How to Clean a Treadmill And Other Tips to Sanitize Your Gym

Whether you’re a fitness center owner or maintaining a public gym for a residential complex or facility, keeping your gym equipment safe and sanitized is always top of mind. Fitness centers are designed to encourage and promote a healthy lifestyle, and that requires more than just providing equipment. It also means sustaining a healthy environment for workouts.

This article addresses the need to maintain a sanitized gym environment, offering insights into why establishing a routine to keep all of your equipment clean is so important. Specifically, this article covers everything you need to know to keep the treadmills in your gym sanitary and safe. It delves into the details of how to clean a treadmill, covering everything from the best way to clean a treadmill belt to how to clean a treadmill’s motor and electronics.

The Importance of Cleaning Gym Equipment

All gym equipment must be cleaned regularly to protect users from potential health hazards. Keeping your equipment clean is also essential to keep up with warranty requirements.

Avoiding Health Hazards

It’s undisputed that regular exercise is beneficial to your health. However, exercising on unsanitary gym equipment can create a health hazard. In fact, exercising on gym equipment — including treadmills — that are not kept clean can expose the user to dangerous bacteria that can cause serious illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that almost one-third of the general population carries potentially harmful bacteria — including Staphylococcus aureus — that can cause skin infections. That can be transferred to otherwise unaffected people through contact with shared surfaces, including gym equipment. Studies have shown that finding this particular bacteria, specifically on unsanitized gym equipment after use, is common enough to pose a health hazard.

Of course, being exposed to the germs that cause bacterial infections is not the only danger of working out on dirty gym equipment. Gyms can also be a breeding ground for other types of diseasesresulting from viruses found on unsanitized gym equipment surfaces.

For example, viruses that cause respiratory infections like the flu or a cold can be spread if a person coughs or sneezes directly onto gym equipment or into their hands and then touches shared surfaces. To become infected, all another person must do is make contact with the contaminated equipment and then touch their eyes or wipe their mouth. A person can even contract herpes through unsanitary workout machines, though the risk is relatively low.

Meeting Warranty Requirements

The failure to properly clean your gym equipment regularly can also void their warranties. Be sure to consult the care and maintenance guidelines for all your gear. That is especially important for motorized equipment such as treadmills and elliptical machines. Suppose your equipment experiences a mechanical failure and you haven’t followed a regular cleaning and maintenance schedule. In that case, it’s possible that any necessary repairs or replacement won’t be covered under your warranty.

How to Prepare for Cleaning a Treadmill

Since your treadmills probably get the most use in your facility, paying particular attention to treadmill cleaning is paramount for any business that operates a gym or athletic center.

Before delving into how to clean a treadmill, it’s important to prepare correctly. First, you will need to obtain the proper materials for cleaning. The best treadmill cleaners are a vacuum with attachments, so you can get to hard-to-reach places — and plenty of disinfecting wipes.

You’ll also need to unplug the treadmill and move it away from the wall or other equipment to reach it from all sides. Having your owner’s manual handy is also a good idea, especially if you’re about to undertake a deep clean.

How to Clean a Treadmill

Approach cleaning your treadmill in sections, covering not only the frame and belt that comes in direct contact with users but also the motor and electrical components that carry hidden dirt that can interfere with your treadmill’s proper functioning. And don’t forget to include the exterior areas surrounding the treadmill in your cleaning plans.

Exterior

It’s essential to keep the area surrounding your treadmill clean. The gym often neglects this area as patrons and staff focus on the equipment rather than the surrounding areas. The sweat, dirt, and grime left behind on a treadmill after each use fall to the mats under each treadmill. Make vacuuming the surrounding regions and wiping down the treadmill mats with disinfectants a regular part of your treadmill cleaning routine.

Belt and Deck

It’s important to understand how to clean the treadmill belt and deck. The treadmill platform you run on is the deck or running surface. It contains the running belt connected to rollers at the front and rear of the deck. Cleaning the treadmill belt and deck may seem complicated, but operating your treadmill smoothly is necessary. Dirt that gets onto the base of the treadmill can get under the hood and into the area that houses the engine.

For a clean treadmill belt, you should regularly vacuum and wipe it down around the deck and rollers. You can give the running belt more thorough care with a treadmill belt cleaner, a large dry towel, or a cleaning cloth. Slide a towel horizontally under the belt and then grab it by both sides. The belt should be taut against the towel. Then, turn the treadmill on at the slowest speed so the belt rotates over the towel, leaving dirt and grime on the cloth.

Frame

While it’s a good idea to encourage your clients to wipe down the handlebars after each use, you’ll also want to wipe up and down the entire frame regularly with a disinfectant cloth.

Be particularly careful when it comes to cleaning the treadmills’ consoles. That area holds the screen and monitors used to control speed, incline, and set your workout. Consoles become dirty quickly and should be cleaned often, but you must take extra care when wiping them down.

You should never use glass cleaner on consoles. It will leave permanent streaks. Also, you don’t want to saturate these treadmill displays with cleaning fluids because they contain electrical components behind the panel.

These components could malfunction if the cleaning liquid for the console seeps behind the display. The best way to keep the console disinfected is to gently clean it with sanitizing wipes or specially formulated electronic cleaning wipes.

Incline Mechanism and Electrical Components

The electrical components, including the incline mechanism of your treadmill, need special care. When vacuuming your treadmill, remove the motor cover and use a vacuum attachment to clean the interior components. Depending on use, you might want to do this at least every week.

You should also lubricate the incline mechanism and other electrical components every few weeks, following the recommendations found in your owner’s manual.

Reassembling and Testing

Be extremely careful after a deep cleaning and maintenance check to reassemble the treadmill correctly. If you’re unsure how to do this, consult your treadmill’s owner's manual or seek professional help. You want to make sure that your treadmill remains safe to use. Always test it to make sure that all the components are in good working order before allowing anyone to step on the machine.

Regular Maintenance Tips

Keeping your treadmills in clean condition can be a huge challenge. Each time someone uses the treadmill, they should thoroughly wipe it down to remove accumulated sweat and dirt.

While you can’t control the behavior of every treadmill user, you can encourage them to do their part in keeping your gym equipment clean. Post signs reminding patrons to wipe down equipment after each use and make it easy for them to do so by providing dispensers containing disinfectant gym wipes throughout your facility. As a backup, you can also have fitness center staff wipe down your treadmills and other gym equipment regularly throughout the day.

Keep Your Treadmills Clean with Wipes

Keeping a treadmill clean is crucial for several reasons. First, hygiene is essential, as sweat and dirt accumulation can foster bacteria and odors. Second, a clean treadmill ensures smoother functioning and longevity by preventing debris from clogging or damaging the machine. Lastly, a tidy treadmill promotes a more enjoyable and motivating workout environment, encouraging regular exercise and overall health.

Using the right disinfecting wipes for all your gym equipment is the key to maintaining a safe and healthy workout environment. That is particularly true regarding keeping treadmills clean, as they are the most used and usually the costliest piece of equipment in any gym.

Finding the right treadmill cleaner is easy with Wipes.com. Along with offering the disinfecting wipes and dispensers you need to keep your treadmills clean, Wipes.com is your one-stop online resource for all your sanitizing needs to keep your gym equipment clean and ready for the next user. It’s the simplest way to encourage staff and customers to maintain a safe environment for your gym's equipment and non-porous surfaces.