How to Clean Your Treadmill Belt

If you can see your cat’s paw prints for the dust on your treadmill belt, then there’s a good reason you’re reading this article. But seriously, keeping your treadmill clean is an important step in maintaining your deck and belt. Along with lubricating, aligning, and even replacing your belt from time to time, keeping it clean is just a part of ownership. You’ll also want to be safe when exercising, and no one wants their treadmill to become a dusty trail.

Whether you’ve invested in one of the best home treadmills on the market, or chosen a lower-priced budget model, take care of will help extend its life. Remember, there’s a reason treadmills are called dust magnets. With a whirring motor, rollers, and a floor-level spot in your house, they’ll draw all the dust and dander in the room over time. And, if you have a house cat like I do, then you very well might see paw prints on the tread.

While cleaning your unit, be sure to inspect it from the ground up. This is a good time to check for loose bolts or other problems that might interfere with your workouts going forward.

Usually a damp rag, soap, and some water will clean up the dirt on your treadmill belt.

How Belts Get Dirty

Maybe you’re like me and have one pair of shoes for running that you try to keep clean. Even the cleanest of running shoes get dirty and walkers do drip sweat. Treadmill belts typically come as 1- or 2-ply. In either case the top side is a long strip of rubber, and with a 2-ply belt there is an underside layer of cotton or some other fabric. If you’ve ever run your hand along the top of a treadmill belt you can feel how sticky that rubberized tread is. This works in your favor when keeping your footing while running, but it also makes dust stick to the top.

You’ll also want to note the movement of the motor which draws rollers which attach to the belt. This motion down on the floor works like a reverse fan and can suck dust and dirt up into the machine, and then onto the belt as it rolls from the bottom. And if you do have pets, or other members of the family who use the treadmill, then there’s just no question you’ll have dirt mixed into the tread which is dampened with dripping sweat. Folding treadmills which are rolled into a closet while not in use are particularly prone to getting dusty.

If you do have a folding treadmill, then it’s a good idea to lift the unit up each time you clean the floors and check underneath. Remember, whatever dirt you put on the top is going to roll underneath to the bottom with every footstep. If you have hardwood or linoleum floors, you know how much dirt and dust rolls through anyway. This especially true if you’ve placed your treadmill in a garage on a concrete floor near a car or bicycle. If you don’t have a folding treadmill, you should move the unit to clean the floor underneath every now and then. This is actually one of the top reasons you might want a treadmill mat to go underneath the unit. Treadmill mats are designed for just this purpose, to help keep the unit clean.

If you have a folding treadmill, you’ll be surprised at what dirt you can see built up underneath.

Ways to Clean Your Treadmill Belt

Prevention is always the best of cures. One thing you’ll want to avoid is making a big mess in your living room or home gym. The first step in cleaning your belt is to take a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment and run it as needed along the belt. What I like to do is turn the treadmill on 0.5 mph and let it roll slowly while vacuuming the belt as it rolls. I’ve found as I do this when I vacuum the rest of the room, the belt stays pretty clean. Be careful as the unit is running though and keep your hands away from the belt itself. This is the value of the vacuum hose.

There are those dirty winter days however when you can’t help but track mud into the house. If after using your machine you notice a great big footprint on the belt, then the best thing to do is get out the mop bucket and mix warm water with some dish soap and scrub it off using a cloth or stiff brush. Be careful not to dump water onto the belt. Remember, we don’t want a slip ‘n and slide here. A textured sponge like you’d use to get grime off your dishes can work wonders. Again, you’ll want to make sure you get all sides of the belt when doing this. Be careful to keep your hands clear of the belt when the machine is running.

But what if the belt is a total mess and requires a genuine scrubbing? If your treadmill has been in storage, or perhaps you keep it in a garage where dust and dirt are just the norm, then you might have to actually remove the treadmill belt from the machine and give it a true washing in a tub with warm water. One trick to drying the treadmill belt after a soaking is to hang it up on a shower rod like you would a towel. After you’ve dried it out, be sure to lubricate the deck before replacing the belt.

Avoid harsh chemicals or bleach when cleaning your belt. Potential cleaning agents to use on the treadmill belt:

• Water
• White vinegar
• Dish soap
• Alcohol-based sanitizers

If you can see footprints on your treadmill belt, it’s time for a cleaning.

Maintenance Prevents Replacement

You really don’t want to have to take your treadmill belt on and off any more frequently than needed as this only increases the chance of a problem. Replacing a treadmill belt can be a costly proposition, with belts purchased online running about $100. The more frequently you simply wipe down the belt the longer it’s going to last. Dust leads to drying and drying to friction, which is one of the primary enemies of a treadmill deck and belt system. If you’ve ever been a member of a gym or other fitness facility you’ve seen the maintenance staff walking around wiping down the treadmills after use. Consider doing the same at your own home.

A home treadmill is no cheap investment, no matter how budget-friendly. Whether you use it once a week or every day, the build-up of grime and dirt is a real danger to the machine. No one would buy a car without expecting to keep it clean, and the same goes with exercise equipment. While wiping down the treadmill belt, be sure to give the rest of the unit a once over as well. A little maintenance today can save a lot of costs over time.