In Salon Hygiene

With salons hopefully able to reopen on the 4th July, L’Oréal Professionel have created an extensive guide with advice and recommendations for when you finally open your doors. To help get all the information in one place and to make it as clear as possible we’ve created a series of blogs that outline everything you need to know before welcoming your customers again.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out on our social media channels so more updates and to know when the latest blog goes live!

In this blog we go over everything you need to know about keeping your salon as safe as possible and our recommendations on what you could implement in your salon to give your customers and staff some peace of mind.

Respect social distancing
Ensure that everyone is keeping the minimum safety distance between staff and clients at all times. We appreciate that it might be difficult whilst working on a client, but adjust your posture or body positioning to help ensure there is some space between you.

Adapt the rules of the salon
In order to respect the social distance rules, try to organise the flow of people in your salon. This can be achieved by:

• Staggering appointments to reduce the number of people in the salon at any one time.
• Adapting your opening hours as you’ll need to spend extra time cleaning your station thoroughly between each client
• Organising your staff into two teams that never overlap so your staff are only mixing with the same people everyday.
• Re-organising your styling stations so there’s more distance between them.
• Removing your waiting area unless it’s large enough to respect social distancing. A queuing system might be a better option.

Develop a specific welcome for your clients
When a client arrives to the salon, they’ll want to be reassured that you have measures in place to keep them safe. Before their appointment and upon arrival, inform your clients of the new hygiene rules you have in place and have visible posters in the salon. You will also need to ask your clients to take care of their own coats or provide plastic covers so they can be stored in a cloakroom safely. It is also probably better to not offer drinks unless in disposable cups, which should be disposed of correctly.

Adapt the consultation
With the rise of virtual calls, it is probably a good idea to have a virtual consultation with your clients or just have a chat on the phone prior to their appointment. This will save time between appointments and reassures the client as they will spend less time in the salon.

You should also let your client know how long their appointment will take and stick to that time.

Adapt the retail area
Ensure that all shelving and products are clean and sanitised daily, and disinfect the area if someone touches the products. Try and ask your clients not to touch the products and remove testers, letting only the stylist touch and sell products.

Consider your payment methods
As in most shops at the moment, you can push your clients to use contactless or card payments as much as possible. Disinfect the touchpad and buttons after each use and don’t provide a receipt unless requested.

Change your salon’s hygiene
To ensure your clients and your staff feel safe in your salon, you should implement the following:

• Have hand sanitiser readily available around the salon and ensure mandatory usage upon arrive and before departure.
• Wear face masks or face coverings especially when working in close proximity to others. (Make sure you’re familiar with how to take it on and off properly - a guide can be found here
• Use gloves, but be aware that this is NOT a substitute to hand washing, change them after carryout other activities.
• Ensure that your staff have a work uniform that is cleaned daily at 60-90°C and only used for work.
• Use disposable fabrics where possible (single-use gowns, single-use technical collars, towels…) in order to prevent contamination, or apply a WASH AFTER USE policy on all customer ‘fabrics’ e.g. gowns, towels etc. Either way employ a one new item for each client strategy on either disposable or reusable items.
• Ensure everything you wash is washed with warm water at 60-90°C
• Clean your tools and workstations after each client ensuring that everything is disinfected ready for the next client. You can use our salon sanitiser for this which is just as effective as barbicide.

Finally, the most important thing to remember is personal hygiene. You must regularly was your hands and encourage all staff to do so too.

• Always wash hands before and after if working on a client.
• Always wash your hands after touching money/credit cards, door handles.
• Always wash your hands before touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
• Always wash your hands if your hands are contaminated with respiratory secretions, such as after coughing or sneezing.
• Always wash your hands before and after using the bathroom, and before and after eating or drinking.
• To ensure the ease & effectiveness of these rules it's better to have your hair tied back in a ponytail, and avoid wearing false nails or jewellery specifically on your hands
• Don’t touch your face, nose (if you do it please wash your hands again).
• Cover coughs and sneezes with the inside of your elbow or upper arm.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or paper towel when sneezing or coughing.
• Dispose of used tissues or paper towels in a covered bin with a plastic bin liner, and then clean your hands thoroughly.

Although it may sound like a lot to take in, once you and your team are used to these steps, they will become the norm in your salon. The main thing to focus on is ensuring you customers feel safe during their visit, so keep in touch with them before and after their appointment and keep them in the loop to reassure them.

Our next blog will cover everything you need to know about team organising with suggestions on how to manage your teams during this time. Follow us on social or subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop with all our blogs.