Whether it’s the start of the New Year and your facility is experiencing a surge of new students or it’s one of the lazy days of summer, cleanliness counts! Consistent and proper cleaning of your flooring, wall pads and other training equipment not only helps protect the health of you and your students, it also extends the life and the look of your equipment and facility and, possibly even more important, it can be the difference between a new student becoming a regular or becoming a memory.
A 2012 survey conducted by the Cintas Corporation found that 88% of adults won’t exercise in a fitness or athletic facility if they found it to have cleanliness issues, the below are the top 7 deal breakers people reported:
- Unpleasant odors
- Dirty equipment
- Dirty bathrooms/locker rooms
- Dirty floors
- Lack of supplies to wipe down equipment
- Spills and stains on floors
- Dusty surfaces
The following tips will help you avoid the above deal breakers, allowing you to make a strong first impression on new students, increase the probability of retaining your existing students, and help minimize the maintenance and replacement costs associated with your facility and equipment!
Schedule for Cleaning
Consistency is just as, if not more important than, technique. If you’re not currently cleaning between each class or open studio time, that’s your start. Each practice or training space in your facility should have a spray bottle of disinfectant and a dedicated mat mop so that your students and instructors can wipe down mats, bags, and other equipment after each use.
For common spaces such as lobbies, seating areas, and locker rooms, take a look at the flow of your students and plan accordingly. If your facility consistently has an evening rush be sure to have time and staff dedicated to a light cleaning to make sure that the day’s traffic doesn’t jam up your night!
Additionally, depending on the volume of the foot traffic through your facility, you should be doing a deeper clean of your entire space each, or every other, night. For these cleanings, a vacuum, mop, and gym scrubber are the most effective and efficient ways to properly deep clean. Should you need to get back on your mats quickly, you can use an air mover to speed up the drying process.
Solutions for Cleaning
It’s important to use a cleaning solution that is effective and safe for BOTH your students AND your facility and equipment. Using caustic chemicals such as bleach or Pine-Sol and not following the manufacturer’s instructions are two relatively common reasons facility owners have to prematurely replace flooring or other equipment.
Our neutral disinfectant is an easy to use and hard water tolerant cleaning solution that is effective against a variety of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains, fungus, mold, HIV-1 (AIDS Virus), Hepatitis-B & C, and a wide range of other viruses.
Additionally, our mineral deposit cleaner can be used with our disinfectant to help break up and wash away the common mineral deposits associated with repeated exposure to sweat and constant cleanings. Generally speaking, we recommend using the disinfectant at least twice a day and the mineral deposit cleaner during each day’s full facility cleaning.
Have more questions on how Zebra can help you keep your facility clean in the New Year? Give us a call at 800-989-8085 or send us an email! You can also stay up to date on the latest product and industry happenings by following our blog.