Jade Fusion vs Yoga Design Lab Combo: Which One Should You Buy?

Both of these take sweat in instead of leaving it on the surface. The Jade Fusion does it with 8 mm of porous natural rubber, the thickest mat Jade makes. The Yoga Design Lab Combo does it with a printed microfiber towel fused to a rubber base, 3.5 mm in all.

The Fusion lists at $174.95 and the Combo at $117, a $57.95 gap. The Fusion is more than double the thickness and roughly three pounds heavier. The Combo can go in a washing machine, which no rubber mat can.

GearLab’s March 2026 roundup ranked the Combo 17th of 19 on 52 points, with a 4 for grip in both its dry and wet tests. Its cons were slippery grip, lint and a narrow shape; its pros were washing and sweat absorption.

The Fusion isn’t in that roundup. GearLab’s only review of it dates to January 2013, under an older scoring system, and gave it 9 for dry traction, 9 for wet, 10 for comfort and 3 for portability. Thirteen years and a different method separate the two, so they aren’t a head-to-head.

GearLab’s 2013 review said the Fusion stays sticky when wet because its open-cell rubber acts like a giant sponge, and its current buying advice says open-cell surfaces grip better in sweaty sessions. On Amazon, 70 of 87 non-slip mentions are positive, though one owner still keeps a small towel for down dog.

Yoga Design Lab says the towel grips better the more you sweat and sells the Combo for hot yoga. In GearLab’s wet test, which uses a liter of water as a stand-in for a hot class, the Combo still came in at 4, slicker than the testers had hoped for from a hot yoga mat.

Owners are split: 38 positive grip mentions on Amazon against 25 negative. A five-year practitioner on Yoga Design Lab’s site calls it perfect for hot yoga without a towel, while one Amazon buyer couldn’t get through half of a heated class on it.

A towel top’s weak spot is a dry palm. Microfiber needs some moisture before it grabs, and the Combo’s dry score of 4 sits second from the bottom of GearLab’s table, above only the Primasole Foldable.

GearLab’s 2013 testers found the Fusion’s traction as dependable in a 50 degree outdoor session as in a heated class. One Amazon owner says it was less soft than they expected but improved their balance in standing poses. For an unheated living room, that’s the more useful surface.

Jade calls the Fusion its thickest and densest mat and sells it for restorative yoga, Pilates and core work. GearLab suggests a mat of 6 mm or more if joint pain is the issue, while noting that extra thickness means extra squish under a standing foot and that density matters as much as depth.

Owners like the density: 81 of 87 cushioning mentions on Amazon are positive, and one calls it thick and comfortable yet firm. Another says standing poses took some getting used to.

GearLab gave the Combo a 6 for comfort and support. Its 5.5 mm version, at $131 and 7.1 pounds, is still well short of the Fusion’s padding.

Jade’s own figure is about 8.5 pounds; we list 8. Jade itself calls the Fusion a weighty choice for a commuter, and GearLab’s 2013 review doubted it was worth carrying on a ten-block walk to the studio.

The Combo is 4.9 pounds by Yoga Design Lab’s figure (GearLab weighed 4.6), with a carry strap. Amazon owners complain about its heft twice as often as they praise it, but one who goes to class four or five times a week tosses it in a tote bag.

The Combo is 70″ × 24″ and the Fusion 68″ × 24″. Jade also makes the Fusion in 74″ ($199.95) and as the 80″ × 28″ Fusion XW ($249.95). Yoga Design Lab lists an XL Combo at $146, sold out when we checked.

Yoga Design Lab recommends hand washing but okays a gentle machine cycle if your washer has no center agitator; use mild soap and hang the mat to dry. GearLab says it needed no scrubbing and smelled fresh after every wash.

The Fusion’s open cells let sweat and skin oils into the rubber. Jade asks for a damp-cloth wipe weekly and says a wipe after every session is fine for hot or vigorous practice. Soap, alcohol and strong essential oils are out; its own mat wash is the one cleaner it approves.

GearLab’s 2013 review added that the Fusion benefits from a periodic deep clean, and that kept out of the sun, as it has to be, it can take two to three days to dry.

Neither suits a latex allergy. The Fusion is natural rubber, which Jade calls 99% latex free while telling allergic customers to avoid its mats. The Combo puts a recycled PET top, printed with water-based inks, over natural tree rubber.

Jade builds the Fusion in the USA without PVC or EVA, and a tree gets planted for each one sold. Jade expects the rubber smell to fade within one to two weeks for most buyers, though some wait a couple of months.

Jade’s one-year warranty leaves out sun damage and harsh cleaners, and Jade advertises no trial period. Yoga Design Lab has no warranty, and its 30-day return window covers only unused mats repacked in their original packaging.

The Fusion is $174.95 at jadeyoga.com in 4 colorways at last count; check the Fusion at Amazon too. The Combo is $117 in 19 printed designs in the 3.5mm at last count, and its Amazon listing shows today’s price. For Jade rubber at a normal thickness, see our Harmony vs Combo comparison.

Get the Fusion if sore knees or wrists are why you’re shopping, the mat will stay in one room, and you want grip that works in a cool room as well as a warm one. Accept the weight, slow drying and a rubber smell at first.

Get the Combo if the washing machine is the feature you’d actually use, you carry your mat to class, or a print is part of the appeal, knowing GearLab’s testers found its grip slick whether dry or wet. If an absorbent top is the draw, our IUGA vs Combo page covers a $66.99 mat that scored 7 in the same wet test.