How Do You Dry A Wet Trampoline (3 Techniques)
Wet trampolines can be a lot of fun. But if you aren’t in the mood to deal with wet kids, or if it’s a chilly sort of day, you may be asking “how do you dry a wet trampoline?” We’ve got a few ideas for you.
If you want to dry your wet trampoline, you can either wipe it down (where you start wiping matters), blow it dry (never with high heat devices), or simply take a deep breath and patiently wait for the sun do its thing.
1. Wipe It Down
Let’s be real. If you want a dry trampoline faster than the sun can do it, you’re going to have do some work. Wiping down the wet trampoline by hand isn’t a ton of fun, but it is the most effective way of getting it done quickly.
1.1. Where You Start Matters
Start with wiping the spring pad protector first, so that the water collected on there doesn’t spill onto the mat. Simply towel it off as you walk around the trampoline.
Then, hop up on the mat. Stay at the outer edge. Kneeling on one towel and rubbing the mat dry with another towel, work your way around the trampoline mat from the outside towards the middle, in a spiral shape.
If you don’t go in this spiral shape, from the “highest” part to the “lowest” (the center, where the mat stretches the deepest), you’ll find that your own weight causes water on the mat to flow right to where you are; you’ll find yourself sitting in a lovely puddle.
1.2. Get The Kids Involved!
Pass off the task to your kids! After all, drying off the trampoline is not too hard of a chore. It’s basically wiping while on your knees, going in a circle towards the middle. They will be the ones who get to enjoy the dry trampoline, so they can help. (If it’s not done perfectly, that’s ok. It’s healthy for kids to at least attempt new chores!)
To make the job a bit more fun, tell them to wear some old clothes that they don’t mind getting wet, give them a stack of towels, and have them spread them out on the wet mat… and tell them to bounce around on top of the towels to their hearts content.
1.3. What To Use For Wiping
You know that stack of old beach towels that you just can’t throw out because you know you’ll find a use for them someday? Or that collection of old microfiber towels that have seen better day but you haven’t chucked yet? Well, this is the day to get them out. Old towels make great rags for wiping trampolines dry.
On a forum question on Reddit, someone was discussing how those high absorbing ShamWow cloths worked well. Another person joked back “Sounds like a sham to me…” Haha 😉 Puns aside, if you have any high absorbent towels or rags in your garage, use them – it’ll totally speed up the process.
2. Blow It Dry
If you want to speed up the process and really don’t feel like expending energy wiping them down, you can blow your trampoline dry. It’s not as fast as wiping, but it’ll do the trick!
2.1. What Tools Work
A powerful leaf blower is a great tool to use to blow the trampoline dry. Many people already have these handy tools in their garage or garden shed, and many battery operated leaf blowers are easy even for kids to use.
Another tool that works that you can just “set and forget” are oscillating fans (house fans). Set them up as close to the trampoline as you can get them. Your standard house fans will do the trick nicely, although you may need a good extension cord to reach the trampoline. You’ll probably need to reposition them fairly often, but they will get the job done.
2.2. What Tools Do NOT Work (Don't Use These!!)
Stay away from using a heat source to dry your trampoline mat. Hair dryers or any fan that blows hot air should only be used if you for some strange reason feel like melting the nylon and destroying your trampoline mat. Which of course you don’t. (This “melting” will happen particularly if you get the heat source rather close up to the mat – there are some who claim a hair dryer on the lowest setting could work. But who has time for that??)
3. Sunshine And Patience
If you aren’t in a hurry, let the sun take care of the moisture on your trampoline. Natural sunlight is awesome for killing mold and mildew, so unless you really want a dry trampoline faster than a few hours in the sunlight will get you there, leave it be. Have some patience.
4. Trampoline Covers: Are They Worth It?
If you are someone who does not like your trampoline to get wet (if you hate the thought of your kids bouncing with water splashing every which way, and their clothes constantly wet from it), then you might want to consider investing in a trampoline cover.
What even is a trampoline cover? Think a big round fitted waterproof sheet that goes over the trampoline and is tugged tight.
As one who has researched and reviews a LOT of trampolines, I can tell you that the use of trampoline covers is pretty uncommon. But they do work fairly well at keeping a trampoline dry. They are a bit cumbersome to put on and take off, and most actually have funneling holes in them that will stop total effectiveness. Those holes are important though, because otherwise water pools up on top of the cover and the weight of that water can stretch the mat in a bad way.
5. Is It OK To Bounce On A Wet Trampoline?
You betcha. It’s actually a ton of fun. Many people claim that you can bounce higher on a wet trampoline. It does become a bit more slippery, so have your kids be aware that they need to limit their crazy tricks and flips somewhat, and watch the other jumpers around them more carefully than normal. Trampoline accidents are unfortunately rather common – and many do happen on wet trampolines.
Is it ok to bounce on a wet trampoline… for the trampoline’s sake? Sure. It doesn’t wreck anything.
6. Will Leaving Water On A Trampoline Mat Ruin It?
No. There is nothing in any backyard trampoline manual that I’ve ever studied (and I’ve done research on a LOT of high capacity trampolines and gymnastic trampolines) that says that you need to go out after it rains and wipe down your trampoline. No warranty anywhere is made void because you left water on the mat after the kids were bouncing on it with the lawn sprinkler running.
Backyard trampolines are designed to handle the range of regular weather, which includes rain. The metal is coated, the mats basically a high quality plastic, and the spring protector pads are waterproof as well.
The only part of the trampoline that MAY benefit from drying are the springs – they would be the “weakest link” when it comes to levels of waterproofing on a trampoline.
In Summary
Wet trampolines aren’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you want to dry yours, the options you have are:
- Wipe it down (where you start matters)
- Blow it dry (never with high heat devices)
- Patiently wait for the sunshine to dry it perfectly for you!
