“The number one complaint we receive about tanning salons—via phone and letters—is cleanliness. Over half our complaints are about dust bunnies, undies and dirty towels lying behind the bed, cob webs in the corners. Tanners do not want to get naked in a dirty environment, and they will be very vocal about it to us,” Phil commented. “When I go into a salon, I’ll look under and behind a bed and am always disappointed to see soda cans, bunny stickers and candy wrappers from the free candy left on the beds. Salon owners must use a mirror daily and check behind the beds. Then, I’ll pull out the beds and look at the fans. It is WAY too common to have the fans jammed with lint and goo and not working. The heat can bubble the acrylic and use up the lamps at an astonishing rate. Hot lamps don’t work well—those fans are there to keep the bed operating properly, as well as cooling the tanner.”
“The second most common complaint our office hears is from tanners who picked up a rash or conjunctivitis at their tanning salon,” Phil continued. “We find that the bed sanitizer is not being mixed correctly, and it’s way too strong, giving the tanners a back rash. A salon MUST use a quaternary strip (‘quat strip’ – a type of litmus paper to test the solution’s pH balance and parts per million) to test their bed solution and eyewear cleaning solution daily. I’d suggest salons keep a log to show they’ve made fresh solution on a daily basis and the person who mixed it. I’m a big fan of Judge Judy—if you watch the show, Judge Judy always goes with the person who has documentation. Document that you are doing it right.”
Phil Wilson is a big advocate of cleanliness, have you picked up on that yet? “I am often so disgusted and amazed when I watch beds being cleaned during an inspection,” he said. “If I see the bed-cleaning person use the same towel to wipe down two beds, I’ll add that to my problem list. You can’t take one person’s sweat and tingle lotion and, errgh…body fluids, and transfer it onto another bed for someone else to lie in.” Phil added an after-thought. “And please don’t use the towel that the tanner just left in the room to wipe down the bed! It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what might be on that towel!”
As an inspector, Mr. Wilson also sees a lot of infractions concerning eyewear cleaning. “Most salons don’t follow the proper procedure to clean goggles to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards where they mix the solution correctly, test it with a quat strip, soak for a minimum of ten minutes, including elastics, then rinse the goggles and dry thoroughly and then store in a clean place. Goggles should not be “stored” out in the open, laying on a towel where they can pick up airborne contaminants. Any step left out or done improperly can cause colds, eye infections and viruses to be passed through eyewear.”
“Last summer, I was inspecting a salon, and the counter person sent the
person back to Bed 3 without asking to see her eyewear. The tanner was
in short-shorts and carrying only her car keys and a bottle of lotion…she
had no place to possibly have a pair of goggles on her person. This drives
me crazy! YOU’VE GOT TO ASK TO SEE THEIR EYEWEAR EVERY TIME!”
After a decade of inspecting salons, Wilson has this final advice, “I
think the owners have been certified and know how to run a proper salon,
but they often do not pass their knowledge down to their staff. The staff
changes over or new people are added, and the rules get left behind. It’s
all about education. You’ve got to educate your salon staff and then you
have to inspect their work to ensure they are doing it correctly—if you
don’t, the consequences might involve more than just dealing with your
inspector.”
