7 Hygiene Habits All Barbers Should Adopt

As all professional barbers know too well, running a successful barber shop takes more than just delivering clean, immaculate cuts for each and every customer that walks through the door — that alone is but a simple pre-requisite. 

At the end of the day, running a barber shop means you’re in the service industry, where hygiene and sanitary practices are held to high standards. Your barber shop tools and hairdresser suppliers are, after all, prime candidates for cross contamination and the last thing you want is to be responsible for spreading pathogens to both your clients and your staff. 

Barber shop sanitary habits should thus be a critical aspect of your day-to-day as a hair professional, with regards to not just your personal hygiene but the proper cleaning procedures for your clippers, trimmers, scissors, and your barber shop as a whole.

Here are 7 hygiene habits all barbers should adopt: 

1. Maintain Personal Hygiene

As a professional barber or hairstylist in Singapore, it is not your clippers or trimmers that are your most-used barber shop tools but your hands themselves. Make sure to wash your hands regularly as you service your customers. Your hands should be washed:

• before and after attending to each customer
• before and after each procedural services (hair wash, haircut, hair styling, etc.)
• before and after potential exposure to any body substance (sweat, saliva, etc.)

Personal hygiene of all barber shop staff should also be kept at the highest level to eliminate the risk of perceived insanitation.  

2. Disinfect Barber Tools Between Customers

You should also tend to your barber shop tools between each customer you service. Disinfect, sanitise, and sterilise where needed. Be sure to use approved sanitising agents and disinfectants to prevent tool damage or improper sanitisation. Handle your professional hair clippers and trimmers with additional care, making sure to remove all debris from them before applying the required liquid disinfectants through a wipe-down or spray. Use Wahl’s Blade Ice Cleaner for the best results. 

3. Prevent Rust with Proper Blade Oiling Technique

For the best results when practising hygiene and sanitary habits in your barber shop, make sure you add blade oiling to your cleaning regime such that you prevent any rusting from happening while also maintaining the sharpness and structural soundness of your blades. Not only does this increase the longevity of your barber shop tools and supplies, but it also ensures that they are safe and effective when used. Just be sure to use reliable blade oil to prevent unnecessary damage to your professional clippers and trimmers. 

4. Know Your Disinfectant Contact Times

Simply spraying disinfectant and wiping it off right away will not do you or your barber shop any good when it comes to hygiene. All of your barber shop tools, equipment and supplies are different, meaning that each will have a different required disinfectant contact time. Contact time refers to the amount of time a particular tool, equipment, or hair supply in your Singapore barber shop must have visibly wet disinfectant on it to effectively eliminate bacteria and pathogens. Make sure to find out the specific disinfectant contact times for all your hairdresser gear and equipment.  

5. Use Gloves, Masks and Other PPE

It is important that we recognise how much of a good practice using gloves, masks and other PPE is. Even when there comes a time that you are no longer legally required by the Singapore government to use PPE in your practice, we recommend opting for it anyway to ensure a safe and virus-free experience for all your barber shop customers — just be sure to check if your client has any latex allergies and make the appropriate arrangements if needed.  

6. Single-Use where Necessary 

Barber shops in Singapore should also look to use disposable tools, supplies, and equipment where needed, such as in the case of neck trips and towels. Busy barber shops and hairdressers may lack the time and resources required to provide a clean, dry neck trip or towel for each and every customer they service. If that is the case for you, consider investing in single-use disposables wherever necessary. 

7. Keep a Clean Premise 

Of course, having the cleanest barber shop tools and supplies mean little to nothing if your hairdresser shop itself is unclean. Ensure you keep a clean premise in your barber shop at all times. This entails more than sweeping and mopping up the floor, but the cleaning of all your benches, chairs, basins, and other barber shop furniture and facilities as well. Treatment areas such as couches and chairs should be cleaned between each customer if there is no swapping of coverings.  

Experience Wahl for More Barber Tips and Tricks 

At Wahl Singapore, we not only offer hair clippers and trimmers, but barber shop guides and tips for professionals. Visit our online Wahl experience center for tool care guides and more, or browse our barbering blog for the latest tips and trends in the industry.