The Importance of Sanitizing Your Weight Plates

We all know how important it is to practice clean procedures at the gym, but often people don’t think about this in their home gyms. Even equipment like your weight plates can become filthy with bacteria after use. We’ve put together a guide on the importance of sanitizing your weight plates and how to clean them properly.

The Dangers of Not Sanitizing Your Weight Plates

Like any public fitness center, your home gym can be a magnet for sweat, dirt, and oils. If left unchecked, your gym can become a breeding ground for bacteria on all your equipment, including your weight plates.

Gym equipment can become incredibly filthy since you sweat a lot while working out. Free weights can have even more bacteria than you’ll find on a faucet or a public toilet when you neglect cleaning them for a long time. Not only is that a gross idea to think about but letting bacteria run rampant in your gym can be hazardous to your health.

Diseases That Can Spread in Your Gym

If you don’t clean and sanitize your gym, your equipment can become a petri dish of dangerous diseases. Improper sanitation can lead to the growth of funguses that can cause infections, such as athlete’s foot and ringworm. These are challenging to treat and contagious. There’s also the more serious bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, which causes Staph infection.

A Staph infection develops when you expose your skin to that bacteria, which can grow in exercise environments that you haven’t properly sanitized. Staph infections start as swollen red bumps on your skin that almost look like spider bites. If not properly treated, the disease can seep into your blood, causing sepsis and septic shock, which are life-threatening conditions.

How To Properly Sanitize Your Weight Plates

The dangers of not taking proper care of your equipment are clear, so how do you sanitize your weight plates? It’s pretty simple; all the tools you’ll need are some disinfectant wipes, a disinfectant spray, and a microfiber cloth.

After washing your equipment with soap and water to remove the dirt and grime, you’ll want to sanitize it. You can use a spray bottle and cloth for your weight plates to be extra thorough. If you’re cleaning a machine, then you’ll want to use a sterile wipe to avoid exposing electrical equipment to fluids.

How Often You Should Sanitize Gym Equipment

When it comes to bacteria and sanitation, it’s always best to err on the side of caution. If you use your weight plates and gym equipment every day, sanitize it every day. At the bare minimum, have a package of sanitary wipes nearby when you work out to give your plates and equipment a quick rubdown after use.

Now you know the importance of sanitizing your weight plates and the rest of your home gym. If you have old and dirty weight plates, swap them out with some rubber Olympic platesthat you know are clean and easy to sanitize.