How To Maintain A Stroller – 10 Tips For Shining Stroller And Long Run

The moment of remembering stroller maintenance and understanding how to maintain a stroller will give you a slightly uncomfortable feeling and heavy task vibes. 

I have given my child’s first stroller to my cousin and she gave it back to my other cousin. This all happened just with the wonderful maintenance and care we have given to the stroller.

It takes effort but here are some instructions and clear guidance on how to maintain a stroller to make your journey smoother. In the end, you will be exposed to many things and you will be equipped for maintaining your stroller perfectly.

10 Tips and Instructions for How to Maintain a Stroller

I don’t know why but me and John, both consider strollers like a bicycle. I still remember we used to have a bicycle in my childhood, after I reached a certain age, I stopped using it and we left it aside.

After a few months, it got rusted, lost the paint and good look and everything. It used to move with a lot of stiffness. But once my cousin visited my home and asked my parents to take that bicycle with her. We agreed to it and she took it from our house.

When we visited their house after a few months, I didn’t even recognize our bicycle. It was reshaped to the best extent and best look. 

I asked about it expecting they spent a lot on it. But she replied that initially it took a little charge to change some basic things but the rest is all about maintenance. 

I then understood well the importance of it. After purchasing a stroller, John and I both maintained it very well. That’s why it was good-looking and in good condition all the time. Of course, maintenance is all about effort and time, but it’s worth giving.

Here are some top 10 instructions and crucial elements for how to maintain a stroller.

1. Regular Cleaning 

Needless to say, strollers always do possess a lot of dirt and mess. While we are feeding or organizing things in the strollers, it’s obvious for the stroller to become a little messy and clumsy.

So always consider regular cleaning your stroller. 

It’s not just for the maintenance of the stroller, but also it’s about keeping the stroller gems free to ensure good protection for your baby. Here are some tips to talk about cleaning.

• Make use of a mild detergent and warm water to clean the stroller.
• Clean all the frames, and especially the seat well.
• Pay attention and try to clean even hard-to-reach areas and joints too.
• Always refer to the instruction manual before cleaning a stroller.
• Don’t use harsh chemicals to clean the stroller that could damage the stroller as well as burn your hands too.

2. Focus on Storage

It’s not just about when you are storing while usage, it’s also about where you are storing post usage too. Out of tiredness or unconsciously we leave the stroller without taking care of the storage.

But storage is so crucial in maintenance. It impacts the look and movement a lot. Even if you have purchased a stroller, one among the top 10 stroller brands, still you should give alot of importance to storage.

Follow the below points for storage.

• Always keep the stroller in a clean and dry place.
• Avoid direct sunlight or rain or wetness or extreme temperatures whether it’s too hot or too cold.
• If the stroller comes with a folding mechanism, then ensure you should fold it well after usage to reduce the strain on certain parts of the stroller.

Garage is an excellent place to store strollers. Here are some tips on How to Store Strollers in Garage

3. Maintain Weight Limits

It’s a common mistake sometimes we generally do, is not to be conscious about the weight we are keeping. Especially the strollers with organizers to keep the baby things, people tend to forget about the weight limit.

Of course, it won’t break down in just a moment after you place such a heavy weight. But in the long run, it will tend to lose its strength due to heavy weights beyond the limit.

• Refer to the instruction manual of the stroller. 
• Read the guidelines about what are the things you can keep and what’s the maximum limit.
• Don’t keep heavy items.
• Don’t keep two babies at once even if it’s more spacious.

4. Regular Lubrication 

Lubrication is the most important thing in maintaining a stroller. Without better and regular lubrication, you can’t run your stroller even for a year, it’s that essential element.

• Pick up the right lubricant for your stroller. Always look for safe lubricants and silicone-based lubricants. They are safe and in many ways you can use silicon spray. Don’t go for the normal or unsafe lubricants because they in turn can damage the stroller.
• Always remember to not choose oil-based lubricants, especially pure coconut oil or other oils that are available in our houses. Those oils can smoothen and improvise the moment but in turn, attracts more dirt from the atmosphere.
• Prepare the stroller first before lubrication. Clean the stroller completely before applying the lubricant. Make sure the stroller is dirt-free and debris free.
• Identify all the parts where you need to apply the lubricant. These mostly include wheels, hinges, joints, and folding mechanism places. If you are not sure about where you can apply the lubricant, you can refer to the instruction manual.
• By using small amounts of lubricant, apply the required areas slowly. Don’t pour large sections of lubricant all at once. Pour a little amount. 
• If you by mistake poured a lot of lubricant or while applying lubricant if it’s flowing down inside the stroller, then don’t forget to clean it out immediately without waiting. Because lubricants always catch a lot of dirt and debris.
• Make use of a small cloth and wipe it of all the excess lubricant or the spread lubricant.
• Gently move the parts to make sure the lubricant is equally spread throughout the stroller part. For example, if you have applied the lubricant to the wheels then gently rotate them.
• You can test the whole stroller once you are done with the application part and cleaning as well as the spreading part. You can check once if you have correctly and perfectly applied it or not.
• If you still feel any lesser lubricant, you can apply it again. If you miss any part also, you can still apply back. But always make sure to clean it up again if there is any leakage or if the lubricant is overflowing.

5. Controlled Movement

Being a parent, we always have controlled movement with strollers. But when it’s not in use, especially with kids, they will move here and there randomly and fastly sometimes. 

That could reduce a lot of stress on the wheels with the floor. That leads to slippery wheels. Even with parents also, ensure you are rolling it up on a nice clean floor in a correct movement which is safe for the child too.

