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Tuesday, 04 May 2010 16:40

Skin Care Professionals: Facts about Flu Prevention with Health-based Cleaning

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Skin Care Professionals:
Facts about Flu Prevention with
Health-based Cleaning

by Peter Sheldon

It is flu season again, and the additional strains of last year’s Swine Flu pandemic have businesses and consumers in a frenzy over combating flu germs. Professional outlooks on the flu season are not helping matters; leading health experts project that the H1N1 virus affects as much as 40 percent of the American population through 2010.
Since skin contact with contaminated surfaces is one of the main ways Americans can contract the flu virus, it is important for skin care professionals to educate worried clients that they are utilizing the most cutting-edge strategies for combating the virus. To be proactive, eliminating surface contamination in your spa is a first step. Unfortunately, lots of traditional cleaning techniques can actually promote the spread of germs through cross-contamination, via improper cleaning.
Health-based cleaning fills the void left by traditional cleaning strategies. By leveraging state-of-the-art soil containment and removal technology and hospital-grade disinfectants, skin care facility managers can create a cleaner environment for patients and clients. Some areas of greatest concern include are waiting areas, restrooms, and treatment rooms.

Surface Decontamination, Technology, and Hospital-Grade Cleansers
A crucial fault of traditional cleaning techniques is their tendency to use spray-and-wipe tactics to clean surfaces. Cross-contamination and the spread of harmful germs occur as a result of these techniques.
Health-based cleaning systems use advanced soil removal techniques such as microfiber technology. Microfiber in cleaning cloths and mops has been shown to be 99 percent more effective at removing soil and pathogens than traditional cleaning materials such as paper towels or non-microfiber cloths. Small, angled edges along the microfibers actually attract dirt, grease, and contaminants to help leave a truly clean surface.
With a color-coding methodology for these tools, health-based cleaning systems utilize a single tool for specific office areas, greatly reducing cross-contamination and germ transfer by making sure soil and matter from one area is not spread to another area.
For extra insurance use lightweight, flat mops equipped with super-absorbent fabric that traps and hold dead germs.
Just because you skin care facility is not a hospital does not mean you should not take the same protective measures for a safer, healthier environment as they do. Your facility can benefit from EPA-registered, hospital-grade cleansers and disinfectants that are highly effective in eliminating pathogens and the illnesses they cause.

Additional Tips:
• Perfumes or other odors – whether attractive or noxious –
should not be present following the cleaning process.
• High-efficiency, HEPA filtration vacuums that capture dirt and
particles that are .3 microns or larger should be used to
improve indoor air quality.
• Cleaning personnel should wash hands properly and change
gloves frequently.
• “No-touch” spray and vacuum systems should be used
whenever possible in restroom areas to effectively clean
germ hot spots, such as floors, sinks, and sink tops through
proper disinfection without danger of cross-contamination.

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