3 Zero Cost Ways to Maintain Your Treadmill

So you think you can just buy a treadmill and walk all over it without a care like your ex? No honey, no.

Treadmills are one of the most common pieces of equipment purchased for both home and commercial use, yet nobody knows how to maintain them. This ends up costing buyers hundreds of dollars in service calls, replacement parts, or worse - having to purchase a new treadmill. While this might be great for business, it’s an absolute shame because maintenance is SO EASY and the majority of service calls we tend to are 100% preventable with a little maintenance every 3-6 months.

Trade secrets coming right at ya with 3 of the EASIEST and FREE ways to maintain your treadmill:

VACCUUM

Sorry dust bunnies - THE SECRET IS OUT. Just like you vacuum your carpets due to built up dust and debris it’s even more important to vacuum your treadmill. While your carpets might be okay with a little neglect every once in awhile, mixing dust and debris with sweat is a recipe for mechanical disaster when it comes to your treadmill. This can go as far as SETTING YOUR TREADMILL ON FIRE - seriously! We've seen this first hand.

"How To" Secret #1:

• Lift up that treadmill cover and give everything underneath it a vacuum.
• Move your treadmill and vacuum underneath.

RUNNING BELT MAINTENANCE

This might sound a little more intimidating, but we’ll break it down for you. The two most important things to remember about your running belt is tension & cleaning. 

"How To" Secret #2:

• To check the belt tension, take both of your hands and stick your fingers underneath the belt in the middle of your running deck.
• Pull up on both sides. The sides of the belt should pull up, but the centre should maintain contact with your running deck. If it’s not, your running belt tension is off and needs adjustment.
• A loose belt = slippage. A tight belt = added stress on the motor. Get that fixed pronto!

"How To" Secret #3:

• To clean the belt, take a rag and place it underneath the running belt so the rag is sticking out on either side of the belt.
• Hold the rag on either side of the belt and sweep it up and down the length of the belt until all debris is removed along the entire length of the belt.

That’s it! Doing these 3 simple things every 3-6 months can do wonders in maintaining your treadmill - minimally, you NEED to do this annually. Also, you're more likely to catch any issues with your treadmill before they become really expensive if you are consistent with your preventative maintenance. We would be happy to teach you how to maintain your equipment yourself or set you up on a preventative maintenance schedule if it’s a bigger job than you’re up for! Book an appointment with us if you need any help and make sure to share this post with anyone who has a treadmill!

Happy vacuuming!