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It’s a sunny and beautiful afternoon. I remember around the same time last year, my family and I visited a friend’s house. They have an inflatable bouncing house in their home. Kids were jumping up and down endlessly, and there were hundreds of colorful playballs within the bounce house. My daughters had such a great time playing on it.
My house is not as big as theirs, so placing it indoor would not be a feasible option. Besides I’m a huge advocate of encouraging kids to spend more time outdoors.
However, my backyard has some good space as I’m living on the corner lot. I wonder if I were to get one for my daughters, what kind of things would be involved.
The setting up part shouldn’t be too challenging. It should simply be inflating the unit. But I could foresee kids after the kids play on the bounce house, it could be filled with germs. After all, kids could be sweating a lot jumping on it, and it’s also not uncommon for a child to cough, sneeze or even cry while on a playset.
So how do I properly clean it afterward? Where should I store it? I immediately start to brainstorm these questions.
After doing some research, basically, there are two distinct ways to do it.
One should take less than 15 minutes to do so, while the other way could take hours, but the cleaning could be a lot more thoroughly.
Hope you’ll enjoy reading them!
Interesting Things in this Post
Method #1: Clean an Inflatable Bounce House Under 15 Minutes
Step 1: Remove Debris
Some parents would put playing balls in the bouncing house. First, you should take them off the inflatables. Then you could start removing any debris from it.
Keep the bounce house inflated. For large debris such as leaf, I would remove them by hand.
For smaller ones, I would blow them out using the leaf blower, then clean it with a vacuum. I prefer to use equipment that are cordless.
Make sure to also clean the “hard-to-reach” spots such as the stitches and the folding areas.
Step 2: Disinfect the Playset
I wasn’t sure which cleaner would be a good solution for inflatables, so I contacted BlastZone directly. They are one of the companies which manufacturers high-quality inflatable playset. (Also, their customer service is excellent. I got all the answers I needed within minutes)
Their customer service representative recommended me to use the “Matt Kleen” cleaner.
I read over their Product Description. It is a disinfectant cleaner, which is widely used in athletic facilities, locker rooms, schools, colleges, and other recreational facilities. It can also be used on vinyl surfaces, which many inflatables are made of.
According to their “Direction For Use,” you simply add 2 ounces of Matt-Kleen for every gallon of water. Spray on the dirty spots, then wipe it with a clean towel or scrub it with a soft brush.
Then just let it air dry. Unless you spray too much solution on it, it should be dry within minutes. If not, you could pat it dry with a towel.
One thing I like about Matt-Kleen is that it is a no-rinse disinfectant cleaner.
Step 3: Store the Inflatable Bounce House
That’s the shed I usually would use to store large items
Make sure the bounce house is completely dry before you store it, else mold could build up.
After you deflate it, roll it up and place it in a storage bag. When you purchase the bounce house, some manufacturers might provide you with the storage bag.
To prevent any insects from damaging the inflatables, I prefer a storage bag that has a zipper or that could be closed very tightly.
Some families stated that the storage bag that came with the purchase is too small. So they put it in a garden bin, which works equally fine for them.
Then I would store the playset into somewhere dry such as my garage or shed in the backyard.
Method #2: How to Thoroughly Clean an Inflatable Bounce House?
Step 1: Remove Debris (This is just the same step as the previous method)
Step 2: Scrub & Rinse the Bounce House
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Some parents do not prefer to purchase another chemical to do the cleaning. So here’s a cleaner you could easily make with your existing household solutions.
- 3 cups of warm water
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- Couple drops of dish soap
I also checked with Blastzone, and they stated this solution is fine, and should not damage the playset.
Spray the solution on the bounce house, and gently scrub off the dirt. Once again, make sure you clean the stitches and folding area.
Then fully rinse off the solution with water. Some do not suggest to entirely soak the bounce house, as it could take a long time to dry it. But to make sure there will not be soapy residue left on the bounce house, I would still thoroughly rinse off the playset with a garden hose.
When rinsing the bounce house with a garden hose, I would avoid using the powerful spray setting as this might damage the material of the inflatable.
Step 3: Dry it
This is a crucial step as any moisture could result in the bounce house in having mold.
Once you fully rinse it, you could dry it with a cloth. Don’t forget to wipe the stitches and folding areas too.
At this point, I would leave the bounce house remains inflated for another hour, so that the wind could breeze through it. Afterward, I’ll deflate it in order to some save electricity.
Then I’ll place it under the sun and let it air dry. Depending on the humidity in your region, it could take hours or even more than a day to dry. To speed up the drying process, you could use a leaf blower on it.
Before I store it, I would inflate it back again to inspect if it is completely dry.
Therefore, before you start cleaning the inflatable, always check the weather forecast to make sure it would be a beautiful and sunny day.
Step 4: Store the Inflatable
Then you simply roll the bounce house into a storage bag, and place it into somewhere dry. This is the same step mentioned in method#1.
How to Remove Mold from an Inflatable Bounce House?
Following the above methods should prevent mold from growing. If somehow mold still builds up, I checked with Blastzone again and below are their advice.
You could use the Matt-Kleen solution to clean off the mold. Alternatively, you could mix 1 part bleach to 9 parts water to clean it. However, they emphasize this is the highest bleach concentration ratio they would recommend. Anything more can be harmful to their material.
Other than that, some parents wonder if there’s anyway not to use any chemical to clean it. I recently had an experience in removing molds from a non-slip plastic shower mat for my daughters. (Well, you know how easily mold could build up since it always traps lots of water underneath.)
So what I did is I bring it to the backyard, fully rinsed out the mold. Then I place it under the sunlight and let it air dry. I haven’t tried this method on a bounce house, but I predict it should also work fine. Afterall, sunlight is one of the best natural sources to kill germs. [1]http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/does-sunlight-kill-germs#TOC-Does-hanging-laundry-out-to-dry-in-the-sun-kill-germs
Conclusion
I probably would dry clean with method #1 most of the time since it is a lot more convenient. Then I would use method #2 to thoroughly rinse the inflatable bounce house a couple of times every year.
But of course, it depends on how the kids are playing on it. If a child throws up on it, then there’s no doubt the full rinse method is necessary.
My general rule of thumb of cleaning is to use as least chemical as possible. My family and I are blessed to live in an area where the humidity is very low with strong UV sunlight. If you are living in a more humid environment, you could consider some of the above ways to disinfect the inflatable.
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Jacob is a father of two daughters. He loves spending quality time with them in the backyard. Playing sports, blowing bubbles, and planting are some the favorite activities Jacob and his daughters like to do together. He believes it is essential to spend quality time with them while they are still young.