Salon Sanitation Best Practices: Ensuring Safety and Hygiene

As a salon owner, maintaining impeccable standards of cleanliness and hygiene is a top priority. Sanitation directly impacts the guest experience, employee safety, and your business’ reputation. From thorough deep cleaning protocols to hygienic practices during client services, salon sanitation best practices is key.

When health inspectors evaluate salons, sanitation issues like unclean stations, contaminated tools or lapsed disinfection procedures can mean steep fines or even loss of a licence to operate.

Beyond legal compliance, however, clients notice sanitation slip-ups. In the age of online reviews, just a few complaints about unhygienic conditions can seriously undermine your salon’s hard-earned reputation.

Deep Cleaning Equipment and Tools

Meticulously cleaning and disinfecting all salon equipment is the foundation of sanitation excellence. From chairs to clippers, proper protocols prevent cross-contamination.

Chairs

Thoroughly wipe down all parts of styling chairs including headrests, armrests, footrests, pumps, and bases with approved disinfectant after each client. Pay close attention to parts that touch heads and hands.

Shampoo bowls

Scrub bowls, hoses, and sprayers rigorously after each use to eliminate buildup and bacteria. Deep clean the drain weekly by flushing hot water mixed with drain cleaner.

Clippers and trimmers

Fully dismantle clippers and trimmers after each use. Remove hair and disinfect all parts with spray or wipes for peak performance.

Combs, brushes, scissors

Immerse non-electric tools fully in disinfectant solutions between each client. Replace heavily used items like combs monthly.

Capes

Carefully inspect capes for fallen hair and stains after each client. Use lint rollers then follow with disinfectant spray or wipes on the interior lining and all outer surfaces.

Deep Cleaning High-Touch Areas

Salon spaces have many high-touch areas needing vigilant deep hygienic cleaning. Be exhaustive addressing every contact surface clients and staff interact with including:

• Reception desk – Sanitise desk surfaces, phones, keyboards, pens, credit card terminals, keyboards and all handled items regularly.
• Waiting area chairs – Disinfect lobby chairs daily using antimicrobial wipes. Sanitise cloth upholstered chairs after each use.
• Entry door handles – Door handles are touched constantly. Clean and disinfect all interior and exterior handles multiple times daily.
• Restrooms – Ensure restrooms are deep cleaned daily including mirrors, faucets, stalls, sinks, dispensers, etc. Check frequently and restock toiletries like soap and toilet rolls before they ever fully run out.
• Product displays – Keep displays looking fresh by daily cleaning shelves, testers, and items clients try. Remove and replace unhygienic testers.
• iPads/tablets – Wipe down electronic check-in devices and other frequently shared mobile devices regularly including the screens, cases and stands.
• Beverage stations – Deep clean coffee machines and water dispensers weekly at minimum to prevent mould and mineral buildup. Disinfect frequently touched handles daily.

Through rigorous deep cleaning that hits every inch of your salon, clients and inspectors will recognise your commitment to top-notch hygiene standards.

Hygienic Client Service Protocols

In addition to pristine facilities, insisting staff follow salon sanitation best practices during client services is crucial. Protocols include:

Hand washing

Simply requiring staff to wash hands quickly between clients is ineffective. Thoroughly lathering hands and scrubbing for the full 20 seconds is recommended to effectively destroy bacteria, viruses and pathogens.

Single-use items

When discarding single-use razors or files, make sure the items are fully deposited within the proper clinical waste containers. Never allow staff to casually toss them into standard rubbish bins.

Sanitary headrest linens

Rather than simply laying a thin paper liner over headrests during chemical services, ensure staff use clean, freshly laundered towels that fully protect both the client’s neck and the salon’s equipment during dye and other chemical procedures. Cover the entire headrest then replace the protected liner immediately after the service.

Clean capes

Do not allow staff to quickly try brushing hair off used nylon capes between clients. Furnish adequate spare capes so a fresh one can be fastened around each client’s neck to prevent contact with the previous guest’s hair and skin particles still clinging to the cape.

Barbicide compliance

Clearly display laminated instructions showing proper dilution ratios next to disinfectant concentrate bottles. Staff should fill log sheets verifying the time and date when solutions were mixed to ensure adequate potency.

Reinforcing rigorous hygienic habits during each client treatment ensures pristine, safe services protecting clients, staff and your salon’s hard-earned reputation.

Consistency Over Time

The most common sanitation downfalls happen when salon owners implement protocols initially but standards slide over time as staff grow complacent. Maintain top salon sanitation best practices by:

• Training new hires – Thoroughly train all new employees on proper cleaning and hygiene protocols from day one. Ensure they demonstrate competency.
• Scheduling deep cleans – Designate weekly and monthly deep cleaning tasks and set standing appointments on staff schedules rather than leaving thorough disinfecting to chance.
• Inspecting unannounced – Periodically do surprise spot checks of sanitation performance across workstations, tools, and storerooms to keep staff on their toes.
• Addressing issues promptly – If inspectors flag any concerns during evaluations or clients ever provide feedback indicating sanitation faults, address rigorously via staff retraining, upgrading cleaning supplies or reworking protocols.

By integrating excellent salon sanitation best practices, your business can stand out as a shining example of health, safety and cleanliness.

Protect Your Reputation with Insurance from Salon Saver

Maintaining meticulous salon hygiene protocols paired with comprehensive salon insurance coverage offers the ultimate protection. Here at Salon Saver, we specialise in affordable policies tailored to modern salons. Our salon contents insurance protects your business from liability claims, property damage and revenue interruptions.

With the proper cleansing routines and insurance backing you, your salon can thrive for years serving many happy clients to come. Contact us today to discuss protecting your salon business.

Dean Laming

Dean Laming is a Chartered Insurance Broker with more than 25 years insurance experience. Through various underwriting, operational and management roles, Dean has built up extensive knowledge of the hair and beauty sector and is now Managing Director of Salon Saver, part of the wider Henry Seymour Group.

All articles by Dean Laming