at $128.

Both of these will get you through a class. Only one of them will still feel right in three years, and only one of them will fit in a small living room.

The Big Mat needs about seven feet by two and a half of clear floor, which rules out plenty of apartments once the furniture is accounted for, and it will not fit in most studio cubbies. If you are tall or broad, or you are tired of a hand landing off the edge in a wide plank, that extra area is the main thing you are buying.

The Gaiam at 72 by 24 inches is normal-sized and stores anywhere. Twenty-four inches is narrow by current standards, and 72 covers most people up to about six feet. It is the more practical mat for a small space by some distance.

The Big Mat’s polyurethane face soaks moisture up rather than shedding it. GearLab scored the standard-size version of the same mat 6.5 out of 10 dry and 4.5 wet, so it is decent rather than a grip specialist, and it took a Top Pick award for mixed fitness routines rather than for traction.

The Gaiam’s textured sticky PVC holds fine while you are dry. GearLab measured Gaiam’s comparable 6 mm foam at 6 dry and 4 wet. The numbers look close; in practice the gap is wider, because soft foam also starts moving under you once the surface is slippery, while the Lululemon’s rubber base stays put.

Six millimetres of soft foam against five of firmer rubber and PU, and the Gaiam is the kinder surface for kneeling and forearm work. If sore knees are your limiting factor, the $22 mat genuinely does that one job better.

The Lululemon is more stable for the same reason it is less soft: firm material does not compress under a standing foot. GearLab scored the standard version 10 out of 10 for comfort and support, the top score in its test, which is measuring that combination of thickness and steadiness rather than plushness.

The Gaiam Essentials has the same textured finish on both faces, so you can flip it when one side gets grubby. That is a small convenience on a cheap mat and it is worth knowing about.

The Big Mat is properly reversible: the polyurethane face for sweaty yoga, and a textured rubber underside for a drier practice or for general training. For a household mat that gets used for more than yoga, that is a real feature rather than a nicety.

The Gaiam is 3.5 pounds and comes with a sling, so it is an easy carry to a class. The Big Mat is 7.1 pounds and 84 inches of roll, which hangs badly on a shoulder strap regardless of the weight.

Lululemon designed the Big Mat as a home mat and that is where it belongs. If you want the same surface in a size you can commute with, the standard Lululemon Mat at 71″ × 26″ is the version to look at.

Soft PVC foam takes compression set. Heels, knees and elbows leave dents that gradually stop springing back, and GearLab has found the same foam in Gaiam’s Premium mats showing compression over time. Gaiam’s lifetime guarantee is genuinely unusual at this price and it covers manufacturing defects rather than that kind of wear.

The Lululemon’s rubber and polyurethane both wear slowly, and the wear point is the absorbent face, which can go shiny under heavy use. Lululemon covers it under its Quality Promise, which has no set term and is handled case by case. Note that natural rubber means latex, so the Big Mat is out with an allergy and the PVC Gaiam is not.

A $22.13 list against $128. Check the current Essentials price on Amazon, where individual colors go on sale independently and it is often several dollars cheaper. The Big Mat is sold through lululemon.com and in stores, not on Amazon, so it rarely moves off list.

Most people should start with the Gaiam and let a few months of practice tell them whether grip, size or cushion is the thing they actually want more of. A $22 mat that turns out to be wrong has cost you almost nothing, and it still has a second life as a guest mat.

Get the Gaiam Essentials if you are new to this, if you practice occasionally, or if space and money are tight. It is the softest of the two, it is latex free, it comes with a sling, and it is the cheapest credible mat in the category.

Get the Big Mat if you practice at home several times a week and you have the floor for it. The absorbent top handles sweat, the reversible underside covers general training, the materials will outlast the foam by years, and 84 by 28 inches is more space than almost anyone else sells.