Trampoline manufacturers recommend cleaning a trampoline with soapy water. But that is not all there is to it. Find out more below.
Taking the time to clean a trampoline is worth it. It helps keep it in excellent condition. Keeping a product in excellent condition extends its useful life.
Furthermore, it can lower the cost of repairing it or maintaining it regularly. In this way, you can avoid spending a small fortune on trampoline repair, replacement parts, or a new trampoline.
More importantly, cleaning your trampoline makes it safe for both adults and children to use. As an example, cleaning bird poop off a trampoline can keep it from becoming slippery, thus reducing the risk of falls and other trampoline-related injuries.
Cleaning your trampoline correctly will also make good of its warranty
Generally, full-size trampolines come with a warranty card guaranteeing them for four to ten years.
Yet if you read the fine print carefully, you’ll catch disclaimers and exceptions that could apply in case the trampoline breaks down and you need it repaired.
Some of those read that you must put the trampoline under “normal domestic use” and exclude “general wear and tear” from the cover.
Many trampoline brands also claim they are not liable for any “abuse”, “misuse”, “improper maintenance”, and “failure to follow directions”.
Now, cleaning a trampoline is one of the top maintenance tasks you can perform.
So, is using soap and water to clean a trampoline proper? Does soap and water “abuse” it?
Here are answers, plus more tips for cleaning your trampoline correctly, safely, and regularly.
Does Soap and Water Ruin A Trampoline?
Many trampoline manufacturers recommend cleaning a trampoline with soap and water. But this may or may not ruin it. It will depend on how you do it, including the type of soap, hosing, and scrubbing brush you’ll use.
Here are more details.
What is the best soap for cleaning a trampoline?
Use a mild soap such as dish soap to clean your trampoline. Strong soaps and detergents, such as cleaners containing bleach or pumice, are best to avoid because they can damage the trampoline mat’s fabric.
While the damage may not show up immediately, the mat can degrade quickly over time when strong acidity or alkalinity breaks down its fabric and exposes the innards to further ultraviolet and water damage.
That can cause it to require replacement within a short span than it otherwise was made to last.
Instead, use a soap or detergent that has a pH of 6-12. This will help you remove grease and other oily substances without damaging the trampoline or leaving it slippery.
What kind of brush should you use to clean a trampoline?
First, use a long-handled soft broom to sweep off dirt and large debris, such as leaves, flowers, twigs, and candy wrappers.
A heavy-duty brush can do damage to the mat’s surface, erode the integrity of your pads’ covers, and even scrape off your spring’s surface.
But you can use a heavy-duty brush with soft thistles to scrub some dried substances such as candy. Just be sure to be gentle.
Other substances that loosen when wet, such as dry mud, bird poop, and food, are easier to clean when you know what to do.
Soak the trampoline’s various surfaces with water using a garden hose. Maintain the hose at its lowest setting while at it.
You want the water to soften the bird poop, mud, and foodstuff, so it will be easy to use a brush with soft thistles to clean it off.
But should you also add a water pipe with a hose attachment to clean a trampoline?
How to clean a trampoline with a hosepipe
Hosing can help you remove dirt that’s stuck to the trampoline’s jumping mat, springs, pads’ covers, and steel frame. Cleaning with a hosepipe also helps to thoroughly remove soapy water so the trampoline surface won’t be slippery.
Contrary to soaking the surfaces to soften the dirt, you can up your hose pressure to a medium setting this time. Before you do that, ensure you’ve scrubbed down the surfaces with soapy water satisfactorily, as mentioned earlier. Then angle the trampoline slightly to help drain dirty water naturally. Then, at medium pressure, hose the surfaces thoroughly.
Can soapy water ruin a trampoline’s galvanized steel frame?
Soapy water does not ruin galvanized steel if you use dish soap or detergent free of bleach, pumice, or ingredients that take its pH outside the 6-12 range. For example, the closer the pH of a cleaner is to 14, the more likely it is to erode the zinc coating on the steel and expose your trampoline’s steel frame to the elements, causing rust.
The American Galvanizers Association recommends several commercially available cleaning products that do not damage galvanized steel.
How to dry a trampoline after washing it with soapy water
Should you dry a trampoline in the sun? Yes, and that’s not all. Trampoline manufacturers recommend drying a wet trampoline with clean towels before leaving it out under the sun to dry thoroughly.
Using towels will help you ensure the surfaces dry evenly.
You can take things further and angle the trampoline in a direction that is at a 90-degree angle to the position of the sun. This can allow airflow and sunlight to contact the various parts of your trampoline so it can dry thoroughly within a few hours.
Whether your rebounder came with UV protection out of the box or doesn’t have the feature applied on its jumping mat and padding covers, keeping the trampoline out in the sun for hours will not ruin it.
Conclusion
Cleaning a trampoline with soap and water will not ruin it if you do it right. Doing it right here includes:
- Use a gentle soap such as good old dish soap to remove greasy dirt.
- Use nylon or soft-thistles brush to scrub mud, bird poop, and foodstuff gently.
- Angle the trampoline and hose its surfaces with clean water at medium pressure.
- Ensure you remove all soapy water to prevent slipperiness, which can cause falls later on.
No, over to you. Put these trampoline cleaning tips to task, and you’ll maintain your trampoline in excellent cleanliness and working condition.
