Rope care on fitness equipment is one of those things that no one gave much thought until recently. COVID-19 pandemic has changed our perspective on personal hygiene and social interactions. Suffice to say few common-sense guidelines should always be followed in public and at home:
Wash your hands before, during and after work-outs
Don’t spit on your hands to get a better grip on a pull-up bar or a rope
Avoid touching your eye, nose and mouth or wiping your face with hands before or after using equipment, even in your home gym
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
Use utensils and avoid touching food with your fingers & hands, especially after touching fitness equipment. Get a fork for French fries, leave your hamburger or sandwich wrapped half way so that your fingers do not come in direct contact with it and chips can be comfortably consumed using chop sticks or a napkin.
NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION FOR SAFE ROPE TRAINING IN A GYM WEAR GLOVES!
You can’t beat this simple and effective protection. For best results use nitrile, vinyl or latex gloves together with work out gloves. Keep in mind that work out gloves need to fully cover fingers and palms.
NOTE: ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO LATEX, VINYL AND NITRILE GLOVES MAY OCCUR
So, what about cleaning rope? ROPEFLEX machines utilize high grade polyester and nylon ropes. We custom weave and stitch every rope in-house and test it before it leaves our US factory. Soft, double braided and multi-core construction allows our ropes to provide years of maintenance free service, outlasting other mechanical systems and devices in your gym. Cleaning rope can and should be done regularly, following the guidelines listed below:
Do not clean with bleach as it may weaken the fibers
Avoid contact with acids, bases, and solvents Both polyester and nylon (polyamide) are vulnerable to certain chemicals. However, both nylon and polyester are unaffected by most solvents. Extended exposure to certain alcohols can weaken polyester. Both nylon and polyester have some vulnerability to alkalis such as those found in strong cleaners like TSP (trisodium phosphate) or Spick-N-Span.
Both indoor and outdoor ROPEFLEX units have an open rope drum construction so cleaning is extremely simple. There is no need to open anything up.
Rope on ROPEFLEX machines can be easily removed and washed in a bathtub or a washing machine. We recommend coiling the rope and using a mesh laundry bag for machine wash cycles. Avoid using detergent. Small amount of fabric softener can be used.
NUMBER 2 RECOMMENDATION FOR SAFE ROPE TRAINING IN A GYM WIPE ROPE AND ANY OTHER SURFACE YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH USING SAFE CLEANING SOLUTION!
Wiping surfaces (rope) with a towel or a micro-cloth paired with special cleaning agents helps to neutralize bacteria and germs. We recommend using QUAT-20 Cleaner / Disinfectant when cleaning ROPEFLEX ropes. You can purchase QUAT-20 concentrate from directly from ROPEFLEX.
NOTE: HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLUTION. MIX 1oz OF QUAT-20 SOLUTION WITH 32oz OF WATER
DIRECTIONS:
Mix 1oz. of QUAT-20 solution with 32 oz. of Water.
Spray directly onto rope and drum with cleaning cloth behind.
Once wet wipe the rope in the up-down motion.
To clean entire length of the rope, start at the splice, where two rope ends are joined in a loop. Advance the rope as you clean it until you come back in a full circle to the joint. Please do not forget to wipe the drum and drum side plates.
CLEANING FREQUENCY For a Commercial gym rope cleaning can be a daily routine, in the morning and evening. For a home gym rope cleaning frequency will depend on the owner.
