How hair salons may change after Coronavirus passes
There’s a lot of talk at the moment of “when this all goes back to normal”. Of course, by “this”, we’re referring to the craziness that is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected millions of us around the world, put businesses on hold, cancelled flights, and prevented people from leaving their homes.
While it’s great to be optimistic, sometimes a little realism is needed too. The government is talking of “the new normal”, which, as the name suggests, won’t quite be like our “old normal”. The new normal may mean that we’re expected to follow different rules while in public, and things that we may have once taken for granted probably won’t exist anymore – or at least not in the same way as before.
In pretty much any area that encourages gatherings, we’re probably going to see things working differently. We’re not just talking about the larger concert arenas or theme parks, either – smaller businesses like cafes and cinemas will most likely see a change.
Hair salons fall into this smaller business category. At the moment, hair salons in the UK are closed – though this could change at any time. But when the salons are allowed to reopen, chances are, there are going to be quite a few things for owners to consider.
Based on a report from Vogue on a group of salons that have recently opened in the US, here are some of the changes we may see to hair salons going forward, for the time being at least:
1. Social distancing in chairs
For the majority of hair salons, space is incredibly important. Obviously, the aim of a salon is not to cram in as many people as possible, but to have space for enough customers to make a good profit (which is the goal of any business). But with social distancing still an essential part of everyday life, it’s looking like salons will have to accept fewer customers to stay as safe as possible in a relatively closed-off environment.
2. No unnecessary belongings
Customers visiting the hair salon with handbags and accessories like scarves and hats may need to ditch the extras and bring only their phone and their form of payment. This is because things like handbags offer just another means of COVID-19 transmission, and it’s safer to just leave them at home.
3. Temperature checks
One of the quickest (though not the most accurate) ways to determine whether a person is sick is to check their temperature. It may be that some hair salons decide to perform temperature checks on clients before their entry into the salon, which can help to prevent the spread between clients who may not even know that they are ill.
4. Mask wearing
Many people are wearing masks when out in public nowadays, and the same will go for inside hair salons. Customers may be required to wear a mask before stepping foot inside a salon, while hairdressers themselves will probably need to wear extra protection, such as a face shield. Again, this would help to stop the spread, should somebody inside the building be unknowingly infected.
5. New sanitation strategies
Finally, sanitation is going to be a much more important issue around the world going forward, and hair salons are no exception. While hair salons have high levels of cleanliness and hygiene anyway, they will have to intensify what they already do to ensure their environment is as clean and as healthy as possible. This may include sanitising equipment and washing hands more frequently, as well as wiping down seats and handrails, and other items that have been touched by customers.
Conclusion
While these new means of prevention might take some getting used to, it’s the best we can do at the moment to stay safe. It’s likely that hair salons will be able to relax their rules going forward – but the thing to focus on right now is actually opening back up to the public, and doing it as safely as possible.