Gaiam Premium 6mm vs B Mat Everyday: Which One Should You Buy?

The Gaiam Premium is where a lot of practices start: 6 mm of soft PVC foam for $29.98, with a lifetime guarantee and a best buy award from testers who recommend it as a first mat. The B Mat Everyday is where a lot of those people end up two years later: 4 mm of Spanish rubber for $118.

Four times the price for two millimeters less mat sounds absurd until you know what is failing. In almost every case it’s grip, and that is the one thing this upgrade fixes completely.

GearLab measured the Gaiam at 6 out of 10 dry and 4 wet, listed poor wet grip among its three drawbacks, and found hands slipping noticeably once things got sweaty. A closed PVC surface absorbs nothing, so damp palms have nowhere for the moisture to go.

Its separate review of the B Mat Everyday put grip at 9 out of 10, named the mat a favorite for hot yoga, and reported traction surviving everything from a light sprinkle to standing water, with no break-in first.

That isn’t a marginal improvement. It’s the difference between adjusting your hands every few poses and forgetting the mat is there.

Six millimeters of soft foam gives under a knee and keeps giving, which is kind in floor work and unhelpful the moment you stand on one leg. GearLab’s testers found the Gaiam unstable under balance poses, with a foot sinking and tilting, and noted that pressing a hand into the foam leaves the print for a moment.

The B Mat’s 4 mm of springy rubber gives a little and holds, and the same publisher rated its comfort and support 8 of 10 against the Gaiam’s 6.5, describing the cushioning as hard to find at that thickness. Less mat, steadier footing, higher comfort score.

The B Mat is 71″ × 26″ against the Gaiam’s 68″ × 24″. Three more inches of length and two of width is the modern standard against the old one, and the width is what runs out first with broad shoulders.

The Gaiam is lighter at 3.3 pounds against 4.1, though both are easy carries. If portability is genuinely your constraint, neither of these is the problem.

Three things, and they’re worth naming. Cushion: two fewer millimeters, which shows up on tile or concrete in kneeling work. Tidiness: the B Mat’s grip collects dirt, hair and lint constantly, to the point GearLab recommends keeping it in a bag rather than a car trunk, and its tack is aggressive enough that testers gave up sliding into position and started picking their feet up.

And the guarantee. Gaiam covers its mat for life, which is unusual at $29.98; b, halfmoon writes down one year plus an OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification. Both guarantees address defects rather than the way these mats actually end. The B Mat is also natural rubber, so it isn’t safe with a latex allergy, where the Gaiam’s PVC is latex-free.

The Gaiam’s foam takes a set under regular use, which GearLab called its main durability concern. A few sessions a month can get years out of one; daily practice flattens it inside a couple, and the cushion you bought it for is exactly what goes.

The B Mat wears at the surface instead. GearLab noticed water staining after its test period and found owners commonly reporting the top layer lifting where hands and feet land, with grip fading from there. b, halfmoon describes its mats as built for two or more years of practice stored properly, which is honest rather than impressive.

Worth saying, because for a lot of people the honest recommendation is neither end. The stretch between $29.98 and $118 holds lightweight polyurethane-topped mats that grip well around $70, and natural rubber mats around $100. If the Gaiam’s specific failure is grip rather than durability, several cheaper mats fix it.

Our IUGA vs B Mat Everyday comparison covers the best-value version of that argument, and Jade Level One vs Gaiam Premium covers the cheapest way into real rubber.

Gaiam tells buyers to leave the mat unrolled for two to three days before practicing on it and keeps a page up about getting rid of the smell, which suggests the question comes in often. After that it wipes clean and prefers to stay out of extended sun, which makes PVC brittle.

The B Mat’s rubber smell is sharp for the first couple of days and clears with airing. It wipes down easily too, though it wants storing in a bag given what its surface attracts, and rubber should never live in a hot car or direct sun. Neither goes in a washing machine.

Stay with the Gaiam if you practise gently, unheated, a few times a month. It’s a fair $29.98 product with limits it doesn’t hide, it’s the softer landing for knees, and it’s easy to buy and replace through Amazon.

Move to the B Mat Everyday when you’re fighting the mat rather than practicing on it: sliding hands, an unsteady standing leg, or foam that has flattened for the second time. It’s the grippiest surface in this price bracket, and it sells direct from b, halfmoon since marketplace listings under its name carry no coverage.