Imagine this, the place you consider your home gym is a room where you sweat, continuously handle equipment with unwashed hands, wear shoes that are most likely used outside, and mostly pay less care to cleanliness because you’re going to the showers as fast as you’re finished working out. A ‘normal’ cleaning program for your home gym, on the other hand, either ignores several germ-infested locations or simply fails to incorporate the proper cleaning procedures and solutions to properly kill bacteria and sanitize the room and equipment.
Importance of Cleaning Your Home Gym Equipment
Cleaning your personal gym equipment could seem absurd since you and your roommates or family members are the only ones who use it. Even when you are not sharing the equipment with someone else’s bacteria, cleaning is still necessary.
Assume you received germs on your hands while riding the bus home one day. Afterward, without washing your hands, you went on the treadmill for a brief workout. There are a lot of infections that are caused by germs on your hands and are already on your treadmill’s grips and buttons.
Did you know that germs can live comfortably for three days on your treadmill, transferring to anyone else who uses it and then returning to you during future exercises?
There are a variety of bacteria that may survive on the home gym equipment, so you should sterilize it as well as clean it. What’s the distinction between cleaning and sanitizing fitness equipment at home? Cleaning just eliminates surface filth whereas sanitizing destroys microorganisms that might make you sick.
What are the Cleaning Supplies Needed?
When cleaning their gym equipment, many individuals create their own cleaning mixture out of vinegar or bleach. Don’t make that mistake. These DIY solutions can harm rubber flooring, rubber grips, wood paneling, resistance bands, and other workout equipment.
Instead, use disinfecting wipes designed for gym equipment. These wipes can clean most surfaces, but depending on what you have in your gym, you may want additional cleaning supplies.
How to Properly Clean Your Home Gym Equipment
Foam Rollers
Wiping them down like yoga mats is necessary, but soaking them in water isn’t always a good idea because they might retain moisture. A bacterial colony developing within your roller is the last idea you wish.
It may be time to ditch your foam roller if it is substantially worn down or stained after topical disinfection. When buying a new one, choose the one with an even more solid, nonporous base that will accumulate fewer particles.
Yoga Mat
Grab your sanitizing spray and spray generously all over your yoga mat then let it dry. Experts say that the drying phase is crucial for killing most bacteria. If you’re going to use disinfecting wipes, make sure you cover the whole surface. You may require more than one sheet to complete the task. Allow your mat to completely dry before folding it back up.
During more extensive cleanings, place the mat inside your bathtub then scrub it with a brush. It is best to wipe it off with disinfectant when it has dried.
Suspension Trainers and Resistance Bands
Disinfectant wipes are appropriate for regular usage, but for a deeper clean, especially with often used foam handles, drop them in a pail of warm, soapy water and scrub vigorously. Rinse them out and disinfect them after they’ve dried completely.
Hand Weights
Hand weights with grippy and do not have smooth surfaces are ideal for collecting dirt and grime. If you’re still worried about accumulation in the ridges, use a scrubbing brush and soapy water to remove any dirt.
While your attention will most likely be drawn to the handles, don’t overlook the tips of dumbbells and weights. For barbell lovers, here’s how you clean your barbell.
Ellipticals, Treadmills, and Other Home Gym Equipment
Treadmills and ellipticals are examples of home gym equipment that are often electrical and made of metal or plastic. Most equipment may be cleaned with soap and water as long as electrical components are avoided.
Here’s how to disinfect and sanitize your workout equipment:
- Before cleaning your electronic fitness equipment, unplug it.
- Wash the handles, the foot cradles, as well as other non-electric pieces with soapy water first.
- Using a damp microfiber towel, wipe away the soapy remains.
- To clean the body of the devices and remove the residue, dampen your microfiber towel using soapy water and squeeze it out.
- Wipe off your workout machines with a moist towel after each usage.
- Using a disinfectant spray, sanitize the gym equipment. Be cautious with the electrical parts of it.
Gym Floor
Finally, clean and sanitize your home gym floor, which is susceptible to sweat, filth, and grime. The problem is that there are several varieties of home gym floors, each of which needs distinct cleaning techniques and solutions. Based on the nature of your gym floor, you’ll need to vacuum it and use an appropriate attachment head to remove dust and grime, then apply a stain remover and cleaning solution. The last step is to disinfect the floors using the appropriate solution that suits the material of your flooring.
Other Surfaces in the Gym
There are several types of home gyms; some have more equipment, while others feature furnishings. Cleaning and disinfecting identical materials, on the other hand, requires more or less the same procedures as those described above.
In addition, because many of these surfaces and spaces in a home gym are considered high-touch spots, they should not be disregarded. Have a glance at the following examples:
Switchboard
Racks
Fixtures that are mounted on the wall
Shelves and tabletop
Stools/chairs
Pressing the bench
Other equipment
Bar for pull-ups
Kettlebells
Balls of medicine
Mirror
Walls
Additional Tips
- Do not allow outdoor shoes to come inside your home gym. If you get your street footwear on the yoga mat and cardio machine by accident, make sure to wash out any contact points. While your shoes may potentially carry anything from the gym with them, they are now more likely to bring germs into your home gym.
- No matter how ‘not sweaty’ you believe you were, wash your clothing after each use.
Taking off your workout clothing and, preferably, washing soon afterward can help lower the chance of having acne and infections on your skin. - Put your water bottles in the dishwasher ever after use. Always wash your hands before preparing your energy drink.
Make a Weekly and Monthly Home Gym Cleaning Schedule
After every exercise, wipe down your equipment and clean your clothes, phone, and towel, but there should be weekly and monthly duties to maintain that room shining clean. To get organized, have a weekly and monthly calendar.
Floor mats, workout equipment, dumbbells, fitness balls, and resistance bands are among the weekly cleaning responsibilities. You’ll be wiping down these things after each use, but they’ll need a thorough clean once a week. Washing gym bags and shoes are one of the monthly responsibilities. Keep an additional pair of shoes kept aside exclusively for doing out so you don’t have to go through mud and grime to get to your workout spot.
