After finishing one side of the belt, remove the towel by pulling it from that side and pull the belt to clean the other side.

The largest equipment purchase for a home gym is a treadmill. Home treadmills have a lot to offer in terms of convenience, calorie-burning, and cardiovascular exercise. But you must understand how to maintain your investment if you want to reap the greatest long-term rewards. That includes being aware of how to maintain a treadmill belt.

I’ll give you the information you need in this article to confidently clean your treadmill belt, extend the life of the machine and get the best performance possible. I’ll also let you know the warning signs that the treadmill belt needs cleaning and address the most common queries about doing so.

The Importance Of Cleaning Your Treadmill Belt

An essential component of keeping your treadmill in good working order is cleaning the belt and deck. The top and bottom surfaces of the walking belt quickly become covered in dirt, debris, grime, and dust. The walking belt’s ability to function smoothly can be hampered by friction brought on by an excessive accumulation of dust and dirt. The belt may therefore move jerkily and erratically as a result.

Removes Bacteria

Your feet could slide while running on a treadmill with a greasy surface. To help prevent slipping, keep in mind to wear running shoes as well. You can eliminate bacteria that accumulate on your home treadmill by routinely cleaning the belt. If the treadmill is being used by multiple people, it is especially crucial to clean the belt and the rest of the machine to remove bacteria.

Improves Safety

It can be very dangerous for the user when the jerkiness on a treadmill is brought on by a dirty walking belt. During your workout, it could cause you to abruptly lurch forward or even fall backward.

Maintain Warranty

Another factor making routine maintenance of your treadmill—in general, and the treadmill belt, in particular—important is that failure to do so could void the manufacturer’s warranty terms. Typically, this information is tucked away in small print. Costly repairs can be avoided by performing routine maintenance.

Sweat Removal

Sweat that runs down onto the belt during exercise can be removed with routine cleaning of the belt and deck. After working out, you should wipe up any sweat as soon as you can. By doing this, it will be possible to prevent sweat stains as well as the bacterial buildup.

Steps To Clean The Treadmill Belt

There are primarily two methods for cleaning the treadmill’s belt, but whatever method you choose, the most crucial thing is to proceed with caution and safety.

Under no circumstances should you use any cleaning products on your device’s belt as this could cause an electrical hazard and irreparable damage to your treadmill. We’ll go into more detail about these two approaches now so you can decide which one is best for you.

First Methodcleaning Treadmill Belt

Given that it requires a little more work, the first method is more of a manual way to clean your treadmill. It’s safer, though, as the gadget will always be turned off and unplugged. The treadmill will be completely unplugged after being turned off.

Then, place a long towel—one that is significantly longer than the width of your treadmill—between the belt and the deck. At this point, it would be wise to have assistance. But you’re able to handle it alone.

Then, with the towel still in your hands, pull it along the treadmill belt from the start to the finish, collecting all the dirt and debris that have accumulated between the belt and the deck.

When you’ve finished cleaning one side of the belt, remove the towel by pulling it from that side, pull the belt to clean the other side, and repeat those same steps. If the towel doesn’t come out clean, you might need to repeat that process several times. As a result, everything that was wedged there has been removed.

Second Methodist Treadmill Lubricant

The treadmill is plugged in and turned on in the second method, which is more automatic. The same steps you took for the first method apply here, including getting a towel that is longer than the width of the treadmill and placing it in the space between the belt and the deck.

The only distinction is that you won’t be pulling the belt by hand this time; instead, you’ll turn on the treadmill at its slowest speed and let it move the belt for you. The towel will therefore continually grab onto everything.

Five belt turns on average should be sufficient to completely clear the area. You must be mindful of the towel and how you are holding it. It must be held tightly by you in order to prevent it from escaping and possibly becoming stuck in the treadmill’s mechanism.

The device’s internal components could suffer severe harm as a result. It would be a good idea to enlist assistance so that you could hold the towel from one side while they held the other.

End

Whatever approach you decide to use, you might want to follow it up by wiping the belt from its opposite side with a slightly damp washcloth. You just want to pick up on all the allergens that have accumulated on top of it, so be careful not to get it wet.

To get rid of any additional moisture you might have left behind, wipe it down once more with a paper towel.

How Often Should The Belt Be Cleaned

Consequently, how frequently should you perform this quick routine? To be completely honest, it all depends on how you use the treadmill and where you put it in your home.

You should perform this routine on a weekly basis if it is situated in the path of a window or door or in any other location where it is likely to gather dust.

On the other hand, it can be done every two weeks or so if you don’t use your treadmill that frequently or if it’s located in a closed space without a direct pathway to the outside.

In the end, our recommendation is to do it as much as you can because not only will it maintain the functionality and increase the lifespan of your device, but it will also benefit your health by preventing you from running in an environment that is full of dirt, dust, allergens, and pollen. These particles can all easily irritate your respiratory system.

How To Clean Underneath The Treadmill Belt

Fasulo advises inserting a clean, dry towel or terry cloth between the belt and deck so that the towel’s edges protrude on both sides to clean underneath the belt. After that, grab both of the towel’s ends and slide it back and forth a few times before pulling it out. Before starting the treadmill and rotating the belt, shake the towel to get rid of any dust. Repeat the back-and-forth motion while sliding the towel back underneath the belt.

Fasulo advises caution when cleaning the belt’s underside because doing so risked removing a significant amount of the beneficial lubricant that the belt requires to function properly. He has seen situations where “someone has a good amount of lubricant on the belt, they go to clean it, and they liberally lubricate again, and there’s actually less lubricant than when they first started.” Therefore, it might be best to only clean the underside of the belt when you have reason to believe the treadmill has been exposed to particularly dusty and filthy environments. If so, you should use lubricant.

How To Lubricate A Treadmill Belt

First off, you shouldn’t lubricate your treadmill belt with regular cleaning supplies. Second, due to its inability to withstand the heat that can be produced on a treadmill, some experts also advise against using regular lubricant.

I believe it’s best to continue using a lubricant made especially for treadmills. However, if you only use your machine for brief periods of time while walking, it might not produce as much heat.

LifeSpan advises manually rotating the belt while applying the lubricant and then running the machine for roughly three minutes at three miles per hour after application. The problem will be evenly distributed in this manner.

Conclusion

It only takes a few minutes to maintain your treadmill belt, but it can have a significant impact on its performance and lifespan. To stay on top of your treadmill belt maintenance and get the most out of your investment in a home gym, adhere to the straightforward instructions provided in this article on how to clean a treadmill belt.

Tags: Clean A Treadmill Belt, Treadmill Belt