Do you want to save thousands of dollars per year on equipment cleaning costs and benefit from the great reputation that comes with being a “clean facility?” Hopefully, you answered “Yes!”
It is well-documented that a clean facility — and more specifically clean equipment — is one of your best sales and marketing tools for member attraction and retention, as well as a great insurance policy against the spread of germs and viruses, many of which have garnered negative national media attention in recent years. Staph infection, MRSA, E. Coli., and Influenza can all exist on the surfaces of exercise equipment. Remember: Members go to the gym to get healthy, not to get sick!
It is not enough to have your staff “wipe off” equipment once or twice per day. Frequently touched, body-contacted surfaces need to be cleaned after each use. Clean any less, and you run the risk of user-to-user bacteria or virus transmission, as well as having the unpleasant “gym smell” of unclean equipment. The good news is that you can create a healthy environment and overcome germ transmission and unpleasant odors with the help of your members. Yes, equipment cleaning IS a team sport!
What is the best method for achieving consistent and effective equipment cleaning and sanitizing? You basically have two major choices: A disinfectant spray bottle and towel-based system, or disposable pre-moistened wipes. Below you can compare and contrast your options based on three documented and practical reasons:
1) Cost: Research shows that in equal-use situations, spray bottles and towels can save you up to 90 to 95 percent versus the cost of disposable wipes. For many facilities, that represents savings of $5,000-15,000 per year!
At approximately five to seven cents per wipe, facilities that use wipes find their equipment cleaning costs skyrocketing! In actuality, however, the per-use cost of disposable wipes can run from five to approximately 30 cents. This is because poor perforation on the wipes frequently leads to three or four wipes being dispensed unnecessarily. Compare that to the 0.4 cents per use cost of using spray bottles and towels.
2) Effectiveness & Convenience: Spray bottles and towels can be attached directly to equipment within one step or arm’s length of the exerciser. This best facilitates immediate cleaning before and/or after use. Alternatively, single-use disposable wipes come in bulky dispensers that are often located a good distance away from the equipment. This requires exercisers to spend valuable exercise time walking from the equipment to the dispenser and wastebasket.
Any equipment cleaning system is only effective if it is used regularly! Inconvenient placement of cleaning supplies is directly correlated to noncompliance with user-to-user equipment cleaning. It’s human nature: convenience breeds compliance!
3) Environmental Responsibility: Single-use disposable wipes create a lot of waste. One roll of disposable wipes generates several garbage cans full of waste. Also, wipes are generally made from synthetic fibers that are practically not biodegradable — not very eco-friendly!
Compare that to sanitizing equipment using a spray bottle and reusable towel: No waste is generated! Yes, the towels must be washed on a regular basis, but research shows that gym-quality towels (costing about $1 each) can be washed several hundred times before being “retired.” Here’s some simple gym math: If an average equipment cleaning towel is used 50 times between washings, and is washed 300 times before being retired, that’s 15,000 uses — for $1. That’s good value, and being environmentally responsible.
One common question that must be addressed is: “Doesn’t a repeatedly-used towel become germ-laden from the sweat?”
Actually, the opposite is true. Spray bottle and towel equipment cleaning proves to be a very clean and effective method for sanitizing just-used equipment surfaces. With each use, the towels are being refreshed and replenished with more germ-killing sanitizing solution. A significant amount of disinfectant remains on the towel at all times. This was validated through double blind analytic testing by the Chief Microbiologist, Mario Markovic, at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center (Cleveland, Ohio).
Therefore, contrary to gut-reaction belief by facility members and/or management, a towel wetted with disinfectant solution IS clean and safe for reuse.
In conclusion, feel safe and secure to use disinfectant spray bottles and towels for effective equipment cleaning. When properly placed, your members will love the convenience and safety this method offers, your equipment cleaning costs will be cut by up to 95 percent and you will improve your image as an environmentally-conscious facility. And, your reputation as a “clean” facility will lead to new member attraction and increased member retention rates.
Dr. Bruce A. Sherman is the President of GymValet. He can be contacted at 866-435-2009 (216-378-4298 outside the U.S.), or by e-mail at bruce@gymvalet.com.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
I have seen these towel valet holders at my gym, a simple solution for cleaning gym equipment as long as the microfibre towels are washed occasionally.