6 Easy Steps to Clean Your Sushi Mat

Are you wondering how to clean a sushi mat? Well, let us help you with this sticky situation!

Making and eating sushi could be plenty of fun, but cleaning could suck out all that fun. It doesn’t have to, though! Today, allow us to show you six easy steps to clean your sushi mats.

Without further delay, let’s jump right into it.

1. Know What Type of Sushi Mat You Have

The first step is pretty simple. You want to know what type of sushi mat you have. This step might seem obvious. We know. However, we mentioned this step to emphasize that not all sushi mats are bamboo.

For example, sushi mats could be plastic (e.g., the Hasegawa Plastic Sushi Rolling Mat) or silicone (e.g., Lekue Makisu Silicone Sushi Mat). For safety measures, it might be best to double-check.

How you would go about the next steps would depend on this information. After all, whatever type of sushi mat you have, we don’t want to ruin it! [7 Easy Steps to Roll Sushi Without a Mat]

Once you’ve determined what type of sushi mat you have, we can go to the next step.

2. Use Hot Water to Clean Your Sushi Mat

After using your sushi mat, you want to run it under hot water. How hot would depend on what type of sushi mat you have. Generally, you want the water to be hot as possible. Without burning yourself or ruining the sushi mat, of course!

It might be the best time to note that it would be best to skip the dishwasher for this job. It might be able to give you the hottest water possible, but it could also do your sushi mat some harm.

3. Pick Your Cleaning Agent

Next, it’s time to pick a cleaning agent to help you with your sushi mat. Some suggest using a gentle dishwashing liquid like Dawn. On the other hand, some recommend using some vinegar.

If you’re not dealing with a particularly dirtied sushi mat, you might want to use the dishwashing liquid. You can spread some of it directly on the sushi mat or make a soapy solution.

On the other hand, you might want to use vinegar and dishwashing liquid for particularly sticky situations. Here, you don’t want to forget to dilute your vinegar by mixing it with some hot water.

Concentrate the solution on the problem areas. As for the dishwashing liquid, you want to use it once you’re out of the sticky situation.

The vinegar might be great for problem areas, but it doesn’t leave a pleasant smell. Pretty much, the dishwashing liquid is to get rid of that smell.

4. Scrub Your Sushi Mat

Once you’ve picked your partner, it’s time to get scrubbing.

If you use the dishwashing liquid, you might not need any other tool for this step. You can use your hands to scrub away. If you have sensitive hands or prefer to use a scrubbing pad, you could.

On the other hand, it might not be best to go without a tool if you use some vinegar. Yes, even if you have diluted your vinegar. You can use a scrubbing pad or anything similar.

Whichever way you go, it might be good to know that you can use the sushi mat to clean itself. For extra measure, you can also scrub the mat on itself. Gently, of course.

5. Dry Your Sushi Mat

If you have a plastic or silicone sushi mat, drying would be easy. You only need to get a dishcloth, pat your sushi mat dry, and presto, you have one dry sushi mat ready for storing.

A bamboo sushi mat is a different story, though. Of course, you might also want to pat it down to help speed up the drying process.

However, drying it down with a towel is not enough. After patting it down, you want to air dry it. There are a few ways to go about this step.

First, you can let it stand upright on your counter with the help of some objects. As you already know, the sushi mat is too thin to stand on its own. You would want to dry down the sushi mat well.

If you don’t, the water will trickle down, and the bottom part of your mat will be soaking in that puddle. That’s not ideal.

You might also want to put down a towel where you plan to place your sushi mat. That way, there would be something to catch the extra moisture.

On the other hand, you can hang your sushi mat. However, it might not be ideal to dry it on the clothesline outside. Remember, your sushi mat would have direct contact with your sushi!

If you let it outside, it might catch some nasty things out there. Still, you could borrow some pegs from your clothesline and find a safe place in the kitchen to let it air dry.

You will know your bamboo mat is ready for storing once it hardens.

6. Store Your Sushi Mat

Finally, we come to the last step – storing.

If you have a plastic or silicone sushi mat, there would likely be no problem storing it. If you have a bamboo sushi mat, you need to be a little extra careful.

With a bamboo sushi mat, you want to make sure it is dry before storing. As we have said above, you can know if your sushi mat is dry once it hardens.

With that, of course, you want to make sure you store it in a cool and dry place. Otherwise, you might end up with a moldy bamboo sushi mat!

Can You Clean a Moldy Bamboo Sushi Mat?

Since we already mentioned moldy bamboo sushi mats, let’s briefly discuss them.

If you found your sushi mat covered with mold, you don’t have to worry. Yes, you can still clean it. You might even be happy to know that you don’t need some fancy things or steps to do so.

You can clean your sushi mat using the exact method we showed you today. Using a brush could be helpful, though.

If your sushi mat managed to get some mold on it, you might want to give its storage area a good inspection too. If your sushi mat has lots of molds, the storage area would also likely have a few.

Thoroughly clean the area before putting your newly cleaned sushi mat there. If you don’t, the problem will only repeat itself.

If your sushi mat is not the only thing in the storage area, you would also want to give the other things in there a good cleaning. Again, if you don’t, the problem might repeat itself.

We did say that there is a way to clean your moldy bamboo sushi mat. However, many would suggest not to risk it.

Bamboo sushi mats are easy to find, and there are tons of inexpensive choices. You don’t have to feel bad throwing yours away if you don’t want to take any risk!

Things to Keep in Mind When Cleaning Your Sushi Mat

Here are a few things you might want to consider before tackling your dirty sushi mat.

Cling Wrap Might Be Your New Best Friend

If you want to lessen the mess on your sushi mat next time you make some sushi, you might want to use some cling wrap. Also, you don’t have to worry if you don’t know how to do so.

It might look like an extra step, and it is, but it will make cleaning a lot easier later on.

You Have to Clean Your Sushi Mat

You might have heard that some people don’t clean their sushi mats. As you have seen today, it is an easy task. However, you might still wonder if you could do away with it.

No! A sushi mat is like any other cookware. You still have to clean it even if others reason out its only rice that sticks to it. It’s not hygienic to not clean it, and therefore, not safe!

Summary

How to clean a sushi mat? Well, today, we showed you how in 6 easy steps!

First, you want to double-check what kind of sushi mat you have. Bamboo sushi mats are probably the most common type. However, there are other types of sushi mats like plastic and silicone.

To start, you want to run your sushi mat under hot water. Next, you want to choose a cleaning agent. Depending on how sticky the situation your sushi mat is in, you can choose between the dishwashing liquid or vinegar.

After that, it’s time to get scrubbing! Finally, you want to dry the mat well, then store it properly.

As you can see, cleaning a sushi mat is easy!

We hope we got to help you today. Feel free to give us a visit again if you find yourself with more sushi questions or concerns. See you!