Keeping Your Facility Clean

While facility managers often look at equipment as the main investment of a fitness center, consider the entire interior to be equally as important. Proper care of your facility's interior, which includes regularly scheduled cleaning of the walls, floor coverings and the locker room/restroom area, will extend the life of your facility, thus eliminating the need for early renovation.

Primary goal

The primary goal of a regular cleaning schedule is to protect your interior's components from premature aging caused by harmful agents found within a fitness center. Some of the agents, such as dirt, can build up on surfaces like hardwood floors. Over time, dirt accumulation will damage the floor's finish and drastically decrease the lifespan of the floor, which will need to be refinished or replaced, both causing downtime and costing money. Other agents, such as sweat and uric acid, are corrosive in nature and can cause damage to your equipment and fixtures found throughout the locker room/restroom area if left to sit for an extended period.

Products

Consideration of the type of cleaning products used is an important component in a regular cleaning schedule. Cleaning products used within your fitness center need to be 1) effective in killing germs, 2) safe for the staff and clientele, and 3) appropriate for the surface being cleaned. Unfortunately, some of the most effective cleaning products may be the harshest, and can cause damage to your fixtures. Regular cleaning schedules may circumvent this problem through the use of less-harsh cleaners. And, frequent cleaning decreases the time allowed for agents to build up, thus decreasing the need for strong chemical cleaners.

Protection

The two areas that will benefit the most from regular cleaning are also the most expensive in terms of the interior space and your investment: the floor system and the locker room/restroom area. Since flooring is found throughout facilities, it requires a great deal of labor specifically dedicated to cleaning. Simple daily dusting of the floor will extend the life and decrease the need for liquid chemical treatments, which must be used once dirt accumulates. While the floor system requires daily cleaning to maintain its protective finish, the locker room/restroom area cleaning focus is on disinfecting and preventing harsh buildup, specifically uric acid. As a result, this area requires the most labor per square foot in terms of cleaning. Regular cleaning of this area with non-harsh chemicals will not only protect your fixtures, but will prevent odors from developing and eliminate the need for air fresheners that simply mask the odor.

Schedule

There are a number of factors to consider when generating a cleaning schedule for your facility. Variables to consider include the facility size, hours of operation, number of members and interior components. The first step is to determine manufacturers' recommended maintenance of your walls, floors and fixtures, which will determine the type of cleaner used and the frequency. This information can then be used to develop a cleaning schedule based on hours of operation - with spot cleaning taking place throughout the day and heavy cleaning after-hours. While a regular cleaning schedule may be somewhat labor intensive initially, the benefits will soon be apparent, both in short-term changes and long-term improvements. These programs can be implemented within any fitness center. Promote a clean workout facility by presenting a visually clean, odor-free environment, while extending the life of your interior and, thus, protecting your investment.