Omnana yoga towel: not impressed
27/11/2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Pictures: Anika Schulz
Turns out I’ve tried out another product I’d rate «meh». Sure, the towel might look pretty, but you can’t wash it properly.
You might remember that I tested a yoga mat from Omnana and found it terrible. The mat stank of rubber, was greasy and could really only be used as a shoe mat. Now I have a yoga towel from the same brand, namely the model Staymat. What I really want to know is if the towel actually stays on the mat, as the name promises, or whether it’ll slip during vigorous asanas. Plus, is it washable at high temperatures after sport? Read on, your inner balance is guaranteed to teeter.
Is the towel non-slip? The answer? Yes and no.
I place the towel on my B Mat Traveller yoga mat. The Staymat is 188 centimetres long and 66 centimetres wide, which is slightly larger than my mat. When I flip the towel over, I’m amazed. Its non-slip coating is made up of countless little Omnana logos. Very cute! I’m a sucker for details like this.
The logos aren’t just cute – they also do their job. I take the towel along with me to yoga class. And, yes, the Staymat is literally stuck to my rubber mat. Even when I do a big lunge and put my weight on my forefoot, the towel stays in place. And unlike the Omnana yoga mat mentioned above (yech!), the towel doesn’t smell either.
The material is also soft to the touch. I particularly appreciate this when I’m practising asanas that involve being curled up on the mat – think child’s pose. The softness means I can relax and put my forehead down without ending up with a silly-looking red mark.
What’s not so great, however, is that my hands slip off the Staymat. In other words, it’s not great for dynamic flows. Despite Omnana describing it as a provider of «non-slip grip», I’d expected this to happen, simply judging by its material. Staymat consists of something the manufacturer boldly calls Softsense Velvet. On closer inspection, it’s simply 80 per cent polyester and 20 per cent polyamide. For 40 euros or 54 francs, I was expecting more. Surely they could’ve thrown in a few natural fibres such as cotton or viscose.
Or as my yoga teacher Iris deadpans after taking a look at the towel: «It’s a cloth with nubs. A nub cloth.»
Right, so the Staymat’s great as the butt of a joke. But what about absorption? Yoga is a sweaty affair, after all.
Absorbent or afraid of the water?
On its website, the manufacturer doesn’t hold back: «The ultra-absorbent, quick-drying surface reliably absorbs moisture, supporting a focused, powerful workout.» Well then, let’s see what it’s made of. I pour a glass of water onto the towel with gusto. At least to my eyes, it doesn’t look as if the towel is soaking up liquid very quickly. Instead, the water runs between the folds of the towel and forms small rivulets. I briefly consider renaming Staymat to Staydry.
The complicated part: washing
Who knows? Maybe the towel’s been waterproofed. Either way, it’s time to stick it in the washing machine. Before I do just that, the washing label stops me in my tracks. The symbol tells me Staymat can only handle a gentle hand wash.
Say what? A sports towel you can’t machine wash at 40 or 60 degrees? To double-check, I go to the manufacturer’s website, which leaves me even more confused. The information’s contradictory. One symbol’s telling me I can actually wash the towel at 30 decrees in a delicate cycle. However, it’s also written that I should «wash separately on a gentle cycle with cold water.» So what do I do now? Warm? Cold?
Either way, neither a hand nor a delicate washing will cut it to get rid of sweat and bacteria properly. It’s not like you wash your underpants by hand either, is it?
To find out, I machine wash the yoga towel at 40 degrees – a regular wash cycle. My old Miele goes to work for three hours on the eco programme. And lo and behold, the StayMat comes out fine. The anti-slip coating on the back is also still intact. What I don’t know is how often the towel would be able to survive this procedure. To find out, I’d have to wash it ten times in a row, which I’m not doing in this test for the sake of the environment.
I’d like to know what Omnana was thinking with the confusing washing instructions. But, unfortunately, I fail to get a satisfactory answer in the customer WhatsApp chat, as you can see from the German-language screenshot. The reply roughly says, I should wash it cold or at 30 degrees max and do so regularly. Plus, I should make sure to dry it really well after washing.
At least the towel absorbs moisture better after it’s been washed. Not as well as a plain cotton towel, but the rivulets are much smaller than before.
To be honest, this product test has left me a little baffled. I’d hoped that the nub cloth the towel would make up for my bad experience with the Omnana yoga mat, but I fail to feel very good about it.
What do you think? Is the towel good or not? Let me know in the comments!
In a nutshell
Not a must-have item
This towel was hard to rate. Not least because of its confusing washing instructions. Having said that, the StayMat did its job for the most part, didn’t slip off the mat and did survive a 40-degree wash. In other words: I’m at least moderately satisfied. The super-cute logos on the back may have helped, too. It can’t all be about working out, right?
Pro
- Lovely details
- Soft
- Odourless
- Generous size
- Doesn’t slip off the mat
Contra
- Needs to be washed with delicates
- Moderate suction power
- Slippery under the hands
Header image: Anika Schulz
Anika Schulz
Teamleader Editorial
Anika.Schulz@galaxus.deAs a child, I was socialised with Mario Kart on SNES before ending up in journalism after graduating from high school. As a team leader at Galaxus, I'm responsible for news. I'm also a trekkie and an engineer.
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