Mar 27, 2026 - Cameron BrierleyCaring for your gym equipment after purchasing ensures that it’ll last for years to come, saving you the hassle and cost of replacing tired products.
Weight benches are a simple piece of equipment to maintain. There’s not much you need to do on a regular basis, so we’ll keep this guide short and sweet.
Why do I need to maintain my weight bench?
The answer to this is simple: safety. There are a huge number of bench exercises that utilise barbells or dumbbells for resistance. In these cases, your bench needs to be able to support not just your weight, but also the weight you’re lifting. We call this max load.
All of our weight benches come with a clear max load listed on the product page, but anything that threatens the structural integrity of the bench risks weakening it — which is exactly what we’ll help you avoid here.
Four simple steps to maintaining a weight bench
Check that bolts are tight every couple of weeks.
Between shimmying around to find the most comfortable position for your lifts and dragging the bench around like a lost toddler, the bolts are bound to loosen over time.
We won’t suggest anything crazy like checking them each time you use the bench, as that’s not practical, but having a quick scan over the bolts every couple of weeks is ample for making sure you aren’t training on a weak surface.
If you can rotate a bolt with your fingers, it needs tightening. Your manufacturer should have sent an Allen key or small spanner in the hardware pack when you originally placed the order.
Check the frame every month
Bolts are the most likely culprit for making your bench unsafe, but it’s important to check the actual frame as well. Since weight benches are often stored in garage and home gyms, these are more prone to rusting than something that’s stored in an insulated setting like a commercial gym.
As such, we’d suggest giving the frame a quick once-over for rust or structural damage every month. This will only take a second and can easily be done between sets.
If you discover that your frame has rusted, get in touch with the manufacturer to see if you’re within your warranty period and what options you have available to you.
Apply silicone oil to hinges
If you notice that your bench is awkward to adjust from one setting to another, then it might need a little silicone oil to restore it to full health.
The most common areas you’ll need to do this on are the backrest hinges and seat hinges. You can buy silicone oil from Amazon and applying a couple of drops directly onto the hinge should be plenty to bring the bench back to life.
Keep the bench clean and dry
Clean is nice, dry is essential. Letting your gym equipment get damp is what opens the door to rust.
Rust > unsafe equipment > a gap in your training schedule and wallet > misery.
If you’ve had a particularly heavy session, wipe down any sweat from your bench with a dry cloth. If you spill water, protein or pre-workout on the bench, clean it up.
Keep your equipment dry.
Refresh upholstery with a mix of soap and warm water
No harsh chemicals please — we don’t expect a weight bench to get excessively dirty, so it only needs a mild soap used with water to get rid of dirt lodged in the pad.
And remember our previous point: keep it dry! Once you’ve finished cleaning your bench, be sure to wipe it thoroughly with a dry cloth to get rid of any leftover moisture.
That’s really all there is to it. Small steps, but realistic, simple-to-follow ones that will actually increase the longevity of your weight bench.
If there's anything else you need to know, it's probably covered in our weight bench explainer article.
That’s all for now. Happy training!
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