Your inflatable water slide may bring big smiles and lasting memories to your event or party guests.
Unlike a bounce house or inflatable obstacle course, an inflatable water slide is designed to get wet and stay wet throughout the course of play. But getting something wet doesn't make it clean. In fact, a wet water slide is more likely to harbor germs, bacteria, mold and mildew than a dry bounce house or obstacle course.
Inflatable water slides need to be cleaned with extra care every time you use them. Skipping any of these important steps can and will undoubtedly cause illness to your customers, your employees and/or yourself. Thankfully, cleaning your commercial inflatable water slide is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance.
The first and easiest step toward a cleaner, safer commercial inflatable water slide: You need to carefully and thoroughly inspect the water slide from top to bottom - every square inch - to check for problems and get a strong sense of how much cleanliness it needs. If your customer is not in a hurry to get your equipment off their property, it's best to do it while it's still on the job site and inflated.
You will need to search for and remove any loose debris you see. Sticks, leaves, toys, jewelry, crayons, food ...... If you can pick it up by hand, do it now. Always be sure to return any property you find to your client as well, especially items such as toys and jewelry or any other items that may have value, personal or otherwise.
Be especially alert to existing damage. The cleaning process can make damaged areas worse, especially if you're in a hurry, so be sure to take a moment to try to spot the damage before it accidentally worsens.
This may not always be an option; it depends on the demeanor of the owner, the schedule of the event, and many other factors. But if possible, try to give the inflatable water slide a good, thorough rinse while it's in an inflated state.
The water slide is inflated. The floor is already wet from hours of play. It makes sense to rinse it off now before you load it into your van or truck. It may have just lost something important, like lost jewelry or toys, so you can give them to their owners while you're still in the store.
Once your inflatable water slide has been well rinsed, deflate it and roll it up as usual. If the humidity bothers you, take a few towels and give it a good wipe down.
For the next step, we will need some cleaning solution. The cleaning solution we're going to use is one you can use at home! If you prefer, you can buy a professional vinyl cleaner, the following products are just as effective and much cheaper.
We use three parts water to one part vinegar to make a cleaning solution to which you can add a moderate amount of mild detergent. If the vinegar smell bothers you, add more detergent and less vinegar. However, make sure you add at least some larger amounts of vinegar ...... It helps a lot with the cleaning process. Do not use detergent containing bleach!
Once you have prepared the cleaning solution, apply it to the inflatable waterslide. You should focus on the areas where people go; steps/ladders, slides, landing areas, etc. Water these areas well and if there is any cleaning solution left over, you can use it in the next step.
Now you will use a soft bristle brush, sponge or rag to scrub those areas that have dirt buildup. Be sure to scrub any areas where you think your hands, feet, or face are often found. High-traffic areas should always be scrubbed thoroughly. It is also always a good idea to give low or no traffic areas a once over if you want to.
After cleaning all items and scrubbing areas that need to be cleaned, rinse the inflatable water slide thoroughly and thoroughly from top to bottom. Make sure there is no soap residue left behind. If you concentrate a lot of cleaning solution on one specific area, you may need to wet a towel or rag and scrub with water to ensure that all of the homemade vinyl cleaner containing soap is removed.
If not properly maintained, inflatable water slides can quickly become a breeding ground for germs, bacteria and viruses. Failure to properly clean your equipment can (and often does) lead to users spreading colds and flu viruses, allergens, and even scarier things.
The steps we've taken so far have done a great job of cleaning water slides and removing a lot of germs and bacteria, but there are still lingering issues. We will nip the problem in the bud with a round of disinfection.
At this stage, you will need to use bleach-free disinfectant wipes. Use wipes to thoroughly scrub all items on the inflatable water slide that children may come in contact with. Be sure to wipe down the rails, rails, platforms and sidewalls. And don't rinse disinfectant away, either, unless the manufacturer explicitly tells otherwise.
This final cleaning step is probably the easiest of all, and probably the simplest. It's also the most important step in protecting the water slide itself from mold and mildew. So in order to wrap things up, we need to let the water slide dry completely.
Use a soft, dry towel to wipe down any areas that have excess moisture. You can also shake off the excess water. If you are in a hurry, you can also use a leaf blower to blow dry most of the water slide. However, we highly recommend letting the equipment air dry and sun dry. It's time consuming, but it's the best way to ensure that your water slide is completely dry.
Sunlight does a great job of drying your commercial inflatable products. UV light is also a good weapon against waterborne pathogens. Although it does take a little time to dispel the urban legend that claims sunlight is all the disinfectant you need. It is not. Sunlight will not disinfect your equipment. It definitely helps, but you still need to perform all the other steps to make sure the inflatable water slide is truly sanitized.
It really doesn't make sense to whitewash this: mold and mildew will usually cause damage to your commercial inflatables. So when we find mold and mildew, we need to do all we can to kill it and prevent it from getting any worse.
We've said many times in this article not to use bleach. That's because bleach tends to cause varying degrees of discoloration, and there's really no value in using it for general cleaning purposes. It will only damage your inflatable water slide without actually making it any cleaner than we suggest here. But bleach is a mandatory cleaning product when it comes to removing mold.
The inflatable water slide must be completely dry before attempting to clean the mold. Don't just modify it into your cleaning regiment, and don't pre-rinse it. It doesn't help and can actually make things worse!
Take a bucket, fill it with fifty percent water and fifty percent bleach, and mix it slightly. Then apply this new anti-mold solution to the moldy areas of the inflatable water slide. Be generous with the application as well. Once these affected areas are fully soaked, use a soft brush or rag and scrub the mold vigorously.
After scrubbing the mold, rinse these areas thoroughly and then dry them by hand with as many towels as possible. Then let your equipment sit, preferably in the sun, and air dry thoroughly. Hold on to it, too. In most cases, rushing is the factor that causes waterslides to start getting mold infections. Be sure to take your time to avoid another mold outbreak along the way.
Taking the time to carefully and methodically inspect, clean and properly dry your inflatable water slide can prevent any number of disasters. If you have any questions about cleaning your inflatable water slide, please feel free to contact us!
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