Some kind of small red bumps on my arms from my gym

Jim wrote:

I have been having some trouble over the past couple of months with some small red "zit-like" bumps on my arms, and have been unable to pinpoint the source. I lift weights 5 days a week at a local gym, which I believe leaves something to be desired in the cleanliness department. I lift weights in the morning and then come home immediately and shower with dial soap. Despite my rigorous scrubbing these bumps still appear two or three at a time on my arms. They usually only appear from the elbows down, on the tops of my arms. Sometimes they will swell up and last for a week, other times they will disappear in a day or two. Often times if I scratch them or irritate them at all they increase in size and won't go away. If left alone for the most part it seems like they fade faster.
I was thinking that my skin contact with the vinyl pads on the machines at the gym were where I was picking this stuff up from. I got the bumps REALLY bad on my the backs of my arms for a while, and I thought it was from the preacher curl machine. I have since tried wearing a t-shirt, with a long sleeved t-shirt over the top of it so that my skin isn't directly touching the gym equipment. However, I still get the bumps on my arms, and it seems as though my efforts to stop it with the extra shirt have done nothing. I have tried using many creams and ointments to get rid of this stuff and I am at a loss of what to do. I have tried putting lamisil AT on it, and that stuff seems to make it even worse. Whenever I use Lamisil on it, the problem seems to spread. Neosporin has been the most effective, but still leaves much to be desired.
I have also tossed around the idea of these being ingrown hairs, and all my poking and prodding is just complicating the problem. I found this to be highly unlikely however, because I took a week's hiatus from the gym and the spots disappeared completely. I have determined that the problem must be coming from either the gym, or the shirts I am wearing. I thought maybe there was a fungus in the long sleeve shirts I am wearing, so I bleached them. It didn't seem to do much good though. On rare occasion I will get a spot or two on my legs, since I wear shorts. But for the most part this problem has affected only the top part of my forearms, and the backs of my arms.
Do I need to wash my arms earlier before I drive home from the gym? Should I try a different soap brand?
I have attached a link to two pictures below. Hopefully this will be of some help.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/Glazed...
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/Glazed...