Yoga Design Lab Combo vs Lululemon The (Big) Mat: Which One Should You Buy?

Yoga Design Lab’s Combo bonds a printed towel of recycled microfiber to a natural tree rubber base: 3.5 mm, 70″ × 24″, $117. Lululemon’s The (Big) Mat pairs a polyurethane top with an FSC-certified natural rubber base: 5 mm, 84″ × 28″, $128.

Both put a sweat-absorbing layer over natural rubber, which means both contain latex. The $11 difference buys 14 inches of length, 4 of width and 1.5 mm of thickness, plus 2.2 more pounds to lift. GearLab tested the Combo and the standard-size Lululemon, and the two finished a long way apart.

The Combo placed 17th of 19 in GearLab’s March 2026 test, at 52 out of 100, with scores of 6, 4, 5 and 6 across comfort, grip, materials and care. GearLab’s cons for it read slippery for dry and wet grip, collects lint, and narrow.

On the Lululemon side, GearLab’s test mat was the standard-size The Mat. It came fourth at 81, won Best Mat for Mixed Fitness Routines and beat the Combo in all four categories with 10, 7, 7 and 7. Those results carry over to the Big Mat’s surface, though the Big Mat itself was never tested.

Yoga Design Lab pitches the Combo’s moisture-activated grip for hot yoga, saying the surface gets grippier as you sweat. GearLab didn’t find that: it wrote that the towel was slicker, dry and wet, than it had hoped for a mat designed for hot yoga, and its grip table gives the Combo 4 dry and 4 wet. A microfiber top is meant to need some dampness, and it still scored low.

The standard The Mat scored 6.5 dry and 4.5 wet in that table, so the Lululemon’s clear lead is in a cool room. GearLab’s text is kinder to it once sweat arrives: the top absorbs quickly, and traction held up even when the mat was soaking wet.

Combo owners disagree with each other. Grip gets 38 positive and 25 negative mentions in Amazon’s review summary, with some owners reporting slipping a few minutes in. A Yoga Design Lab site reviewer calls it super grippy but says you can slip a little once it is soaked with sweat.

The Combo covers 1,680 square inches to the Big Mat’s 2,352, so the Lululemon is about 40% more mat. Seventy inches is five foot ten, and narrow is one of GearLab’s complaints about the Combo.

Some owners feel it. One Amazon reviewer who takes a heated vinyasa class likes the grip but expects to replace it with something bigger. Another wishes it were 72″ instead of 70″, and lighter. Yoga Design Lab also lists a $146 Combo XL; it was out of stock at our last look, and we couldn’t confirm its dimensions.

The Big Mat needs seven feet of clear floor. For the Lululemon surface at a size closer to the Combo’s, see The Mat vs Combo.

At 3.5 mm the Combo is the thinner mat, and GearLab scored its comfort and support 6 against a perfect 10 for the standard The Mat. Amazon owners are happier with it than GearLab was, with cushioning mentions running 28 positive to 1 negative. GearLab suggests most people stay within 3 to 5 mm, and both mats do.

For more padding, Yoga Design Lab sells the Combo in 5.5 mm at $131. By Yoga Design Lab’s own figures it weighs 7.1 pounds, the same as the Big Mat, costs $3 more and keeps the 70″ × 24″ size.

The 3.5 mm Combo is 4.9 pounds by Yoga Design Lab’s figure, and GearLab weighed it at 4.6. Amazon owners still complain about the heft, 14 weight mentions negative to 7 positive. It does ship with a carry strap.

Hand washing is Yoga Design Lab’s preference, since it says that extends the mat’s life, but a gentle cycle is allowed in a machine with no center agitator, using mild soap, followed by a hang to dry. The Amazon listing is stricter and says hand wash only. GearLab liked that washing takes no scrubbing or hosing and that the mat came out smelling fresh each time, though lint made its cons.

An 84 inch rubber mat isn’t going in a washer. GearLab counts needs deep cleans among the standard Lululemon’s cons, and says its top takes in oils and dirt along with sweat. Black, the Big Mat’s only color at last count, disguises the staining.

Prints are the Combo’s identity. There were 19 designs in the 3.5 mm at last count, applied with water-based inks, and Amazon’s review summary logs 53 positive appearance mentions against one negative.

The Big Mat is plain black at last count, while the standard The Mat comes in more colors. What the Lululemon offers instead is a second surface: its textured rubber underside, which GearLab counts as a pro for grip options.

Both bases are natural rubber, so neither is an option with a latex allergy. Yoga Design Lab takes returns within 30 days of receipt, only if the mat is unused and back in its original packaging, and excludes final-sale items. It offers no warranty.

The Big Mat falls under Lululemon’s Quality Promise, which names no set term. GearLab puts the standard The Mat’s usual lifespan past five years, and it scored the Combo’s materials 5.

The Combo is $117 at Yoga Design Lab’s site, and you can check the Combo’s price at Amazon. The Big Mat is $128 from lululemon.com and Lululemon stores; any Lululemon mat on Amazon is a reseller’s.

For the Big Mat against the standard size, read The Mat vs Big Mat. For the Combo against a light, latex-free mat that scored 70, see Earth Elements vs Combo.

For $11 more, the Big Mat is far bigger and, going by GearLab’s results for the standard size, the better mat in every scored category. It suits a home practice with seven feet of floor to spare, and a tall or broad body that keeps running out of mat.

Buy the Combo if putting your mat through the wash matters more than grip scores, you want a print, or you need something you can carry to class with a strap. Expect it to run narrow, and to slip at times dry or soaked.