Air quality might not be the first thing you think about when visiting a salon, but with many wanting to protect their health and wellbeing more than ever before, businesses are having to adapt to consumer needs in new ways.

Beauty Garden, a salon in Stanmore, has opted for high-tech air purifiers from leading air purification experts Blueair, to ensure that the air their staff and customers breathe is the cleanest and healthiest it can be. Since the air purifiers were installed in July when salons could reopen under strict COVID-19 instructions, the air quality at Beauty Garden has dramatically improved.

“Since using the Blueair air purifiers, our treatment rooms actually feel cleaner and fresher,” explains Suzie Singh Founder and owner of Beauty Garden. Singh continues,” In addition to everything else going on this year, there has been a massive increase in the pollen levels and some of our staff were suffering, but we have noticed quite considerably that once the purifiers were installed, they felt better. The units also received praise in feedback from a recent council inspection by the council.”

Testing air quality

Following a recent test at the Beauty Garden using a laboratory grade particulate monitor, Blueair was able to show an impressive 97% reduction in both PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter) particles. The mass concentration of particles was dramatically reduced in just under an hour of the air purifier being switched on. Mass concentration of particles’ are usually created by a combination of pollutants such as dust, allergens and hair, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as aerosols and cleaning products – all of which can be found in salons and other commercial properties.

A test of the air before switching the Blueair Blue Pure 221 air purifier on showed the mass concentration of PM2.5 or smaller was 20 (µg/m³). Following one hour of the air purifier being switched on the new result showed a concentration less than 1 µg/m³.

A technician for Blueair comments: “Before the air purifier was switched on, the treatment room had just moderate air quality levels in line with the World Health Organisation’s annual recommendation. It is also worth noting that the air purifier had been off for just 12 hours before the test, meaning during this time that level of pollution had been able to enter the room. One reason for this could be due to Beauty Garden’s location on a busy road. After just one hour of use, the Blueair air purifier was able to reduce the concentration of PM2.5 or smaller by 97%. This then placed the room in the safe and healthy category as outlined by the WHO. Impressive for a salon based on a busy high street.”