If you’ve never cleaned a tanning bed before, it can be quite a challenging task if you don’t know what to do.
How do you do it? What tools and cleaning solution do you use? Are there specific safety guidelines that you have to follow? These are the main questions you will be asking yourself if it is your first time cleaning a tanning bed.
In this guide, we will help you learn the basics of how to clean a tanning bed. Plus, we have included some tips and tricks that will help you with future maintenance.
What You Will Need
Here are the various things you need for cleaning a tanning bed:
- Tanning Bed Cleaner
- Spray Bottle
- Three-layer face masks
- Rubber cleaning gloves
- Paper towels
- A clean piece of cloth
- Vacuum cleaner
- Flat screwdriver
- A set of Allen keys of different sizes
How to Clean a Tanning Bed: Step-By-Step Breakdown
Step 1: Removing the Acrylics and Lamps
Start by unplugging the tanning bed from the wall socket. Then remove the profile strips, which are usually two, one in the front and the other one in the back. The profile strips snap up easily, allowing you access to the acrylic.
You will need a flat screwdriver for this process. Put the screwdriver against the strip on one of the front corners of your sunbed. Tap the rear end of the screwdriver gently to force one corner of the strip to come loose.
When you have loosened up the strip, gently pull it toward the front of your sunbed. Go ahead and hinge the acrylic of your tanning bed to get it out. You can always start at one of the corners if the acrylic is held in place too tight. Gently lift the acrylic out of its place. Some tanning beds would allow you to slide the acrylic out of place once you have removed the profile strips. Follow the same guidelines to remove the acrylic on the canopy.
Once you have removed the acrylics on the bench and canopy, the next important thing to do is remove all your tanning bed lamps. Twist each lamp one-quarter turn and lift it directly out of the bench or canopy.
Step 2: Cleaning the Tanning Bed Air Filters
Air filters help filter the air that gets into the sunbed through natural convection or internal fans. These filters can easily get clogged with dirt over time. The filters are normally easy to access when the acrylics are removed. Pull out the filters and use a vacuum cleaner to suck the dirt off them. Once you are done, return the filters into place.
Step 3: Cleaning the Tanning Bed Lamps
Accessing the lamps is easy when the acrylics are out of the canopy and the bench. If you have been using your sunbed for over six months, then you will notice that your tanning bed lamps have developed a film or a thin layer of dirt.
You’ve got fans in your sunbed that pull in dirt from the outside of the bed. Over time, the dirt will stick on the lamps, forming a thin layer. The thin layer of dirt normally decreases the tanning power of the bed. So, we recommend you use a gentle cleaning solution and a smooth piece of cloth to clean the lamps. Dampen the cloth with the solution. Then hold the lamp with your left hand and use your right hand to wipe along the length of the lamp with the damp cloth. This will get the dirt off the lamp.
We recommend you do this for all the lamps except for the new ones that are replacing the damaged ones.
Step 4: Mixing Tanning Bed Cleaning Solution
After vacuuming the air filters and wiping the lamps, you should now go ahead and prepare the cleaning solution for disinfecting the bed.
Lucasol One Step Tanning Salon Cleaner
The most recommended tanning bed cleaning solution is Lucasol One Step Tanning Salon Cleaner. With this premium quality cleaner, you no longer have to guess whether or not your sunbed is sanitized as well as disinfected. When you use this solution correctly, it will do a great job of disinfecting the surfaces of your sunbed.
Instead of the cleaner, you can choose to use Lucasol wipes. These wipes have superior germ-killing ability. They’re hospital-grade to eradicate the disease-causing organisms. They can help stop contagious diseases from spreading. The wipes help reduce possible allergic reactions.
The Lucasol kit comes with a measuring pump. The proprietary pump is uniquely designed to dispense 1/8-ounce per pump. The pump’s nozzle fits the concentrate bottle. The pump will be compressed when you receive it for the first time. So, you have to pull and then twist the top to prepare it for use.
For the mixing part, you will need Lucasol Xtra-Life Sprayer, which has a capacity of 24 ounces. Use three pumps of the cleansing formula from the measuring pump. Once you have done that, add water to the sprayer up to the indicated line. The sprayer has an oversize piston and a chemical-resistant piston bushing, which help prevent leaks during cleaning.
