Salon cleaning checklist: daily, weekly and monthly tasks for salons and barbers

Clients judge a salon's hygiene before they judge the haircut. They look at the floor around the chair, the basin they are about to lean back into and the mirror in front of them. A clean salon protects your team too. Salon work means water, chemicals and fine dust every day, and poor cleaning makes all of them harder to control.

This salon cleaning checklist splits the work into what your stylists or therapists do between clients, what needs doing every day, and the weekly and monthly jobs that stop dirt building up. It works for hair salons, barber shops, nail bars and beauty salons.

Who cleans what in a salon

The most useful thing you can do is split salon cleaning into two kinds of work.

Hygiene between clients is done by whoever provides the service. Tools, gowns, capes, headrests and the immediate station are cleaned before the next client sits down. This cannot wait for a cleaner, and it follows your own procedures.

Premises cleaning covers floors, basins, mirrors, washrooms, reception and the staff areas. Your team can do it at the end of the day, or a cleaning contractor can do it before you open or after you close.

When the two blur together, jobs get missed. Write both lists down and pin them up in the staff room.

Between every client

• Sweep hair from around the chair straight away, rather than leaving a pile for later
• Clean and disinfect tools under your own procedures
• Wipe the chair, armrests, headrest and station top
• Use a fresh towel and a clean gown or cape
• Rinse the basin and wipe the spray head after each wash
• Change disposable gloves, as the HSE advises
• In barber shops, brush hair from clipper blades, guards and neck brushes before the next cut

Contact time matters. Most disinfectants only work if the surface stays wet for the time printed on the label. A quick spray followed by an immediate wipe cleans the surface, but it does not disinfect it.

Daily salon cleaning tasks

Floors

• Sweep or vacuum all hair, including under stations, trolleys and along the skirting
• Mop hard floors with a suitable cleaner, working from the back of the salon towards the door

Stations and basins

• Polish mirrors to a streak-free finish
• Clean and disinfect workstations, styling chairs and trolleys
• Clean backwash basins, taps and hoses, removing colour and product residue

Reception and client areas

• Wipe the reception desk, card machine and door handles
• Dust retail shelves and the products on them
• Clean and restock the client washroom

Back of house

• Clean the staff room, kitchen and the sink where colour is mixed
• Empty every bin, with hair bagged separately
• Put used towels and gowns through a hot wash

Weekly salon cleaning tasks

• Descale basins, taps and spray heads. Thames Water says all the water in its region is hard, so limescale builds quickly in London salons
• Run water through any basin, shower or tap that has not been used during the week
• Clean skirting boards, door frames and the bases of styling chairs, where hair collects
• Wipe light switches, hairdryer handles and the outside of electrical equipment
• Clean inside product cupboards and colour stock shelves
• Wash bins inside and out

That flushing step is easy to overlook. The HSE's guidance on hot and cold water systems advises a weekly flushing programme for outlets that are not used regularly, and regular cleaning and descaling of showerheads and hoses, to control the risk from legionella bacteria. A basin at a station nobody has used for a fortnight counts.

Monthly salon cleaning tasks

• Deep clean hard floors, including grout lines on tiled floors
• Dust high-level surfaces, light fittings, vents and extraction grilles
• Clean behind and under washing machines, dryers and fridges
• Check chairs and treatment couches for splits, which cannot be cleaned properly and should be repaired
• Clean windows inside and arrange external window cleaning

Choosing cleaning products for a salon

Salons have more delicate surfaces than most businesses, so the products you use matter.

• Styling chairs. Most are vinyl or faux leather. Harsh solvents and undiluted disinfectant dry them out and cause cracking, so use a product the chair manufacturer approves.
• Mirrors. A light glass cleaner and a dry microfibre cloth are enough. Hairspray build-up may need a second pass.
• Basins. Ceramic basins cope with descalers, but some coloured or composite basins do not. Check before using anything acidic.
• Floors. Colour and product residue make floors slippery. A neutral floor cleaner lifts residue without leaving a film of its own.
• Around clients. Low-fragrance products mean the salon smells clean, not of chemicals, when the first client walks in.

Health and safety for salon teams

The HSE's guidance on COSHH for hairdressers says frequent contact with water and shampoo can irritate the skin and lead to dermatitis, and that some hairdressing and cleaning products can cause dermatitis and skin allergies. Dusty products such as persulphates and henna can cause asthma. Its advice is to keep the salon well ventilated, wear disposable non-latex gloves for shampooing, colouring and bleaching, dry hands thoroughly with a soft towel, moisturise often and check your skin regularly for early signs of problems.

Cleaning products fall under the same COSHH rules as colour and bleach. Keep their safety data sheets, store them away from your colour stock, and never mix them. Bleach mixed with acidic products such as some descalers gives off toxic chlorine gas.

Nail bars and beauty salons

The HSE's guidance on COSHH for beauticians notes that dust from filing artificial nails can cause wheezing, chest tightness and asthma, and that acrylic fumes can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. It recommends an extractor hood or down-draught table for nail work. Those units only protect your team if their surfaces and filters are kept clean, so put them on the weekly list.

Special treatment licences in London

If your salon offers treatments such as manicures, pedicures, massage, ear piercing, sunbeds or electrolysis, you will usually need a special treatment licence from your London borough under the London Local Authorities Act 1991. Wandsworth Council, for example, grants premises licences for one year at a time, subject to its standard conditions. Each borough sets its own conditions, so check your council's page, and expect hygiene to be part of any inspection.

What to do with hair waste

Hair is the largest daily waste stream in most hair salons and barbers. Bag it separately so it does not spread when the bins are moved. Some salons now recycle hair, foils and colour tubes through schemes such as Green Salon Collective, which collects salon waste across the UK and Ireland.

Salon cleaning from JJ Prime

JJ Prime Clean Solutions cleans hair salons, barbers and beauty salons across London before the first appointment or after the last one, between 7:00am and 8:00pm, Monday to Saturday. We clean floors, basins, mirrors, stations and washrooms, and bag hair waste separately. Tools stay with your team, who sterilise them under your own procedures, and we build your hygiene policy into our specification. Book a free site visit or read more about our salon cleaning service.

Sources

• Health and Safety Executive, COSHH and hairdressers: key messages
• Health and Safety Executive, COSHH and beauticians: key messages
• Health and Safety Executive, Hot and cold water systems: things to consider
• Thames Water, Hard water
• Wandsworth Council, Special treatment establishment licences
• Green Salon Collective, Salon waste recycling