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Those of y'all who have instructed classes have probably, at one time or another, encountered some disasters on the dojo floor, because a child happened to be sick, ate too much bean-based chili, or maybe drank a whole liter of Coke before training, and couldn't hold it in.
So, in order to help many a new instructor, I've put together a list of easy to find items, that no dojo should ever be without, so that you can easily clean up messes.
1) Gloves - Disposable latex or nitrile gloves are VERY important when cleaning up messes. I don't think you would want someone else's blood, vomit, urine, or fecal matter touching your skin. Cheap to find at any grocery store, Wal-Mart, or any drug store.
2) Large amounts of baking soda - Go to Wal-Mart or Target, and buy a few *large* boxes of baking soda. Not only does it help absorb liquid spills, but it also helps kill off the odors associated with some of these awful smelling compounds. Vomit can contain butyric acid, which is a very, very foul smelling compound, that is also found in rancid butter, rancid parmesean cheese, etc. Not very nice...
Keep in mind, that urine and vomit are acidic, and you don't want these substances staying in contact with your training floor (hardwood, foam mats, etc). The mildly alkaline nature of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can help neutralize the acid, to prevent further damage.
The baking soda can also help dry up much of the mess, so that you can actually sweep up some of it.
3) Bag of kitty litter or diatomaceous earth - No, I'm not kidding. There are going to be some times where a HUGE amount of liquids are going to be expelled, and the baking soda isn't going to be enough to dry it out. In this case, you may need to initially treat the spill with this stuff, just to get it reasonably dry.
If a child has a diarrhea accident, rest assured, you're going to *need* the kitty liter / diatomaceous earth first.
4) Isopropyl alcohol - Cheap, readily available at Wal-Mart or any hardware store. 70% isopropyl alcohol works fine as a disinfectant, and believe it or not, the pungent smell of isopropyl alcohol can serve as a relief to the other students in the class, in knowing that the wet spot is getting disinfected.
Windex (or any ammonia + alcohol based cleaner) can also work well for disinfecting and acid neutralization.
5) Mild chlorine bleach solution - Take some Chlorox bleach (or any generic brand), and dilute it by a factor of 1 part of bleach to 4 parts of water (20% solution), and use it to treat biohazards, such as blood stains. I know I'm being overly cautious here, but you do need to watch out for bloodborne pathogens.
Follow up all bleach treatments with isopropyl alcohol treatments. Makes it easier to dry.
6) Broom, dustpan, mop and mop buckets - for obvious reasons... Also have lots of paper towels on hand, as well as disposable "shop towel" cloths (again found in Wal-Mart's Automtive Section). Also have several garbage bags available.
7) Ozium air freshener spray - Again, you can find this at the Automotive section of Wal-Mart. It comes in a cylindrical cannister, and does a remarkable job of killing odors in the air. To be blunt (pun intended), a pothead recommended this stuff as an air freshener, and it does work extremely well, with just a quick spray. No need for heavy sprays of this stuff.
As I stated, puke / urine / fecal matter smells badly, and the sooner you get the stench out of the air, the less likely that your other students will get sick as well.
All of the above won't put any noticeable dents in your budget, since they're cheap items, and you can readily find all of the above at Wal-Mart.
I know it sounds paranoid, but it's always better to be prepared for the emergency that never arrives, than to be caught unprepared for the one that does arrive.
Finally, never understimate the ability of small children to produce catastrophically sized messes. I've had kids who were barely one meter tall who were able to produce giant-sized urine puddles, one meter diameter puke slicks, etc.
Oh yeah, one more item you may want to add to that list... Hair dye... Each mess that you have to clean up, is going to give you a few more grey hairs.
So, in order to help many a new instructor, I've put together a list of easy to find items, that no dojo should ever be without, so that you can easily clean up messes.
1) Gloves - Disposable latex or nitrile gloves are VERY important when cleaning up messes. I don't think you would want someone else's blood, vomit, urine, or fecal matter touching your skin. Cheap to find at any grocery store, Wal-Mart, or any drug store.
2) Large amounts of baking soda - Go to Wal-Mart or Target, and buy a few *large* boxes of baking soda. Not only does it help absorb liquid spills, but it also helps kill off the odors associated with some of these awful smelling compounds. Vomit can contain butyric acid, which is a very, very foul smelling compound, that is also found in rancid butter, rancid parmesean cheese, etc. Not very nice...
Keep in mind, that urine and vomit are acidic, and you don't want these substances staying in contact with your training floor (hardwood, foam mats, etc). The mildly alkaline nature of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can help neutralize the acid, to prevent further damage.
The baking soda can also help dry up much of the mess, so that you can actually sweep up some of it.
3) Bag of kitty litter or diatomaceous earth - No, I'm not kidding. There are going to be some times where a HUGE amount of liquids are going to be expelled, and the baking soda isn't going to be enough to dry it out. In this case, you may need to initially treat the spill with this stuff, just to get it reasonably dry.
If a child has a diarrhea accident, rest assured, you're going to *need* the kitty liter / diatomaceous earth first.
4) Isopropyl alcohol - Cheap, readily available at Wal-Mart or any hardware store. 70% isopropyl alcohol works fine as a disinfectant, and believe it or not, the pungent smell of isopropyl alcohol can serve as a relief to the other students in the class, in knowing that the wet spot is getting disinfected.
Windex (or any ammonia + alcohol based cleaner) can also work well for disinfecting and acid neutralization.
5) Mild chlorine bleach solution - Take some Chlorox bleach (or any generic brand), and dilute it by a factor of 1 part of bleach to 4 parts of water (20% solution), and use it to treat biohazards, such as blood stains. I know I'm being overly cautious here, but you do need to watch out for bloodborne pathogens.
Follow up all bleach treatments with isopropyl alcohol treatments. Makes it easier to dry.
6) Broom, dustpan, mop and mop buckets - for obvious reasons... Also have lots of paper towels on hand, as well as disposable "shop towel" cloths (again found in Wal-Mart's Automtive Section). Also have several garbage bags available.
7) Ozium air freshener spray - Again, you can find this at the Automotive section of Wal-Mart. It comes in a cylindrical cannister, and does a remarkable job of killing odors in the air. To be blunt (pun intended), a pothead recommended this stuff as an air freshener, and it does work extremely well, with just a quick spray. No need for heavy sprays of this stuff.
As I stated, puke / urine / fecal matter smells badly, and the sooner you get the stench out of the air, the less likely that your other students will get sick as well.
All of the above won't put any noticeable dents in your budget, since they're cheap items, and you can readily find all of the above at Wal-Mart.
I know it sounds paranoid, but it's always better to be prepared for the emergency that never arrives, than to be caught unprepared for the one that does arrive.
Finally, never understimate the ability of small children to produce catastrophically sized messes. I've had kids who were barely one meter tall who were able to produce giant-sized urine puddles, one meter diameter puke slicks, etc.
Oh yeah, one more item you may want to add to that list... Hair dye... Each mess that you have to clean up, is going to give you a few more grey hairs.
