With a serious virus on the loose, as well as other contaminants in abundance, keeping gym equipment disinfected and clean is extremely important. But what are the right tools to use, and how do you decide which ones? We’re here to help.

What Disinfectant Does

People use chemical sanitizers and disinfectants to reduce the number of germs, like viruses and other pathogens that cause infection, to reduce the chances of contamination and infection.To maintain a clean and healthy home, it’s important to know the different levels of clean and the tools used to achieve them. 

• Sanitizers - Sanitizing products deactivate or reduce the number of microorganisms on a surface. Sanitizers are products like soap, which are more gentle than disinfectant, and significantly reduce contamination and infection.
• Disinfectants - Used similarly to sanitizers, disinfectants kill or deactivate close to 100% of microorganisms on a surface. These are the household cleaning products that advertise the removal of 99.99% of germs.
• Sterilizers - Sterilization is the process that eradicates any and all microorganisms that come into contact with them. Sterilization is a process that is more common in the medical field or lab sciences than it is in day to day life.

There are a number of methods to sanitize, disinfect, and sterilize, from incineration to irradiation. Most sanitizers and disinfectants that a majority of people are familiar with are chemical, like alcohol and bleach. Any time you use a product, it’s important to read the directions, and the same is especially true for cleaning chemicals. It takes time for disinfectants to do their work, so once it’s applied, let it sit on the surface for the specified amount of time in the directions, which is usually at least a few minutes.

Different Types of Disinfectant

Disinfectant contains a range of chemicals, all of which serve specific functions:

• Ammonia - Quaternary ammonium compounds basically make cell walls become leaky, and are extremely effective. This is why it is one of the most effective and widely used disinfectants.
• Alcohol - Alcohol is extremely toxic, causing cell proteins to clump and lose their ability to function. Often this is caused by cell membranes collapsing. Alcohol needs water to function properly because the shrinking effect doesn’t work as well with straight alcohol.
• Phenol - Phenol penetrates and disrupts cell walls and makes cell proteins fall into shambles.
• Chlorine - Without too much science, chlorine is effective at oxidizing many proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. That means it accepts electrons from other substances and causes them to change, which does a very good job killing bacteria. Additionally, it can be effective against spores.
• Peroxygen compounds - Peroxygen compounds like hydrogen peroxide are effective disinfectants that are not affected by organic matter and salts. They attack many different cell components and membranes, causing collapse. They are also effective at killing spores.
• Benzalkonium chloride - The active ingredient in our sanitary wipes, which is a powerful surfactant. Basically, it decreases the surface tension between two substances. It’s what helps you wipe off the gross stuff, and then ingredients like alcohol destroy it.

How You Can Protect Your Equipment

Floors

Cleaning the floor is a must, at least once or twice daily. In the event of a spill or other accident, immediate cleanup is essential to keeping the area hygienic. People are going to be coming into contact with the floor, whether it’s for push-ups, sit-ups, or other exercises. Depending on the type of floor, you’re going to want to use different types of cleaner. If the flooring is wood, utilizing a specialized cleaner is suggested to prevent damage to the wood, but other than that, any disinfectant designed for use on floors is going to be a safe bet. Don’t forget to dust mop beforehand.

Treadmills & Other Electronic Machines

When you clean machines like treadmills, ellipticals, stair-steppers, and other equipment, you want to make sure that they’re unplugged before you do anything else. Accidentally shorting out a machine with spray disinfectant is never good. Make sure to thoroughly wipe down all of the nooks and crannies of the machine to properly clean and disinfect. Doing so twice a day, every day is a good plan, and giving customers access to wipes and other materials to keep things clean is also an excellent plan.

Free Weights & Benches

Disinfecting free weights and benches with wipes or Lysol twice a day is a good idea. These weights and benches need to be allowed to dry completely before using them again, as they’ll be slippery and a potential hazard.

The Best Way to Help Your Customers Protect Your Gym

Staff may not be able to clean and disinfect everything in your gym all the time, especially at peak hours. Purchasing a bulk dispenser and distributing them around the gym is a great way to enlist your customers to help keep the gym clean and safe for everyone.

We have a number of options available for our gym customers who want to upgrade the safety of their gym. Wall-mounted dispensers like this Glaro Wall Mounted Disinfecting Wipe Dispenser are perfect for areas without much floor space.

If you’ve got a bit more floor space, want something that is more mobile and can move around the gym with ease, or if you want something by a door and announces the fact that there are sanitizing wipes available, a freestanding wipe dispenser fits the bill.

The freestanding wipe dispenser with a built-in trash can is a convenient all-in-one stop for gym-goers to help keep your gym clean. The efficient two-in-one receptacle is helpful for saving space, as well as managing sanitation. Combining multiple necessities into one place means they are more likely to be noticed, and therefore more likely to be used. One thing to keep in mind about this style of trash can is that while stainless steel is sanitary, you want to make sure to disinfect and wipe down the surfaces of this one regularly, as well as all your other wipe dispensers too.

When it comes to picking the best wipes, you want to choose ones that are built for floors and equipment, and you can’t beat our great deals on bulk wipes to keep your gym clean. We’re here to help with all of your sanitation and waste needs. Get in touch with one of our customer support representatives or start browsing our products today.