A playground does harbor germs; however, it's up to the park to determine how to maintain the gear and ensure the playground equipment is sanitized daily by maintenance crews. With school going back into session, there's a higher risk of sickness, especially in younger children. Keep your playground safe by following a quick guide on how to make sure your playground is sanitary.
The Difference Between Germs on the Playground and at Home
There's a big difference between the number of germs in a play area and at home. While both are viable habitats for bacteria, both only harbor a particular amount. For example, the house has nearly 500,000 germs on a toothbrush holder and 9 million on a swing.
It's essential to know that the playground has more germs than your home. There needs to be a process put into place to take care of the play area's cleanliness properly. Community leaders should prioritize keeping park facilities clean. Aside from their prevalence in parks, are germs really that widespread? Yes, they are.
There are reasons why having a maintenance crew around often can improve the park's image while decreasing illness rates for kids. The one thing to remind parents to do with little ones is to bring sanitary wipes, hand sanitizer, and tissues often and to stay at home if their child's sick.
While it's essential to remain healthy by bringing wipes, tissues, and other things, park administrators should know what play equipment is the dirtiest and how often the equipment should be cleaned. Let's find out more about playground gear and what's the dirtiest below.
Playground Gear: What's the Dirtiest?
Schools are going back into session, and along with parks, they need to maintain their playgrounds. However, they must remember the areas that receive the most foot traffic. Equipment like the swings, slide, and rock wall receive a lot of attention and are the most prone to breeding harmful bacteria.
You may assume the monkey bars or play tunnels have the most bacteria, but the slides, rock walls, and swings have the highest counts. Overall, you want to keep the play areas clean and in working order. Find out more about the importance of sanitizing the playground below.
Why Cleaning the Play Area Is Important
Cleaning the play area is essential in the fight to eliminate germs, protect the health of children, and enhance your playground gear. As a park administrator, it's critical that you put more focus on keeping every inch of the park maintained and cleaned.
Although cleaning is essential, you also need to fix up broken or worn down equipment. Equipment that's left to corrode over time harbors more risks, such as tetanus from chains on a swing. By purchasing a swing set hardware kit, you enhance the cleanliness of the park and improve the playground's image.
Tips for Keeping the Playground Clean
There are many other ways a playground maintenance worker can keep the play area clean, such as following the safest cleaning methods and applying these cleaning tips to their best practices.
- Place waste bins around the park.
- Any area that receives high foot traffic must be cleaned first, and often.
- Encourage parkgoers to clean up their pet waste.
- Request help from the community to keep the park safe and clean for everyone.
Keep the Cleaning Going
While applying these ideas, try creating a maintenance schedule. General maintenance, such as checking gear, should be done once every three months, but the playground gear should be cleaned every week to four weeks, depending on the disinfectant products used.
Even though you have a safety checklist for play equipment, you should also have one for cleaning. Here's what you can include on the playground cleaning checklist:
- Inspect for and clean up litter.
- Wipe down all high-traffic areas, such as the swings and slides.
- Use safe cleaning methods when doing a deep clean of the park.
- Check for broken parts and block off the site immediately.
- Inspect play gear for mold.
The Safest Outdoor Playground Cleaning Methods
Instilling proper cleaning methods keeps the equipment clean and avoids creating problems, such as weakening a playground gear's durability and creating discoloration. During your research of learning how to check if your park's sanitary, you will employ safe outdoor playground cleaning methods, such as the ones below.
EPA-Friendly Cleaning Supplies
Cleaning supplies marked as safe by the EPA is one method for sanitizing playground gear. However, maintenance workers should only use it on equipment, not on themselves or children. The products do contain chemicals that cause injuries.
Make sure all workers follow the instructions on how to properly use EPA-approved cleaning supplies, such as how much to use, what to use it with, and how to apply the cleaning solutions to the play gear.
Bleach
Bleach is another solution; however, it should never be used by itself. Using bleach on its own causes health problems, creates discolored play gear, and hurts the environment. So, use water when working with bleach. When measuring the bleach, add four teaspoons of the liquid into a quart of water, then stir so that it's well incorporated.
After finishing with the bleach, keep children away from the equipment. Wash everything down with water and let it all dry. Once everything's dry, you can open the playground again.
Bleach and EPA cleaning products are two of the best park cleaning solutions available. Another one is rubbing alcohol, but it's better used on smaller things, like toddler playground equipment. Another thing to watch out for is mold; mold spreads fast but is manageable. Consider using other methods like vinegar and a mold removal spray to prevent mildew from spreading around the park.
It isn't easy keeping the park cleaned and maintained. It can be a lot calmer with the right tools and repair kits. At Discount Playground Supply, we offer many options to enhance and keep the park clean and looking its best all the time. Come shop around with us to find out the best hardware gear for your playground equipment and more solutions to keeping the playground areas clean.
