Keeping Your Inflatables Clean

Identifying and enforcing the rules will go a long way toward protecting your inflatable unit and your patrons!

By Lisa Gerr

Whether you are operating an indoor facility or a rental company, you are well aware that your inflatables are your most valuable asset and your biggest investment. Your inflatable play structures are critical to your company's success! Because of this, it is important to keep your inflatables in good maintenance and sanitized.

Let’s take this process from installation; to the moment patrons will be introduced to your inflatable, to when it is time to deflate the unit for the day.

You will need:

A spray bottle

Water

Simple Green™

A small wet/dry shop vac

Chamois clothes

Industrial can of Lysol™ Disinfectant

Pledge™ furniture polish

Greased Lightning™*

*Greased Lightning products are available nationally at Ace Hardware, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, True Value, Wal-Mart



Rules are NOT made to be broken! They are outlined for a reason. Make sure the rules are clear. They are posted right on the unit’s information tag. It is a good idea to review these rules on your rental agreements or in several locations on signage in your facility. They are outlined in the image above.

Now let’s install it. If you are setting up the unit outside or on an abrasive indoor surface, make sure you have a utility tarp, Astro™ turf or indoor/outdoor carpet under your unit to protect it from sharp objects on the ground or damage that can be caused with movement inside the inflatable unit while it is sitting directly on a rough surface such as asphalt or concrete. Good. Now, inspect the unit and make sure it is free of all foreign objects and the surfaces are clean. If you are setting up outdoors and there is a potential for mud (such as a water slide), then you may want to put some Astro™ turf or indoor outdoor carpet at the entrance and exit areas to pick up the dirt and debris. If you have an indoor facility you will want to enforce the “you must wear socks” rule for both cleanliness and sanitation. Your unit is ready to ride!

The patrons have had a marvelous time and now it is time to deflate the unit for the day.

If you are picking up the unit from a rental customer you will want to clean the unit once it is back at your facility HOWEVER, do check it for sharp or foreign objects or big messes before rolling it up.

It will probably be late at night so your maintenance will be the next day for rental companies and for indoor facilities, it should be at night right after closing. To clean, make sure the unit is inflated. You should, again, inspect it for unwanted objects, dirt, food (which is against the rules but might get slipped in there anyway), or any bodily fluids…I know, I know, it doesn’t happen a lot but it DOES sometimes happen and you need to be on the lookout for it. Children get sick or, if they are still potty training, they sometimes just don’t want to stop playing long enough to use the restroom. Usually customers will alert you to situations but not all situations are caught. You will hear this again, but unattended moisture is your inflatables nemesis! It causes mildew where you can’t see it or catch it – inside, on the back of the vinyl material. If you do have an ‘accident’ of this nature, it must be cleaned immediately and the ride should be shut down until it is cleaned, re-sanitized and dry. If the moisture is on the slide portion of the ride, clean and sanitize it by wiping it down (instructions follow) and giving it a general coverage of Lysol™. THEN, remove the slide blanket, check the back of the slide blanket for moisture or dirt then put it aside laying flat or hanging until the front and back surfaces are completely dry. The slide blanket is attached with industrial Velcro™ strips and is easily removed and reinstalled.

Make sure the person who will be cleaning the unit removes their shoes! The person who is cleaning the unit should do so in their socks or they may want to carry a pair of water moccasins that are used strictly for bounce house cleaning that they can change into before climbing inside. Before deflating you will want to vacuum the floor of the bouncer and then wipe down the surfaces that come in contact with the children; the columns and the floor. A nice little 6 amp wet/dry shop vac is perfect for vacuuming. After a general vacuuming, use the extension wand that comes with most shop vacs to bang on the surface close to the baffle seams (with moderate force) to loosen debris then quickly vacuum that area. Once your unit is vacuumed and free of objects (you may find hair clips, buttons, party favor toys, etc) you are ready to wipe it down.

We recommend using a mild 50/50 solution of Simple Green and water. Our favorite cloth is the chamois. Dampen and wring out the chamois. Wring it out well! Now spray the Simple Green/water solution directly onto your dampened much wrung out chamois. Now wipe down the surfaces. You will only need to clean the surfaces that come in touch with riders. Once in a while or if it is necessary you will want to use Pledge™ on the artwork to keep it brilliant and on the slide blanket to keep it slick! If you have a mark that won’t come off with the simple solution then you may want to try a product called Greased Lightning™. Only use Greased Lightning™ on the mark itself!

Now your unit is vacuumed and wiped down and ready to be sanitized. Use your Lysol™ spray to evenly spray the unit’s surfaces. Use sweeping movements and hold the can 3 – 4 feet from the surface. Include the net windows. You are trying to achieve a consistent coverage without creating puddles, streaks…any extra and unnecessary moisture. Leave your unit inflated and running for an extra 30 minutes after the application or until the surfaces are absolutely dry. You are ready to deflate.

For water units you must take extra pre-cautions to keeping the unit clean and free of moisture. It is fairly easy and straightforward. If the unit has been used for a rental, you want to drain the excess water from the unit by opening the Velcro™ zippers around the unit. These zippers also allow for quicker deflation. (Remember to securely close them before the next event!) Once the excess water is drained as much as possible, roll it up and take it back to the rental facility. The next day the water slide should be inflated and cleaned as outlined above. The only added measure is to allow the unit to sit in the sun (if possible) the next morning and run the blowers for 3-4 hours to get the moisture out. Remember to remove the slide blanket so that the unit can dry thoroughly. If you have enough space to do this inside your warehouse and especially if the unit is going out the next day, then you should perform these tasks the night it is returned to the facility. Check along the seams for bubbles. That is your clue that there is still moisture that needs to be blown out. Also, when you are installing these water rides bear in mind and let your installer know that the water pressure should be ‘medium’ so you do not over-soak the unit. The soaker hose is also designed to ‘mist’ the surface so that the moisture in the unit is minimized.

If the water ride is not going out the following weekend then schedule it to be inflated and sunned for a few hours the following weekend or within a 7 – 10 day period.

It is especially important for rental companies to schedule a cleaning and maintenance for all units so that they are all being inflated an hour or two at least once a month. For water units, schedule inflation twice a month.

If you have any questions or suggestions for our readers, please email me at lisa@buyabounce.com!

Our September article will deal with storing your inflatable fleet for the off-season!