Gym etiquette question

defatify

I feel silly even asking because I've been going to the gym for a long time and can't figure it out. If I've been doing it wrong this whole time I'm going to feel bad.

When wiping down the machines after using them, is it acceptable to spray a towel with disinfectant and carry it from machine to machine, or should I get a new paper towel from the station across the gym floor after every machine, or go get the spray bottle and spray directly on the machine then wipe it off? I've done all of those, but in favor of saving a bit of time and to make sure nobody uses the machine while it's still sweaty and I'm off looking for spray and towels, I just usually carry my damp towel with me. I've googled this, but haven't found a specific answer. Thanks in advance, and I'm sorry if I'm doing it wrong.

ceckhardt369

The gym I go to has spray bottles and towels at about every other machine. They also have signs asking people to spray the towel and not the machine. So I typically will spray the towel and go to whatever machine I want to wipe down. It may be different depending on the gym.

tulips_and_tea

Thank you for caring about being courteous! Doesn't seem as common anymore, so I appreciate that you've taken the time to ask.

I agree with @ceckhardt369 as far as spraying the towel and not the machine. Too much moisture can damage them depending on the machine. How many times to use the same towel will depend on how much you're sweating, I'd say. No need to waste towels, but you do want to get the machines clean after use.

Steff46

Our gym has moist towels that you pull out of a tube and they are perforated to break apart. I use one for all the machines I've used. If it dries out I will get another one to use. I used to go to a gym that had the spray bottles at every other machine. I sprayed one towel and used it the same way.

defatify

Thanks for the feedback. I feel much better now. I'm not a very sweaty person, so maybe maybe my damp paper towel routine is ok. I do switch them out if they get dry or don't seem to be doing anything besides giving the appearance of wiping down the stuff. Flu season and all. Gotta do my part.

nossmf

Honestly, given how lots of gym goers don't do any of your options, the fact you do any cleaning at all puts you well ahead of others.

malioumba

nossmf wrote: »

Honestly, given how lots of gym goers don't do any of your options, the fact you do any cleaning at all puts you well ahead of others.

That's so weird, in my gym, I see everyone spraying the machines/towels. Also see people wiping their free weights after they are done (which I do as well).

I do see the variation tho - spray machine, or spray the towel, but my gym people spray nonetheless.

Packerjohn

defatify wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback. I feel much better now. I'm not a very sweaty person, so maybe maybe my damp paper towel routine is ok. I do switch them out if they get dry or don't seem to be doing anything besides giving the appearance of wiping down the stuff. Flu season and all. Gotta do my part.

I do the wipe down thing because it's expected now. To be honest though, I've been going to public gyms for 40+ years, the wipe down with disinfectant has just been a thing for the last 20 or so. From my personal experience haven't noticed any difference in frequency of illness.

superhippiechik

I'm glad you asked because I've been wondering the same thing!

DavPul

I don't care. The wiping down thing is so overdone that it's ridiculous. AFAIC, if you leave a noticeable sweat stain, wipe it off. If you don't, just get up and get out of my way. And now we're spraying and wiping down the free weights too?

Did the pandemic begin and I just haven't noticed?

Yi5hedr3

Wear a shirt, and eat clean so you don't sweat so much.

hekla90

I usually wipe down equipment before I use it because no one at my gym seems to clean it afterwards.If I visibly sweat on it I'll wipe it down again but I'm primarily concerned about myself since no one else seems to give a rats *kitten* about it. I don't sweat much though. /shrug

yesimpson

I spray the blue tissue roll the gym provides, wipe my sweat off, keep the tissue for the next machine.
If I'm being honest I'm so non-germ-phobic that I'm mainly doing this to keep my fellow gym users happy. I wouldn't really care about using a machine someone else had sweated on. Pretty sure no-one except the staff are cleaning the kettlebells, the rowing machine handles, or that kind of thing, so I dunno how much it really does for hygiene.

stealthq

Yeah, I want people to wipe down just because I don't want to sit in a pool of someone else's sweat. Ick.

