Ensuring the safety and cleanliness of your salon or spa should always be a top priority to provide your guests with a positive experience while maintaining safety. Below, we’ll share 10 essential sanitary spa practices for maintaining a safe and clean environment in your place of business.
In addition to daily surface disinfection, it’s equally vital to disinfect between each and every client. Since guests may unknowingly carry contagious illnesses, this practice is essential for your sanitary spa routines. For optimal results, we recommend using a state-regulated disinfectant or a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution.
As part of your sanitary spa practices, it’s become increasingly common to find hand sanitizer readily available in various establishments, including salons and spas. We recommend incorporating hand sanitizer at your front desk and encouraging guests to sanitize before their appointment to mitigate germs from the outset. Additionally, placing hand sanitizer throughout the salon and spa is advised. High-touch spots like each stylist’s chair, the relaxation suite, and the changing suite are ideal locations for these sanitizing stations.
While it might be challenging to ensure every guest washes their hands, it’s crucial that your staff consistently wash their hands as frequently as possible. They should wash their hands between guests, after sanitizing, and before beginning an appointment with a guest. This simple step is one of those essential sanitary spa practices that should always be a priority.
In line with sanitary spa practices, we recommend wearing a mask during up-close medical-grade facials, such as microneedling or lasers. Additionally, we strongly encourage professionals to always wear gloves during facials. Given that a service provider will likely come in contact with multiple guests each day, it’s essential to wear a mask and gloves to mitigate the potential spread of any illnesses.
Next on our list of sanitary spa practices may not be every staff member’s favorite: laundry. Each guest should enjoy fresh towels and bed sheets during their appointment. Your front desk team may find the time spent changing sheets a burden, but educate them on the much more serious issues that can arise if your team is not providing your guests with clean linens: lots of bacteria can be found on towels and sheets, which can be extremely harmful to your guests.
Incorporating disposable tools and accessories into your salon or spa not only simplifies your workflow but also aids in preventing the spread of bacteria and helps you follow sanitary spa practices. Some examples include:
In accordance with stringent sanitary spa practices, any item containing blood or bodily fluids must be appropriately disposed of or cleansed to prevent cross-contamination. For instance, merely washing towels post-microneedling treatment in detergent is insufficient to fully sanitize any blood or bodily fluids that may have been absorbed. To ensure thorough sanitation, towels should be washed separately with bleach, and any disposable items should be promptly disposed of and taken outside for disposal.
To maintain rigorous sanitary spa practices, we recommend purchasing a sterilizer/disinfectant, such as barbicide (great for soaking hairbrushes, combs, nail files, tools, etc) to clean all your tools that are not disposable. Both will kill any bacteria, fungi, or virus that may be present on your tools. Another popular sterilizer seen in salons or spas is a UV sterilizer which uses a UV lamp to get rid of any germs and bacteria.
Guests will often choose to still go to an appointment even though they are sick or feel that they’re coming down with something. But with a focus on sanitary spa practices, it’s important to prioritize health and safety. We recommend informing your guests that they can cancel their appointments free of a cancellation fee, and your team will gladly reschedule them when they are feeling better. This approach not only promotes a healthy environment but also reassures guests that their well-being is a top priority.
After implementing sanitary spa practices such as sanitizing items, tools, devices, and surfaces, it’s crucial to keep records. This record-keeping system aids in recalling the last cleaning time, providing a detailed account for inspectors upon request. To streamline this process, we recommend maintaining a daily cleaning checklist for your front desk staff, stylists, and estheticians. They can simply check off and initial each task upon completion, ensuring all essential sanitary spa practices are consistently followed.
By following the above guidelines you’ll be able to ensure that you and your guests continue to stay healthy and safe in your business.
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