By Dean Reese and Greg Carlson,  IIPGA Members and Owners of Affordable Moonwalks, Stafford, TX.

When you get to a client’s house and inflate your game, what does it look like? Better yet, what does it SMELL like? In our three years in business, we’ve grown from 6 moonwalks to 37 inflatables from little bounces to 52-foot obstacle courses. If nothing else, we have learned the importance of cleanliness. The main difference we see between our competitors and ourselves, it has been our adherence to a “clean them before you drop them” policy. That means taking the time to clean the units at the event site.

How often have you seen other companies spend good money on inflatables and then fail to clean them properly EACH time they are used? Some companies clean games twice a year, some twice a month, and a few clean them after they return to the warehouse. These same companies complain that many of their units need repair or replacement after just one or two years of use.

Our experience suggests cleaning games BEFORE they are dropped and rolled. The inflatable owners biggest enemies are bacteria, fungus and mildew. These little critters can devastate your investment. They love dark, damp conditions and thrive in areas of little sunlight and low air movement. You create such an area when you get a good tight roll on that inflatable. In your own little way, you are creating “weapons of mass destruction” right inside your warehouse.

Do you need a doctorate in microbiology to defeat these enemies? Do you need to hire U.N. weapons inspectors? The answer to both is a resounding NO. All you need are a few simple household items and five to 15 minutes at pick-up time. Cleaning on site saves time later during the week.

When it comes to general cleaning, we use a mixture of Simple Green Concentrate, Consan Triple Action 20 and water. Mix two ounces of Simple Green and one ounce of Consan in one gallon of water. If you are unfamiliar with Consan Triple Action 20, it is a fungicide-algaecide formulated for use on lawns. It’s available at most lawn and garden supply stores. You can even use it on your laundry!

We spray this solution on the walls, columns and floors of the inflatable and then wipe it all down with rags. We have tried everything under the sun such as vacuums, brooms and every kind of cleaning tool you can imagine, but we always come back to rags and “elbow grease” for the best results on every one of our inflatables.

What if it rains during the event and you have to roll up a wet game? Don’t think that a good rain will wash off all the dirt. If mold penetrates the outer layer of vinyl, it may leave a permanent stain. The simple solution to this problem is sunlight. The sooner you get sunshine on your wet inflatable, the quicker you minimize the damaging effects of water and darkness. The clock begins ticking the moment you roll the unit until you unroll it again. Mold and mildew begin growing immediately. Until you take steps to defeat them, they will grow and grow.
If you rent a number of inflatables each weekend, keep a list of any units that may be even the least bit wet. A short list is better than a long memory. Don’t forget, too, that units can become wet even without rain. Here on the Gulf Coast of Texas any unit picked up after dark is most likely wet enough to cause problems. We find dampness is the single largest contributor to permanent damage to our games. Once a stain penetrates the vinyl, we have yet to find a way to remove it short of replacement.

Even with vigilant cleaning, you may find your games still seem to get a good coating of dirt that embeds itself into the surface, and some colors like lime green and light blue really show the dirt. Consider pressure washing each game at least once a year. Make sure you don’t get too close to the vinyl or you may cut it. Depending on the pressure generated by your washer, maintain a distance of at least six to eight inches. Experiment carefully with your pressure washer.

Many of you may already use pressure washing more frequently because it really can brighten up a unit. However, when you do, you may want to try our secret weapon: Shout Pre-wash. Spray it on the game and see how its stain-busting power knocks off dirt like nothing else we have found.

If this sounds like a lot of work, remember your inflatables reflect on you and, in our case, on our families as well. You’ll enjoy no higher compliment than the exclamations of “Look how clean it is!” as the game inflates in a customer’s backyard. One positive by-product of taking the time to clean the game on site is the subsequent business from other parents who watched your cleaning crew.

Only you can decide if this extra effort is worth it.