An approach to effective disinfection of salon items [clippers, combs and scissors]

Abstract

Antibacterial susceptibility patterns of some bacteria isolated from selected barbing salons in parts of Northern Nigeria was studied for the purpose of developing a disinfectant system suitable for use in salons. The K-values for selected cells ranged from 0.0072 to 0.0399 (benzalkonium chloride), and from 0.0062 to 0.1338 (propylene glycol) as against a range of 0.0147 to 0.1343 when the two chemicals were combined. The observed D-value range of 64.5 to 99 (benzalkonium chloride), 31.5 to 105 (Propylene glycol) and 21 to 24 (admixture of the two chemicals) were exploited in the development of “SALONSEFE” – a salon disinfectant that was able to eliminate 105 cfu/ ml (of the most resistant bacterial isolated in these studies) completely in 60 seconds. Keywords : salonsafe, antibacterial, disinfectant, salon, K-value, D-value The East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 7(3) 2004: 47-51