It has nothing to do with killing germs. The stuff they provide isn't strong enough to really help with that anyway given it's a spray and immediate swipe. It'd have to sit for a bit to help.

malibu927

nossmf wrote: »

Honestly, given how lots of gym goers don't do any of your options, the fact you do any cleaning at all puts you well ahead of others.

I think I've only seen a handful of people not wipe down the machines at my gym.

I tend to get a new towel each time because half the time it dries up before I'm done with the other machine.

Packerjohn

DavPul wrote: »

I don't care. The wiping down thing is so overdone that it's ridiculous. AFAIC, if you leave a noticeable sweat stain, wipe it off. If you don't, just get up and get out of my way. And now we're spraying and wiping down the free weights too?

Did the pandemic begin and I just haven't noticed?

I had the opportunity to workout in one of the more famous gyms in the US, home to a Mr Olympia winner, and other high level athletes. There wasn't a spray bottle or wet wipe in sight. There was group of EMTs working out when I was in there. These trained medical professionals didn't seem to be concerned about germs in there.

Michael190lbs

As long as your not blocking the entire dumbbell rack doing side raises I could careless about some chemical that is more dangerous than sweat being left on a machine

gaelicstorm26

I thought the wiping down the machine was more about killing fungus and bacteria than viral infections.

Anyhow, I just carry around the same towel until I need a new one.

tulips_and_tea

Michael190lbs wrote: »

As long as your not blocking the entire dumbbell rack doing side raises I could careless about some chemical that is more dangerous than sweat being left on a machine

Not sure if they're dangerous or not, (and I'm all for cleanliness), but I don't like when someone next to me cleans a cardio machine with WAY too much spray and I'm breathing in those fumes while trying to get in a tough cardio session. Sounds petty, now that I type it out, but it's hard to maintain my breathing pattern until those fumes dissipate.

JoRocka

I leave my weights and my bag there and go get the stuff- if it's not busy I take the bottle- if it's busy- I spray the towels and come back. I only use 2 machines ever- so it's not an issue. Barbell's don't need cleaning unless you bleed all over them.

I wouldn't use your towel and spray it once and keep coming back. - if you're using a towel-make sure it's big enough and then put it down so it's a barrier- but make sure you aren't flip flopping sides.

MsJulesRenee

BZAH10 wrote: »

Michael190lbs wrote: »

As long as your not blocking the entire dumbbell rack doing side raises I could careless about some chemical that is more dangerous than sweat being left on a machine

Not sure if they're dangerous or not, (and I'm all for cleanliness), but I don't like when someone next to me cleans a cardio machine with WAY too much spray and I'm breathing in those fumes while trying to get in a tough cardio session. Sounds petty, now that I type it out, but it's hard to maintain my breathing pattern until those fumes dissipate.

I would be mad about that, too. Not petty, it's distracting, you're in your zone and someone is messing with your breathing.

italysharon

BZAH10 wrote: »

Michael190lbs wrote: »

As long as your not blocking the entire dumbbell rack doing side raises I could careless about some chemical that is more dangerous than sweat being left on a machine

Not sure if they're dangerous or not, (and I'm all for cleanliness), but I don't like when someone next to me cleans a cardio machine with WAY too much spray and I'm breathing in those fumes while trying to get in a tough cardio session. Sounds petty, now that I type it out, but it's hard to maintain my breathing pattern until those fumes dissipate.

This. So annoying when someone sprays the machine next to me and I need to breathe the fumes in. Spray the towel... away from anyone working out.

I also don't care if someone cleans the machine if they are not leaving visible sweat or if they don't smell nasty :-)

Wash your hands when you are done in the gym. Don't put your fingers in your mouth. Same advice I give to my kindergarteners at school.

tulips_and_tea

Thank you @MsJulesRenee and @italysharon! I thought I was alone on that issue.

Michael190lbs

BZAH10 wrote: »

Thank you @MsJulesRenee and @italysharon! I thought I was alone on that issue.

