Tanning Bed Care: How to Clean a Tanning Bed

Cleaning your tanning bed is something that you should do regularly to keep off dust and dirt away, increase its performance, and prevent tanning warts. I would say, the frequency of cleaning it should be the same as that of the change in oil in your car.

Caring for the Tanning Bed

Just as you wash your dishes and sheets of the bed daily, you should clean the tanning bed, to keep it sanitary and presentable. Maintaining cleanliness and the parts operable, keeps clients, customers (in salons) and you happy. Make it a habit to clean the bed after every use. The UV rays that pass through tanning lamps are hindered by the presence of dirt and dust. About 10% of the rays that you could have absorbed, are instead absorbed by dirt and dust. The same is true in case of fans, trays and other parts.

Cleaning a Tanning Bed

The first step should be to take off the tanning acrylics, clear plastic sheets that cover the tanning lamps. Then take out the lamps and clean the reflector with the help of a clean damp cloth. Reflector reflects the UV rays back towards our bodies, and when its clean, you will get optimum performance from the tanning bed. Clean the lamps and bulbs nicely and put all back in place.

Next step is to clean the ballast tray, the tray-holder found under the tanning bed. The tray holds all the electrical components and requires maintenance. Since it's beneath the bed and not considered a part, people often forget or ignore to clean it. One should not make such a mistake, as it fills up with dust pretty quickly. Open up ballast trays every few months and use a vacuum cleaner to suck out all the dust.

If you know how to use a tanning bed, you also must be aware of the fact that cooling fans are found on the canopy and bench as well as on the ballast trays. If the fans are full of dust, they won't function properly. These fans can be cleaned the same way like you clean the rest of the bed.

Besides cleaning the fan, the ballast tray, reflector and lamps, other cleaning precautions should also be taken. After each time you use the tanning bed, take a peek at the inside of the bed to make sure that all parts are in working order and there are no cracks in the glass, and sanitize the goggles. All this may seem to be time-consuming and a waste activity, but remember cleanliness is important and so is customer satisfaction (in case you have a salon).

You can also utilize tanning bed cleaners for cleaning. Some of them that are available in the market are:

• Lucasol One Step Disinfectant
• Ultra Clean Tanning Bed Cleaner
• Novus
• Power Kleen

It is necessary to avoid any infection and maintain cleanliness, but people tend to ignore cleaning for weird reasons. One popular belief among some, is that UV light itself can sanitize the bed just like boiling cleans the water, which isn't true at all. Follow the above instructions to keep your tanning bed clean always.