Hi everyone,

This is my first OOT post. Looking for opinions on how to solve this problem at my health club.

Note: Cliffs Notes at the bottom of this post.

About six months ago, my job moved to a nearby town. The office complex has a health club and I decided to get off my arse and join it. The gym looked really high class (TV’s in all cardio machines, steam showers, etc). They also provide amenities such as Q-tips, mouthwash, and disposable razors. Even though the membership price was a little more than I was looking to pay, I went for it because it was so convenient (100 steps from my office door) and a high quality facility.

Not long after I joined, I sometimes found used disposable razors in the showers. (I shower there because I workout at lunchtime.) I thought the presence of used disposable razors was kind of gross but just ignored it.

Then two things happened to make me more concerned. First, my wife pointed me to several news stories about the rampant spread of Staph infections in gyms and other similar places. These articles specifically mentioned razor blades as a source of infection. (Before anyone asks… No, I do not share these razor blades). Second, I would sometime notice used razors in showers that were bone dry. If the shower was dry and there was a used razor blade, then how often are these showers being cleaned?

So I spoke to the member services person that I signed up with. She agreed this is bad and introduced me to the operations manager (a college age guy). He was kind of flippant about it and said things like "I can't prevent people from leaving razors in the showers". Anyhow, he agreed to patrol the showers more often.

Well, nothing has changed. I still sometimes find used razors in the showers. I have twice given the people at the front desk my name and phone number and asked that the person in charge of this location (facility manager) call me to discuss the matter. Nobody has called me. This aggravates me about as much as the razors themselves.

My goal is for them to keep the showers clean and sanitary. I don't want to cancel my membership simply because the place is so close to my office and there are no nearby alternatives.

My wife suggested that I contact the board of health. She thinks the board of health would not be happy to learn that used razor blades are being left in the shower stalls. It's an interestingidea but I don't want to burn any bridges because I need a place to workout.

My idea is to take a picture of a shower with a used razor in it (I have taken a fuzzy picture with my cell phone) and email the picture to the facility manager and explain that I have tried my best to work with the gym staff about their unsanitary shower conditions.

What' my best play? Am I overreacting?

Cliffs Notes: I keep finding used disposable razor blades in the showers of my health club. I have brought it to the staff's attention numerous times but they don't seem to care or take any action to prevent it. Additionally, I have given my name and phone number to the staff (twice) and asked that the facility manager call me but no one has called. I am concerned this is unsanitary and want them to address it.

Take the razors and leave them somewhere these people who are blowing you off would notice them.

disposable razors or razor blades?

OP,

You are overreacting. It's a little gross but really doesn't seem like a big deal to me. You seem to be asking "What can I do to get my gym to clean the showers more regularly?" and I really doubt that's going to happen.

if it's disposable razors he is overreacting. if it's blades that could be pretty dangerous.

fwiw i f'ing hate people who shower in the gym showers. there is nothing worse than walking in and seeing a million tiny hairs all over the floor.

If the floors of these showers are strewn with used razor blades, I hope to God he wouldn't need to ask anyone else's opinion on the subject.

Get some flip-flops or something to wear in the shower.

Shower stakeout operation to catch the perps obv.

hi. sorry if I wasn't clear. it's disposable razors.

lol. Good insight. I guess you are kind of right. I do want them to clean the showers more often but only because I don't like walking into a shower stall and finding somebody's used disposable razor next to the soap and shampoo dispenser.

I usually find just one disposable razor in the stall. One time I found six used disposable razors piled high next to the soap and shampoo dispenser. WTF?

I'm not a fan of gym showers either. When I workout after work I skip the shower but when I workout at lunch I always shower afterward.

BTW: My scalp is balding but my back and junk hairs are very sturdy and never fall off in the shower.

LOL at people who shower at the local gym.

FYP

yeti hates people who shower in the- GASP! gym showers?? Do you mean who shave in the gym showers? And if they are shaving their face you shouldn't see "millions of little hairs"... are they shaving the pubis?? Gross

Seems like a decent chance it's the same one or two regulars who are leaving them there but maybe everyone is doing it. Don't know.
Are people just grabbing the razors and sharing those things?

I don't think it's so terrible that you throw them away yourself although obviously you shouldn't have to.

Since the gym won't do anything about it just put up a little laminated sign yourself that says:
"Please throw-away your disposable razors in the trash. Do not leave them in the showers.
Thanks -
The Management"

If the younger manager dude sees the sign then he'll assume that somebody higher than him put the sign up there due to your complaints. And if somebody higher up sees it they'll think it was somebody else's call.
If they determine that it must have been you that did it and then take down the sign it's possible it will have stayed up long enough to have attracted the attention of the violators.


To answer your original question though:
Yes...your health-club is pretty unsanitary. There's a lot of sweat going on all over the place there. The razors in the showers aren't likely to be the worst source/sign of the unsanitary conditions though.

I don't think it should be that big of a deal. Obviously a used razor free shower is preferable, but I don't see why you even really care.

oh yeah i meant shaving obviously.

and um yeah when you shave off stubble you are shaving off small hairs. i can't believe i'm explaining this, but feel free to put the plug in next time you shave at the sink and see what is in the water afterwards. then imagine that on the shower floor.

Kind of have to agree with Yeti on this one.
If I want to shave in my own shower at home then that's one thing.
But at the gym IF I'm going to take a shower and also shave I'm pretty sure the shaving part would be at the sink because doing that in a public shower is kind of rude and/or potentially gross.


Also - LOL at the young manager guy who says he can't help it if the guys leave their razors there. Ummm...yeah you can.
Same way you can help it if they want to eat a ham sandwich in the shower but don't like the crusts so just leave the crusts on the shower floor or if they want to smear toothpaste on the faucets.
You take action to make them stop.
I do think that leaving a sign would be enough to curtail the behavior.

From the other thread:


Pics or it didn't happen.

i didn't think his other thread was all that bad. don't know who locked it.

i once saw a guy using a hairdrier to dry his junk. actually he was using two simultaneously, i assume as a homage to john woo.

I have a crappy cell phone pic of a razor in the shower.

The hair dryer on the junk is true. There's just no way I was going to be able to document it though.

Drop a deuce in the shower every time you see a used razor. That will up the ante and force managment to clean the showers.

Thanks. I was getting a little bummed. After years of perusing OOT I finally make two posts and one gets locked.

I opened the other thread so that folks could post their gym locker room stories. I thought it deserved a different thread because it is not directly related to this thread where I was asking advice on how to deal with a particular locker room situation.

No prob though. I am glad I finally burst my OOT cherry.

it wasn't that bad, but it was one that requires people to contribute (as most threads do). and that is hard to get when you are new. the first 5 replies didn't want to help out, and sadly when that happens the thread is going to go nowhere.

the key mistake was making two threads within an hour that are in essence about the exact same thing. a much better idea would have been to segue this thread into gym stories. but tbh i did a gym rant a while back and it didn't go down well either

anyway, this lesson is over. continue.

You taking your camera into the showers and getting caught sounds like a pretty awesome Seinfeld episode.