Australian Gold pH Neutral Disinfectant Cleaner
Apart from the Lucasol cleaner, you can also use the pH-neutral disinfectant cleaner from Australian Gold. This is a germicidal detergent with a neutral pH. It is also a full-scale mildew stat, virucide, fungicide, deodorizer, and sanitizer. Mixing the solution for cleaning a tanning bed is easy. Just add two ounces of the solution to one gallon of water. Then transfer the solution to a spray bottle and spritz away.
Homemade Tanning Bed Cleaner
If you have a limited budget and you cannot afford the aforementioned tanning bed cleaners, you could always come up with a homemade cleaner.
The homemade cleaning solution you can prepare requires you to have a spray bottle, white distilled vinegar, and water. White distilled vinegar is recommended for cleaning simply because it is free of coloring agents, which is good because it will not stain the surfaces of your sunbed. Add equal parts of the white distilled vinegar and water into a twenty-four-ounce spray bottle. Tighten the lid of the bottle and shake to make a homogenous solution.
You can also add essential oils and lemon juice to the solution for added benefits. Natural oils like eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, and tea tree have disinfectant properties that will help eradicate bacteria and fungus from your sunbed. You just need two drops of one of the natural oils. Lemon juice, like white distilled vinegar, is a great cleaning solution. The acid contained in lemon juice has antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Add a small amount of lemon juice to the solution and shake well before use.
Step 5: Disinfecting the Tanning Bed Interior
Start with the reflectors, which you gained access to after removing the acrylics and tanning lamps. Spray down your sunbed reflectors and take a paper towel or a soft cloth and wipe down all of them. To effectively disinfect the reflectors, leave the spray on for about thirty seconds. But to completely sanitize the reflectors, you may want to leave the spray on for up to ten minutes.
Once you have cleaned the reflectors, return all the lamps by fitting them into the lamp holders and turning a quarter turn.
Then clean each acrylic (front and back) by spraying the solution and wiping it with a clean cloth or a paper towel. To properly sanitize the acrylics, you should leave the sprayed cleaner on each side of the acrylic for about ten minutes. Once the acrylics are clean, slide them back into the sunbed. Reinstall the profile strips and lock them into place.
Step 6: Vacuuming the Vents
The vents of a tanning bed are responsible for drawing in cool air and driving out hot air. As much as they improve airflow in the sunbed, the vents can easily get clogged with dirt. You can effortlessly clean the dirt out of the vents with the help of a vacuum cleaner. Use the vacuum cleaner to suck out dirt from the left, right, and top of the sunbed. Also, vacuum the venting for the fans on the top and bottom of your tanning bed.
Step 7: Cleaning the Exterior of the Tanning Bed
Once you are done with the interior parts, you can go ahead and clean the exterior. Close the tanning bed. Spray the exterior surfaces of the canopy, the sides of the bench, and all the edges. Leave the spray on the surfaces for thirty seconds and then wipe it off. Now your tanning bed is completely cleaned and refreshed and is ready for use.
Frequency
We can’t stress enough that cleaning and disinfecting your sunbed is extremely crucial because of the increasing risks of communicable diseases, including COVID19. You should particularly be wary of mildew, viruses, fungus, and bacteria. Proper sanitization and maintenance will ensure that risks of catching diseases are kept at bay. Regular cleaning is important to maintain the proper functionality of your tanning bed and maximizes its lifespan.
For shared beds, we suggest you do a cleaning after every use. After each session, thoroughly clean the pillow, the canopy, and the bench acrylics, as some of these parts come into direct contact with the body. Inspect and sanitize your tanning goggles too. Make sure the profile strips are firmly in place and all the screws are well-tightened.
Clean and sanitize daily your sunbed’s exterior by using the recommended cleaning solutions (such as the ones mentioned in this guide) or a homemade cleaning solution. Never use bleach-based cleaning products, chlorine, or ammonia.
Every month, remove and clean the interior of both the bench and the canopy. Do an in-depth cleaning of the acrylics, reflectors, air filters, lamps, and vents.
Final Thoughts
This guide should be useful to you, especially if it’s your first time cleaning your tanning bed. Doing this regularly is particularly important when you are sharing your tanning bed with other people. In professional salons, sunbed cleaning is a routine, which is usually conducted after every tanning session.
You can always hire the services of a professional cleaner to help you maintain and sanitize your sunbed. But why waste those precious dollars when you can do a better job of cleaning and maintaining your tanning bed. As you have seen, you only need a few items, detailed guidelines (which we have provided), the product manual (to help you with the removal and returning of different parts), and of course a helping hand from a relative or friend (if necessary).
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