Four Pitfalls to Avoid for Easy Disinfection

Preventing infections in salons and spas is not something that should be left up to chance. You want confidence that your disinfectant is protecting your business against germs, so rest assured that your clients are safe in your care. You might assume that using an effective disinfectant on surfaces and equipment is enough, but in fact, this is only half the battle. Even the most effective disinfectant will only be effective if used properly, and too many disinfectants are surprisingly difficult to use! A few key pitfalls get in the way of effective, easy disinfection:

• Long contact times: As described in our previous post, long contact times introduce considerable room for error. Disinfectants with long contact times will likely dry prematurely on the surface, and multiple applications would be needed to kill germs properly. In any case, this makes it harder to ensure that the surface is staying wet long enough to kill enough germs to prevent the spread of infection.

• Pre-cleaning required: Some disinfectants, such as bleach, break down and become inactivated in the presence of any residual dirt or debris on a surface. While it is always important to remove any visible soils before disinfecting, these disinfectants may not be effective unless the surface has been pre-cleaned with a separate detergent product. In addition to adding an extra step to your protocols, this leaves extra room for things to go wrong – any gaps in the pre-cleaning step can mean that the disinfectant won’t be effective.

• Mixing or dilution required: Disinfectants that need to be mixed or diluted before use are more prone to user error compared to ready-to-use products. Over-diluting a concentrated disinfectant can result in an ineffective solution, whereas under-diluting can result in a wasted product, or in some cases even safety concerns. This also takes time away from the many more important things you need to focus on as part of your day-to-day responsibilities.

• Short shelf life: Often, disinfectants have short shelf lives once prepared, and solutions may even need to be discarded daily. Some products need to be prepared in a device at the point of use and break down rapidly once the solution is prepared. Not only can this lead to wasted product and time spent continually preparing solutions, it also increases the likelihood that expired or ineffective products will accidentally be used.