Exercisers face health risks if using gym towels to wipe down equipment

Exercisers who use their towels to wipe down fitness equipment are exposing themselves and other gym users to bacteria, mould, fungi and viruses.

Wiping down benches at the gym with your own towel is a "horrible practice", according to Bridget Gardner, Director and founder of Fresh Green Clean, a Melbourne-based business providing advisory services for cleaning and facility managers.

Gardner explained “this is where bacteria and viruses are being spread from the surfaces

Dr Cameron Jones, a microbiologist with expertise in mould, infection control and environmental health, agrees, telling the ABC “a lot of gyms are open 24 hours a day and are used 12 hours a day at least, and there's a huge volume of people who go through.”

As a result, he says there are a lot of different germs - bacteria, yeast, fungi and viruses - lurking inside gym exercise equipment, floor mats and handrails.

Dr Jones also advises that floor-mounted resistance training equipment, in particular, may be hotspots for germs, adding “with the high-touch machines that have handles, the greater the force on the hand or the feet, the greater the transfer of germs to that item.

“If you're using your towel to wipe down equipment, you're putting it in contact with a truly unsavoury variety of germs. They can then be transferred to your house when you take home your gym kit.

“And if you're using your dirty towel to dab at your sweaty face, it can actually make you sick.

"You're already sweating and have elevated temperature. If the material on your towel is dirty, obviously if you pull that across the surface of your skin, then if you have any sort of surface (blemish), like a pimple, that can get infected."

Rather than exercisers using their towels, both Dr Jones and Gardner recommend disposable cloths and wipes provided at most gyms to wipe down your equipment.

Dr Jones explains “people should definitely wipe down the high-touch surfaces with a sanitised cloth,”

To kill off germs on your hands, Dr Jones also recommends using hand sanitiser after touching gym equipment.

While many gyms have a ‘no towel, no workout’ policy, Dr Jones and Gardner suggest that exercisers should juts use that towel to wipe their face and hands.

And if exerciser’s towels are used to wipe the machines then they should be laundered frequently.

Gardner recommends that gym towels should be washer daily, or once every other day, and not be left until they start to smell.

She adds “you're creating a germ-breeding environment by keeping your dirty equipment and your dirty towel in the bag.

"As soon as it starts to grow anything (such as bacteria), it omits a smell.”

She also suggests that exercisers carry their gym towels in a separate cloth bag so it doesn't come into contact with other items.

That reduces the risk of spreading bacteria in the home.