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Project Overview
ATEB Cleaning Services performed a facility deep cleaning at AtBats Training Center in Boxborough, Massachusetts, covering two of the facility’s six turf training areas, the restrooms, hallways, walls, and ceiling fans. During the job, ATEB also tested a new approach to a common turf problem: using a carpet extractor to remove fine dust that vacuuming cannot reach.
AtBats has operated since 2005 and runs private lessons, cage rentals, team practices, camps, and year-round clinics for baseball and softball players from age 6 through high school. Its 10,000-square-foot facility has six fully turfed training areas separated by netting, used for hitting, pitching, fielding, and footwork.
AtBats has a long-standing reputation for a clean, well-kept, safety-focused facility. Keeping that standard over years of daily training means going beyond routine upkeep with periodic deep cleaning, which is why AtBats brought in ATEB.
The Challenge: Fine Dust Every Indoor Turf Collects
Indoor training turf is used constantly: players hit, field, dive, and run drills on it, often several sessions a day, across every season.
All indoor turf, however well maintained, gathers very fine particles from normal use: wear from the turf itself, dust carried in on cleats and equipment, and dust moved around by air circulation. Most of it settles below the surface, where it is not visible and where routine vacuuming has trouble reaching.
Because the users are young athletes in close contact with the surface, a clean playing area matters for both presentation and hygiene.
The rest of the facility gets the same steady use. Restrooms and hallways serve players, parents, and coaches between sessions, and walls and ceiling fans benefit from periodic detail cleaning that daily upkeep does not cover.
Our Approach
ATEB scheduled the deep cleaning around the facility’s training calendar so lessons and clinics were not disrupted.
Scope of the deep clean:
- two turf training areas
- restrooms, cleaned and sanitized top to bottom
- hallways and walkways
- walls, spot-cleaned and wiped down
- ceiling fans, dusted and cleaned
Work started high and finished low: ceiling fans and walls first, so dust fell onto surfaces that had not been cleaned yet, then restrooms and hallways, with the turf last.
For the ceiling fans, walls, and other high surfaces, the crew used commercial-grade tall ladders and high-dusting poles, with full-coverage protective suits worn for the dustiest parts of the job.
ATEB’s turf extraction test: removing fine dust vacuuming leaves behind
The most technical part of the job was the fine dust that settles deep in turf fibers. The crew first ran a powered turf brush to lift and loosen the turf fibers, then vacuumed with commercial vacuums, but the dust was so fine that it quickly clogged their filters, cutting suction and leaving much of it in the fibers. So the crew tried a different method on one section of a turf area: a carpet extractor, the same equipment used for deep carpet cleaning, run over the turf to flush the fine dust out of the fibers and pull it back up.
The test worked: the extractor lifted fine dust that the vacuums could not. It was also slow, so it was applied to a portion of one turf area as a trial rather than the full surface.
A crew of four ATEB technicians completed the project in a single 9-hour shift, 36 labor hours in total.
Results
Both turf training areas were refreshed, and the restrooms, hallways, walls, and ceiling fans were detailed and ready for the next day’s sessions.
The extraction test also gave the facility something useful for the future: a proven way to remove fine dust from turf that routine vacuuming leaves behind. Because it takes time, it fits best as a planned, periodic service, done section by section during off-hours, rather than part of every clean.
Why This Matters
Sports and training facilities are judged by families every time they walk in. A playing surface that looks and feels clean supports the facility’s reputation, keeps athletes focused on training, and extends the life of the turf.
Deep cleaning on a schedule, rather than only when buildup becomes visible, keeps that standard consistent across busy seasons. Manage a gym, training center, or sports facility in MetroWest or Central Massachusetts? Schedule a walkthrough and we’ll recommend a deep cleaning schedule for your space.