So make sure you always should possess a controlled movement with the stroller for better tyre life too. Take care and be conscious depending on the place for your stroller like beaches, parks etc.

Talking about them, if you are searching for best stroller for beaches, here is a wonderful guide: 10 Best Stroller For Beach Sand | Conquer The Sand

6. Manual Reading 

There is a popular saying that “ learn the rules of the game first before playing”. Before going for stroller usage and maintenance, make yourself familiar with the manual as much as possible. 

Then you can understand the durability of the parts and maintenance well. If there are any specific instructions for any part and any information or specifications about cleaning, you will get to know about them.

Also if there are any new features present in that stroller, in the manual guide you can understand them completely. Getting yourself more exposed to the stroller gives you a brief plan for maintenance. 

Manual Reading is also a part of understanding how to maintain a stroller. It gives better knowledge and understanding with the most accuracy. 

7. Regular Checkup

Sometimes the internal nuts or joints will become loose or some parts get torn but we don’t check it or get to know about it. It’s not good, even unsafe to use in such times. Gradually the tear parts or minute problems will become larger and impact a lot. 

So prepare for a good regular check-up. Understand the condition of the stroller. If anything needs to be repaired, get it done immediately. If something is torn, try to fix it.

Check whether any part required any lubrication.

Trust us, this regular checkup helps a lot in keeping the stroller looking like a new one for a long time.

8. Good Usage

Mostly the durability depends on the proper usage. For better maintenance, you need to focus on your usage as well. 

After reading the guidelines from the stroller, understand what are the things you can do and what you can’t do with the stroller. 

In some cases we tend to keep our general things or shopping accessories inside our stroller. But that’s not a good usage. Try to follow every guideline that’s mentioned in the manual.

Good usage not only helps you in maintaining the stroller in good condition, but it also will give you durability as well as safety for the child. 

9. Special Attention to Wheels and Tyres

If the stroller has a heart, then it’s wheels. The one which bothered me a lot in the stroller while moving out is the wheels. It will accumulate a lot of dirt and dust too all the way.

Of course, we should not let that dirt and debris come into our homes. Especially after every walk, make sure you should clean the wheels. 

Special attention and care are required to the wheels frequently for a better run. Generally, they will also loosen up and reduce the strain between the floor and the wheels. It will make the wheels slippery.

If the dirt accumulated too much inside the wheels or improper lubrication also will lead to forced effort movement. So don’t need to do so much, at least clean with a dry cloth after a walk.

Especially after a long time spent in either beeches or nature, make sure you clean the stroller wheels properly.

But in regular cleaning, try to detach the wheels from the stroller. It’s not a difficult task to remove the wheels from the stroller. You can take the help of an instruction manual on how to detach and can easily clean it.

You can use some warm water and some soap or any cleaning material to clean them. Wipe them off well after cleaning. If your wheel has bearings, lubricate them well. 

10. Better Folding and Unfolding 

You also should know better about folding and unfolding a stroller in the process of knowing how to maintain a stroller. Different mechanisms are available for different strollers for folding and unfolding.

In a rush or hurry, we unfold so fast in the same way out of tiredness or unconsciously, we will sometimes forget about folding the stroller. But it’s always important to unfold slowly and better before use and fold well after use.

Some strollers will offer a push mechanism and some will give a pull or sliding mechanism. Understand them well from the manual and apply the correct pressure and strain in the right method.

These are the ten important things on how to maintain a stroller. Along with them, you can perform other tasks as well to keep your stroller in healthy shape. But these are the mandatory things to do without fail for better stroller experience in the long run.

If you use Uppabby stroller then here is a blog on How to Fold UPPABaby Vista Stroller

For Baby Trend here is another one How To Fold Baby Trend Stroller

FAQ

How often do you need to clean a stroller? 

If your usage is regular, then it’s advisable to clean it once a week or at least after every ten days. If your usage is not so frequent, then you can go for monthly cleaning.

It mostly depends on your usage. If you are very rarely using it only for vacations or in rare situations, then you can even go every three months too.

Can you take a stroller apart to wash it?

For deep cleaning, it’s always recommendable to segregate the stroller parts before cleaning. It not only gives you perfect cleaning but also gives you better convenience for cleaning.

Many parts in strollers like seats, organizing trays, wheels, etc are very easy to remove. Refer to the instruction guide for a better understanding of detaching if you haven’t done it before.

What kind of lubricant do you use for a stroller? 

There are different types of lubricants available for strollers. Here are some lists. 

Silicone-based lubricants: These are the most popular lubricants that are widely used for strollers. They offer smooth lubrication and actually most lubricants to try on any element like metal, plastic, rubber, etc.

Dry lubricants: These dry lubricants are specially used for folding mechanisms and other moving parts in a stroller. These lubricants will reduce friction and give a smoothing mechanism. 

White Lithium Grease lubricants: These are mostly used for long-lasting lubrication because they offer resistance to water and moisturizer. But make sure you choose a safe child.

These are the three main lubricants available. Mostly it’s suggestable to use silicone-based strollers. However, it’s always recommendable to refer to the manual guide to understand which is specifically for your stroller.

Conclusion

So well guys, this is all about how to maintain a stroller. We tried to give you all the important points in depth. Stroller maintenance is extremely crucial and its benefits are a lot and promising too.

Don’t need to do anything, just follow these ten points, and your stroller will be in good condition and run so peacefully and smoothly for years. 

Hope you now get the ultimate understanding of how to maintain a stroller and hope you will follow all of them.

More Resources

Age By Age Guide To Strollers

Do I Need A Stroller Fan

Do I Need A Bumper Bar For The Stroller

Stroller Vs Baby Carrier