I have pretty bad asthma and its reactive airway asthma to weather changes and fumes from stuff so its a huge deal for me. I could sue bath and body works for the spew they have coming out of their store into the mall..

I worded that wrong I meant to say I could careless about some sweat its the chemicals that bother me

VanillaGorillaUK

You're all lucky. In UK gyms most people just leave their sweat on the seats.

yesimpson

VanillaGorillaUK wrote: »

You're all lucky. In UK gyms most people just leave their sweat on the seats.

Do they?
My current one (and the three I've been a member of beforehand) must be the exception.

tulips_and_tea

Michael190lbs wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

Thank you @MsJulesRenee and @italysharon! I thought I was alone on that issue.

I have pretty bad asthma and its reactive airway asthma to weather changes and fumes from stuff so its a huge deal for me. I could sue bath and body works for the spew they have coming out of their store into the mall..

I worded that wrong I meant to say I could careless about some sweat its the chemicals that bother me

Gotcha. I don't have the serious medical issues and consequences that you do. I'm just super sensitive to smells over all, so I can see how that stuff would bother you.

As far as germs go, I've been going to gyms for years and as long as the first thing I do after a workout is wash my hands then I'm fine. I've never had any issues.

@VanillaGorillaUK, do the gym employees clean the machines? If not, I'd have to say ewwww to that. It's common courtesy to clean up after yourself regardless of what you are doing. But, things are done differently in different places.

peleroja

Packerjohn wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

I don't care. The wiping down thing is so overdone that it's ridiculous. AFAIC, if you leave a noticeable sweat stain, wipe it off. If you don't, just get up and get out of my way. And now we're spraying and wiping down the free weights too?

Did the pandemic begin and I just haven't noticed?

I had the opportunity to workout in one of the more famous gyms in the US, home to a Mr Olympia winner, and other high level athletes. There wasn't a spray bottle or wet wipe in sight. There was group of EMTs working out when I was in there. These trained medical professionals didn't seem to be concerned about germs in there.

There was a study released recently in my health region where only 70-odd percent of "trained medical professionals" in hospitals bothered to wash their hands, so I'd maybe not be taking my cues even from them. Ew.

It might not help, but it certainly isn't taking more than 10 seconds out of your day, so I really can't understand why anyone would be resistant to it. Of course, I realize that a lot of people just don't care, so I'm that person who gets a fresh wipe for every machine and wipes it BEFORE I use it as well as after because I don't trust people. It's not the sweat that I'm worried about, personally, but other people's potentially unwashed hands on stuff.

I bartended my way through university and I know a) how fast illness spreads when a lot of people are touching the same stuff and b) washing one's hands is really the only thing that helps, but wiping down stuff I touch in the gym is still better than otherwise because of how many people DON'T wash their hands, so...

Willbenchforcupcakes

Meh. Clean up your blood if you've scraped yourself up. I'm not too bothered by sweat on a bench (maybe because I actually usually know whose sweat it is). I sometimes wipe my chalk angels off the bench, usually not though.

feisty_bucket

DavPul wrote: »

I don't care. The wiping down thing is so overdone that it's ridiculous. AFAIC, if you leave a noticeable sweat stain, wipe it off. If you don't, just get up and get out of my way.

I agree; I think it's BS. Only noticed all this disinfectant-wiping become a "thing" at my gym in the past year or so. The chemicals aren't on the equipment long enough to kill anything anyways, and it's probably encouraging the growth of super-bugs. It's just a show.

Leslierussell4134

Let's not forget ring worm, which seems to thrive in gym settings! It's definitely the right thing to wipe down a machine after use. I'm the kind of person that will give you a nasty stare down if I have to clean it before I use it because you didn't! Thanks for this post, brings awareness to others about etiquette. Just wiping down machines is very effective at killing most germs because many bacteria die just by drying out. There are plenty of things you can "get" by sitting in someone's butt sweat with very thin and tight gym pants. Gross. So let's all just follow suit. Stay healthy my friends.