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Men's hairclressing establishments are inspected periodically by the
sanitary inspectors. Recently a series of tests were carried out in order to find
a practicable method for cleansing the various instruments used in the trade.
Under the byelaws metal instruments, shaving brushes, sponges, and shaving
mugs must be cleansed for each person; hair brushes and combs must be washed
at least once daily and otherwise kept clean. There is no mention of such
instruments having to be sterilised, although this is desirable.
The common method of cleansing instruments seems to be dipping in an
antiseptic such as Dettol. It is doubtful whether hair clippers can be subjected
to this treatment because of the corrosive effect on them due to the difficulty
of wiping them thoroughly dry. Swabbing with a surgical spirit is probably
the more effective treatment for such instruments. The use of Dettol seems
to be effective, as after immersion for one minute in a 10 per cent solution,
cultures on combs were found to be sterile.
The disadvantage in using an antiseptic arises mainly from the tiresome
procedure. It is difficult to envisage hairdressers carrying out the operation
of dipping and wiping the cutters and scissors for each customer, or even subjecting
them to a similar process a sufficient number of times during the day to
keep them cleansed. The antiseptic would obviously be ineffective after a
certain amount of use, and would be valueless unless renewed often enough.
The main tests, however, were applied to finding out the efficiency of
'Bacterol,' a proprietary liquid principally, if not wholly, formalin, which
is used in a cabinet.
The experiments consisted of using six combs, two hair brushes, and a
neck brush, all of which had been rendered sterile at the Epsom Public Health
Laboratory. A certain amount of difficulty was experienced at the laboratory
in ensuring that the brushes were sterile before use, and the experiments were
confined mainly to the combs.
The sterile combs were numbered 1 to 6. No. 1 comb was used for one
haircut, No. 2 for two, No. 3 for three, No. 4 for six, No. 5 for nine and No. 6
for 12. After use the combs were sent to the laboratory where they were swabbed
at the ends and the colony counts obtained. They were returned here and then
treated in the cabinet at the hairdressers.
The test with the 'Bacterol' was as follows: the 'Bacterol' liquid was
placed in the bottom shelf of a reasonably air-tight, glass-fronted cabinet
measuring about 2 feet high, 1 foot wide and 6 inches deep, and the combs were
placed on the upper shelves. Although the liquid vaporises naturally, a 5-watt
bulb was placed in the cabinet to provide a little heat to intensify the vaporising.
Holes had also been bored through the shelves on which the combs were placed,
so that the vapour could circulate freely. The combs were treated in the
cabinet for a period of 20 minutes, and finally sent back to the laboratory for
testing.
Later, the whole experiment was repeated, and on the second occasion
treatment in the cabinet was reduced to 10 minutes. Ten minutes in the
cabinet rendered the combs sterile.
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