Introduction

A frequent question asked by investors in gyms and sports centres is about the durability of furniture, such as locker rooms. You are planning to start a new business or replace the current lockers in your gym, but you want the best material, the most cost-effective, and the most durable furniture. So how long do locker cabinets last?

The life cycle of gym lockers depends on the choice of materials and their quality, professional installation and fitting, display conditions, usability, and maintenance. To extend the life span of your locker room furniture, you should check if the factors mentioned earlier are adequate for your facility.

We built this topic to help you with some variables: materials, locker display conditions and maintenance. These are essential requirements to understand the useful life of furniture such as gym lockers.

Changing room positioning, size and layout

The gym’s lockers must be made by measure, respecting criteria such as the size of the space destined for its installation, the number of users per day/hour, and more. All this thought is to offer comfort to customers and follow international standards.

With a defined layout and installation done by professionals, the gym’s lockers tend to have greater durability. The impact and wear of the furniture become minimal with its implementation in places of little passage of customers.

Main materials for gym lockers

This factor is crucial to understanding the service life of fitness centre lockers. There are a lot of materials that can be used for the construction of lockers, such as wood, metal, plastic/HDPE or laminates (plastic, wood, MDF, melamine and phenolic resin).

The range of materials is very wide, as are the specifications of each. Wood lockers, for example, require a higher budget to purchase, their maintenance is more frequent, and their installation isn’t recommended in wet areas. Nevertheless, wood locker cabinets are still a favourite among investors in terms of design and layout.

You can learn more about the materials of lockers and their properties in the article: “What materials are used for locker cabinets?“.

Can gym lockers be in contact with water?

One factor that increases the wear and tear of lockers in gyms and sports centres is humidity. For this reason, the material used to produce the piece and its finish are very important.

The lockers must be prepared for contact with water in gyms or sports centres with a swimming pool or where contact with humidity is greater than in changing rooms where dry sports and weight training are predominant.

Users of the sports facility may be sweaty or wet (in the case of those who practice water sports). For a longer lifetime, the choice of raw material and finish must be appropriate.

Lockers’ exposure to heat

Exposure to heat is a factor that also affects the useful life of the gym’s lockers. You should plan furniture installation to avoid contact with machines that can heat its surface or sides. 

Direct sunlight will also decrease the durability of locker room furniture. Gyms and sports centres with large glass windows and natural lighting feel nice, but the daily and direct contact with sun radiation on the gym lockers can result in wearing them out faster.

Lockers usability

An important calculation for investing in gyms or sports centres is the number of clients enrolled in your facility and the peak hours of activity and crowding.

To preserve the furniture even more, the number of lockers available should always be superior to the number of active users at peak times. Avoiding overcrowding also avoids accelerated furniture wear, bringing more comfort to people.

Maintenance of locker cabinets

One of the main reasons why gym lockers can have an even longer life span is maintenance. With proper and periodic maintenance, you can prevent rust by checking the lubrication of doors and drawers, tightening up screws or anything ill-fitting, replacing damaged parts, etc.

Cleaning is also crucial for your health club furniture. Removing dirt, dust, and sweat from the surfaces of lockers contributes to their durability. Prevention is always worth more than replacing equipment.

Do these guidelines imply the design of the gym lockers?

Not at all! The layout of the lockers, when designed by professionals in the area, can respect the aesthetics and proposal of your gym or sports centre.

The choice of raw materials, finishes, sizes, and the number of doors are defined by some criteria that have as a goal the best durability for the lockers. But this doesn’t influence the desired look of the client.

Summary

We hope that with the above information, it becomes clearer that the useful life of a locker can depend on several factors, among them the place of its installation, its material and finish, humidity and heat, and its maintenance.

To make it even easier for you, who intend to install new lockers in your gym or sports centre, we have separated some basic questions that can help you in your questioning before closing any deal involving lockers:

• What is the raw material for the lockers? Will it be steel or MDF?
• What is the finish of the lockers? What material are the door locks made of?
• Is the cabinet waterproof?
• How long do the lockers have to be maintained?

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Disclaimer: The opinions and positions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and collaborators and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the professional fitness community.