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How to disinfect wrestling mats so my son doesn’t get ringworm or herpes

My son is a senior on the varsity wrestling team. He and I have come a long way since he started wrestling during his sophomore year. When he first informed me that he wanted to try out for the high school team, he had all the normal parental apprehensions, plus a few.

Yes, I was worried about injuries, but when my son brought home some documents from the coach telling us about the viruses, germs, and infections you can get on the wrestling mats and equipment, I was mortified!

We’re talking about MRSA, ringworm, herpes simplex, staph, strep, and hepatitis B, to name just a few. These infectious and contagious nightmares weren’t just on the wrestling mats. They live on your helmet, pads, equipment bags, and most other hard sports surfaces.

Aside from the threat of harmful germs to health, there was an unholy stench coming from each fighter’s equipment! No one had been able to kill the schtanky miasma that permeated the entire gym.

The trainer promised that the wrestling mats would always be sanitized before the wrestlers could compete. They used chemical solutions that were applied using the old mop and bucket method. This just wasn’t enough for me. First, these children are exposed to viruses and germs and now to chemicals, and how were their equipment and other surfaces disinfected?

I had the answer to this problem, STEAM, but I wasn’t sure who to turn to about it. I contacted the team mom regarding my concerns and asked if she would be willing to set up a meeting with the coach. She was all for it, apparently this was a big concern for all parents. Even the trainer was eager to find a better and safer solution.

We all met at the gym on Friday night and I presented the perfect solution to all of our concerns. My steam cleaner and its incredible array of accessories were going to save the day once again.

Did you know that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta recommends that the best way to clean and disinfect a surface covered in contagious germs is to steam. I had every confidence in transmitting verses with any other method they had tried, but I printed out the page from the CDC website to convince the rest of the group. Visit the CDC website to view their report.

I showed everyone how to clean the mats, floors, harness, pads, and all other surfaces in the gym. Steam sanitizing was faster, more effective, there was no waiting time for the rugs to dry and best of all, the steam cleaner uses absolutely no chemicals to completely kill all those germs, bacteria and viruses.

I asked them how they felt about this method compared to the old mop and bucket method and they unanimously agreed that there was no comparison.

All the parents in that room were so impressed with the results that within 30 minutes they had raised enough money to buy a steam cleaner for the wrestling team and a rotating schedule of volunteers to do the job regularly. Talk about calm. My son may have some bumps and bruises, but he won’t get any of those nasty diseases.