Did you know cold and flu viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to 24 hours while some stomach bugs, such as norovirus, can live on surfaces for more than a month. In addition, the bacteria that causes MSRA can live on surfaces for weeks and has been known to thrive in locker rooms and gyms. This means in busy gyms, where a single piece of exercise equipment can be used more than 100 times a day, there’s a lot of opportunity for these germs to spread and cause illness. Fortunately, the spread of these germs can be stopped by consistent cleaning and disinfecting of all high touch points on fitness equipment, mats, and weights.

To help you keep your gym free of germs, we’ve outlined a few gym cleaning best practices and a gym cleaning checklist.

The following are a few guidelines to follow to keep your staff and gym members safe and free of illness while cleaning gym equipment.

1. Wash your hands before cleaning.

Washing your hands prior to cleaning will help prevent germs from spreading.

2. Always wear PPE while cleaning.

To ensure you are protecting yourself while you’re cleaning and disinfecting, wear the proper gloves and any other necessary PPE.

3. If using disinfectant wipes, the surface should be wiped in the same direction to prevent contamination.

In addition to wiping in the same direction, multiple wipes may need to be used to disinfect gym equipment. This is because the dwell time of most disinfectant wipes is around 4 minutes.

4. The disinfectant liquid must remain on the surface for a specific amount of time-based upon the product recommendations.

When cleaning gym equipment it’s important to pay attention to the dwell time of the disinfectant. The dwell time of a disinfectant, or the amount of time the disinfectant needs to stay wet on a surface in order to fully disinfect, can vary anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes.

5. When finished, dispose of any PPE, cleaning materials, and re-wash hands.

To help keep germs from spreading, dispose of any cleaning materials as soon as you’re done using them and wash your hands.

Now that we’ve covered how to clean, we’ll outline what to clean and how often.

Download our full gym cleaning checklist you can print off and use here.

Gym Cleaning Checklist

Exercise Machines

• Wipe down with disinfectant wipes in between every use
• Disinfect with spray disinfectant multiple times throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day

Free Weight Areas

• Wipe down free weights with disinfectant wipes in between every use
• Disinfect weights, bars, and benches with spray disinfectant multiple times throughout the day, but
• especially at the end of each day
• Disinfect all mats with disinfectant wipes between each use
• Disinfect all mats with spray disinfect at the end of each day

Locker Rooms

• Clean and disinfect toilets daily
• Clean and disinfect showers daily
• Clean and disinfect benches throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day
• Disinfect the inside and outside of lockers with a spray disinfectant daily
• Take out trash daily
• Sweep floors daily
• Mop floors with disinfectant daily or as needed depending on how busy the gym is
• Spot clean walls and doors as needed
• Disinfect door handles throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day
• Empty dirty towel bins throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day

Common Areas

• Disinfect all mats with disinfectant wipes between each use
• Disinfect all mats with spray disinfect at the end of each day
• Disinfect all door handles throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day
• Disinfect all countertops daily
• Empty all trash cans daily
• Empty dirty towel bins throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day
• Dust TVs and other electronics weekly or as needed
• Vacuum all floors daily
• Mop all hard surface floors with a disinfectant daily or as needed depending on how busy the gym is
• Spot clean walls and doors as needed
• Launder and fold towels throughout the day, but especially at the end of each day
• Disinfect all other equipment, such as workout bands, balls, and more with spray disinfectant at the end of each day