Do It Yourself Cleaning Guide: Cleaning and Disinfecting Gyms for COVID-19

Even though some COVID-19 restrictions have been decreasing, the pandemic isn’t over yet. Hence, we must keep protecting ourselves and the people around us.

An important part of most people’s routine is going to the gym. However, this is a place where germs are very easy to transmit. When we go to the gym, we sweat, and our breathing gets heavy.

That’s why we must make sure everything is as clean and disinfected as possible, especially all the machinery that is constantly being used. If you are looking for Covid deep cleaning services for your gyms. Here is a guide to DIY cleaning for your gym centres during COVID-19.

In this guide, we are going to learn how to clean and disinfect your gym following COVID-19’s biosafety procedures to make sure we all can go back to our regular lives as safely as possible.

Do Your Research

If you found this article, then you’re probably already doing this step. However, you should be investigating more and learning about all the new rules and recommendations made by doctors and hospitals.

That’s the only way you can make sure you know everything you need to know to properly clean your facilities and keep your customers safe.

Moreover, remember that every country’s jurisdiction over COVID-19 is different. You definitely don’t want to get in trouble with the authorities. Hence, we recommend you learn everything you need to know before considering reopening your gym.

Find the Proper Tools

If you want to keep your gym clean, the first step is finding the right tools to do it. There are several must-have tools that you need in order to make sure everything is as clean and sanitized as you want.

The first one is fitness equipment wipes. These specially designed wipes are powerful enough to clean up the sweat and bacteria from user to user. We encourage you to incorporate them into your gym and motivate your clients to use one every time they finish training on any equipment.

Other useful tools are gym spray bottles filled with an ammonia-based cleaning liquid. This solution can be used with fitness equipment wipes to double the effect and ensure all germs and dirt are completely gone for the next user.

If you’re going to clean a gym, another important supply to get is a high-strength anti-bacterial cleaner. You need to make sure to use this disinfectant at least once a day, or ideally twice, and deeply clean all your gym equipment. You must dry it well afterwards to prevent harming anyone’s health, as cleansers like this tend to be too strong for humans.

Paper towels are also a fantastic investment, as people can use those to wipe sweat from their bodies and clean the used equipment. Additionally, the disposable material is excellent for preventing germs from spreading to other surfaces. However, you are going to need to place several trash bins for your clients to throw the towels away once they’re done.

Nonetheless, for a deeper cleanse of your gym, you must find high filtration vacuums and floor scrubbers. These devices must be used once a day to powerfully clean your floors and carpets. They are useful for getting rid of all germs and ensuring your floors remain as good as new all the time.

Finally, the last tool you’re going to need is some convenient hand sanitiser. Dispensers should be placed throughout your gym for clients to use whenever they need to clean and prevent the spread of germs.

Train Your Employees

All your staff should be properly trained to make biosafety a priority at all times. They must know all the correct procedures for disinfecting the equipment and how to ensure the clients stay safe during their training. This includes using personal protective equipment or PPE during the cleaning process.

They also must keep in hand a safety data sheet with all the procedures that must happen if an accident occurs, as well as how to safely handle all the chemical solutions that are used when sanitizing your spaces.

Don’t forget about documenting all cleaning activities made throughout the day. This is the only way to ensure you’re cleaning your equipment often enough to protect your employees and clients.

Create a Daily Cleaning Schedule

This is an essential step, as you should do at least one or two deep cleanses to your gym and all your equipment every day. It is as easy as setting up a schedule with main tasks, easy steps to follow, and the people in charge of doing the cleanse that may or may not shift throughout the week.

You can also add a done/not done checklist and keep it somewhere visible to ensure every step gets checked out by the end of the day.

Clean the Equipment

Although you may not know it, there’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. First, we need to talk about cleaning. This is the process of physically eliminating any dirt and grime off the surfaces.

You can easily do this with water and soap or any other detergent that’s made to get rid of germs. In order to reduce the risk of cross-contamination, the cleaning must start on the cleanest surface of your gym and end on the dirtiest.

After you’re done cleaning, make sure that you also dry every surface to prepare it for the next step in this process.

Disinfect the Equipment

Now, we can jump onto the step that’s sure to make your establishment safe for everyone in it. Sanitising goes a bit further than just cleaning, as you use a chemical solution that’s meant to destroy the germs and bacteria from any surface.

However, the surface must be already clean and dry. Otherwise, the disinfectant isn’t going to kill all the bacteria. These elements take time to do their job.

That’s why you must let the solution rest on the desired surface for the amount of time specified on the packaging. If it doesn’t indicate a specific amount of time, leave it for 10 minutes and remove it with a damp cloth.

Dispose of Used Elements

After finishing the cleanse, you must safely get rid of all the used PPE and disposable elements. Gather all of them and place them in a plastic bag, then discard them in the general waste. If you have any reusable elements, they must be deeply cleansed and dried out before they’re able to be used again.

Set Rules for Customers

Finally, this is the step that’s going to ensure your gym remains clean throughout the day. Establishing a clear set of rules for your customers to follow is sure to prevent any accidents from happening and people from getting sick.

Some of the rules that we recommend are the use of masks and face shields while being in the establishment. Every client should also have their own towel to clean up their sweat after training.

Every piece of equipment should be wiped with disinfectant between uses, and the clients must wash their hands before and after working out. The use of masks should only be discarded if it causes more immediate hazards to the user, for example, respiratory or heart issues.

Extra Tips

If you still have doubts about how to clean your gym in the best way while following biosecurity norms, don’t worry. Keep reading and find out the best tips we could find about disinfecting gyms:

Disinfection and sanitation are two different terms. However, disinfection is a lot more aggressive than sanitation. Hence, it’s the most appropriate for gyms, as these are prolific environments for bacteria to grow.

Make sure the disinfectant you use is EPA-approved, and you follow these six simple steps when cleaning:

• Wash your hands
• Use PPE
• Clean everything
• Dry things up
• Dispose of your material
• Wash your hands again

Remember, these cleaning steps aren’t only for the gym cleaning equipment. They also apply to all areas and surfaces that are constantly being touched, such as doorknobs, light switches, cables, handles, etc.

Develop a Hazard Control Policy

Creating a hazard control policy in your gym is also sure to maintain everyone as safe as possible; some of the changes you can make for this to happen are:

You can change the position of the equipment in the gym for your clients to always be at the minimal distance accepted by biosafety norms. If moving the machinery isn’t an option, you can put up signs that dictate which ones are meant to be used.

Place physical barriers in all the places you can, preferably strip curtains or transparent shields. This is meant to create an extra layer of protection between all the people involved. Additionally, limit access to common areas where people usually gather and interact.

Use visual cues as signs for your clients to remember the rules, such as social distancing, using their masks, cleaning up after they’re done, etc. Moreover, make sure the gym is well ventilated at all times, keeping the humidity at 40%-60%.

The requirements for opening aquatic services are way different from gyms. Hence, remember to check them out if you’re planning on getting a pool for swimming classes.

However, we recommend that showers and dressing rooms remain with minimal use. Once everything starts going back to normal, you can start creating plans to determine when it is going to be necessary to reopen certain complicated areas such as child care services and lockers.

Bottom Line

Remember that safety is our number one priority, especially in difficult times like the ones the world is going through right now. Please, give special attention and dedicate enough time to the cleaning of your facilities.

People deserve to continue with their lives, but we can only do that if we learn how to properly care for others and ourselves.

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