How to Clean Gym Mats at Home (6 Easy Methods)

How To Clean Gym Mats At Home

The method and techniques you will need to follow when taking care of your gym mats at home totally depend on the quality and grade of your mats.

When using cleaning chemicals on your gym mats, you have to be very careful because using the wrong cleaning chemical can cause irreparable damage to your gym mat.

When it comes to workout items like a gym mat, you have to create a frequent cleaning routine because, like most items in the gym, they can get soaked up with sweat, so try to clean your gym mats after two or three times of use; if you want to learn how to clean gym mats at home keep reading this article.

Read: How to make a gym floor less slippery

How To Clean Gym Mats At Home

To clean your gym mats, you are going to need some tools, they are simple home tools you probably already own. They include broom, vacuum, mop and bucket, and some sponge or rags.

Read: Best mop for gym mats

If your gym mat happens to get stained or If you want to give your gym mat a professional thorough cleaning, you can make use of a neutral PH cleaner. For an inexpensive alternative, you can make use of some vinegar.

Read: Easy homemade cleaner

However, if you have newly installed gym mats you need to wait for at least 72 hours after gluing the mat down with an adhesive before cleaning it.

Regular Maintenance

Create a regular cleaning routine for your gym mats and there are different cleaning tools you can use for this. Start by vacuuming the floor with a rolling, brush-style vacuum, then you can either mop the floor or use an automatic scrubber. 

Starting your cleaning routine with vacuuming helps to remove most of the surface dirt and debris. However, you need to Make sure that you use a vacuum with rolling, soft brush bristles and use the vacuum on a carpet setting, this way the vacuum only offers gentle but effective cleaning and is also less likely to scuff or damage the mat.

In place of a vacuum, you can make use of a broom and dustpan to remove dirt from the mat’s surface although it won’t be as effective as a vacuum and would take up way more time.

Removing Stuck Items

Remove stuck-on items like gum off the gym mat Using a scraper to get stuck-on items off the gym floor. You can make use of either plastic or wooden scraper to remove stuck-on items from the mat but you want to do this very gently.

To remove any stuck item simply push the wooden or plastic scraper underneath the item, making sure to angle the scraper down towards the floor while pushing the item up.

When scraping the item do not apply too much pressure as the scraper could scuff or damage the mat.

After removing the stuck-on item, you can go ahead and clean the mat as you normally would.

Read: How to get slime out of carpet

Disinfecting Your Gym Mat

you can make use of a homemade solution to Disinfect your gym mat. Simply mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 1 gallon of hot water in a large bucket. Then, soak a cleaning rag or sponge mop in the mixture and apply it across the entire floor surface.

The hot water and vinegar mixture helps to disinfect your gym mat without causing damage to the material.

you can add a squeeze of lemon or a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil that has a fresh smell to the disinfecting mixture so that you do not only have a disinfected floor but a fresh and clean smelling one too.

If any area of the mat has tough stains or spills you can go in with a soft bristle hand brush to gently scrub the stain away with the disinfecting solution.

Mopping Your Gym Mats

To mop your gym mat Mix some warm water with 14 cup of a neutral pH cleaner or dish soap in a mop bucket. You can increase the quantity of this solution depending on how large your gym mat is.

Although the title “neutral pH” may sound difficult to find, there are many different neutral cleaners you can find online or in home improvement stores, some of these products include, OdoBan Neutral pH Floor Cleaner, Bona Free and Simple Neutral pH Cleaner, and Zep Neutral Floor Cleaner and lots more.

Solvent-based cleaners like hardwood floor cleaner or bleach, should not be used on your gym mats as they can damage and corrode the gym mat material.

When using a neutral pH cleaner or dish soap, try to use very little quantity as possible. Because although they are a suitable cleaner for your gym mat, using too much to clean your gym mat can cause them to leave behind a small amount of residue which can build up over time and damage your gym mat.

Ensure to only make use of a nylon or sponge mop head when cleaning your gym mat. To mop your gym mat simply saturate the mop head with the cleaning solution of your choice and start cleaning at the farthest end of the room and work your way towards the door, making sure to thoroughly clean the may as you mop.

Starting at the farthest end of the door and working your way towards the door will help to ensure that you do not step over the already mopped floor when trying to find your way out.

For really dirty spots or tough stains, you need to give the area extra mopping and scrubbing. as stated earlier, ensure to only make use of a nylon or sponge mop as Textured mop pads may scratch or damage your gym mat material.

Once the soapy water starts to get brown and murky it’s time to change out the water. You may need to change the water a couple of times if you are cleaning large or very dirty gym mats. To change out the water, simply dump out the dirty soapy water down the drain.

You may need to rinse out the bucket with water if there’s a sandy residue left inside the bucket after removing the dirty water. Then, go ahead and mix out your cleaning solution as you had done previously.

Changing the cleaning water when it gets dirty is very important because when you Mop with dirty water you are only transferring dirt from one part of the room to another area instead of cleaning them.

Changing your cleaning water also helps to prevent the spread of germs and dirt.

After cleaning your gym mat, you need to allow it to air dry completely before walking on it. 

This is because walking on your gym mat while it is still wet can cause dirt and debris to be tracked across the floor, the moisture present on the floor also causes the tracked dirt and debris to stick to the floor making it hard to remove.

Also Allowing the mat to air dry provides the chemicals in the soap enough time to kill germs.

Create a daily or weekly routine for cleaning your gym mats. Cleaning your gym mats at least once a week helps to ensure that your gym mats stay sanitized and dirt-free always.

If the gym mat is used frequently or receives a lot of traffic, try to mop the mat daily to keep it germ-free and also prevent sweat from soaking and damaging the material.

Using An Automatic Scrubber

You can use an automatic floor scrubber with soft bristles to clean your gym mat, an automatic scrubber is a great cleaning tool for gym mats because it dispenses clean water as it sucks up dirty water. 

If you want to use an automatic floor scrubber to clean your rubber gym floor but make sure you opt for a machine with soft bristles.

Do not use a floor scrubber with hard, tough bristles as it can leave scuff marks and damage your gym mats. Make sure you make use of a soft brush scrubber to protect your gym mat material.

You can get an automatic floor scrubber for anywhere from $85 for a small scrubber for personal and up to $1,000 for an industrial performance machine.

to use an automatic scrubber you just need to add warm water to the machine by opening a top compartment according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

There are different brands and models of automatic scrubbers so you need to make sure that you follow the instructions for your specific automatic scrubber.

Read: Best Floor Scrubber Review

Using Warm to Hot Water Instead of Cold Water

Add water and cleaning solution to the automatic scrubber, plug it in and Push it slowly across the entire gym mat surface. Making sure that every area gets cleaned and sanitized. This helps get rid of germs.

Some brands of automatic scrubbers may require you to manually press a button to dispense water and also press another when you need it to suck up the water. So before using your scrubber ensure to read the instructions carefully first.

Create a weekly or daily routine for your scrubber depending on how frequently you use the gym mat or how much traffic they receive. 

To simply keep your gym mat clean and in pristine shape, you just need to use the automatic scrubber at least once per week but If the gym mat gets a lot of traffic, use the scrubber daily to keep it clean and germ-free.

Although it is safe to use an automatic scrubber daily, some gym mats are more porous and soft and can be damaged with frequent use of an automatic scrubber. If you have a mat like this, only use your scrubber every other day or once per week, and just mop your floor in between cleaning.

Conclusion

Knowing how to clean gym mats at home will help to prolong the lifespan of the mat. This is because the accumulation of dirt and grime on your gym mat can lead to corrosion and eroding of the mat which can render the mat unusable after a while.

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