It’s the one thing that makes everyone’s life more difficult, other than the person slapping and clapping it all over the place in your gym.
Is all that mess necessary?
The short answer is NO!
Now, I am a CrossFitter and I do use chalk.
BUT, I don’t make a mess of the place because:
1. I want to respect the gym owners floor.
2. I don’t want to flare up my asthma.
3. It’s not necessary for me to excessively chalk my hands or the bar.
I have a few magical solutions to avoid having chalk stained floors:
– Jaw grips
– Goat tape
– Microfiber cloth + spray bottle
– Spot mopping
Now hear me out…
The reason I bought my first set of jaw grips is because I was openly mocked for buying golf gloves and cutting the fingers off of them to try and stop shredding my hands when i’d do WODs full of pull-ups, muscle ups or toes-to-bar. That forced me to find and purchase Jaw grips.
When it comes to Olympic lifts, I tape my thumbs as well as using a small amount of chalk for grip. Tape provides so much more grip than heavy chalking does.
I’ve seen some gyms provide microfiber cloths and water filled spray bottles for members to spot clean the chalk marks they have created. Most members will have no issue with cleaning up their own mess.
Another option I’ve seen is a mop and bucket at one end of the gym. Members grab the mop and remove the chalk marks that they laid. Not a common practice, but one that is used in some gyms.
I understand that each gym has their own process when it comes to whether they ask members to clean up the chalk marks or not. I’m not here to tell you how to run your business, I’m simply proposing an alternative to having permanently chalk stained floors.
Members hate tearing their hands, owners hate unsightly chalk marks staining their rubber and we want to give you more value for your money by cleaning other areas rather than focussing on chalk marks that have settled into the rubber for a few days. Less can be done when we clean when we spending the majority of time trying to lift stubborn chalk marks from the rubber.
If gyms stocked Jaw grips, Goat tape and some spray bottles/cloths, we can:
1. Protect our hands (less tearing is a good thing).
2. Reduce owners costs (buying less chalk).
3. Have cleaner gyms (so not only the 5am class see a clean floor).
4. Allow cleaners to focus on other areas in the gyms, rather than spending most of their time trying to remove stubborn chalk marks.
Now some would question why a cleaning company would write an article about keeping your gym cleaner, rather than encouraging you to make the place filthy so we get more work…. My aim is to help you create an environment that benefits you and your members.
When I meet with owners, I tell them that my aim is to make their life easier.
You walk into your gym at 5am to a freshly cleaned gym and by 6:01am, it looks as though the class has just tossed a bunch around chalk around and left. The last thing you want to do as an owner is to spot mop the floors after each WOD, as we all know that admin, programming, answering emails and paying bills doesn’t just happen by itself (And that’s only a few things that fill your day).
I am happy to continue to attack chalk marks every time we clean (why wouldn’t I – it’s the reason we have a business), but for the longevity of your flooring, to reduce your costs and to allow us to get more done each time we clean… Let’s reduce chalk in our gyms by providing members with the opportunity to purchase Jaw Grips and Goat tape (stock it at your reception/ front desk).
You can choose if you want to have your members spot clean the chalk marks that they make during a WOD… It’s all about the culture that you want to create.
I’m happy to chat with you to try and prevent chalk staining of your floors.
I am also more than happy to continue to clean the chalk from your floors too smile emoticon
BUT I want you to know that there are options if you’re an owner that hates the site of white hand prints all over the place.
I hope this has been somewhat helpful!
Contact me if you’d like some tips to reduce the chalk stains or if you’d like me to come out and give you a quote on what we can do to help keep your gym clean.
Ira and the RCS Team.