We at VODEX were proud to sponsor the Salon and Spa Owners Club at the Olympia Beauty Event that took place on the 29th and 30th September 2019. However, what we were most excited about was the presentation by the company co-owner and technical sales director, Paul Riddick.
Paul is an expert on everything extraction and he wanted to make salon and spa owners aware of the risks of the chemical fumes and dust that you would typically find inside such an environment.
Assisting him in this informative presentation was our very own beauty expert and sales advisor, Natasia-Louise James!
Talking About the Dangers of Fumes and Dust in Salons
Paul opened the presentation with a list of potentially harmful chemicals that you’d find in a beauty salon, right from ingredients in nail polishes to disinfectants used to clean up equipment and surfaces.
He spoke about the possible dangers of long-term exposure to these vapours and fumes, as well as nail dust.
What really wowed the audience was when Paul started talking about types of dust and used different sized balls to demonstrate the size difference. They loved it! It helped them visualise the difference between dust particles that are 100μm (microns), 50μm, and 30μm. He even used a beach ball to show the breathing zone where airborne dust can get into your breathing passage.
He went on to explain how particles smaller than 30μm are invisible to the naked eye, but all the more dangerous because of that. Using sponges and water, he showed how carbon filters work and why they need to be more than 50mm to be effective.
The simple way of explaining, with the easy visualisation, made this technical and scientific topic come alive for the audience.
With a better understanding of why extraction is necessary, they learned about the methods of extraction ‘at source’ or Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV). Paul showed them examples of LEV products as well as room-wide filtration systems.
After this very interesting presentation, the audience enjoyed a quick demonstration of our SalonAIR® unit along with the VODEX FileOTRAY® and FileOWAY®.
Question Time!
Finally, when it was time for questions, Paul was hit with his favourite (and most often asked) question: How often should we change the filters?
He has been asked this question so many times that he has an answer prepared for it!
It really depends on usage.
If they are being used daily, you should ideally change pre-filters every 4 to 6 weeks. Carbon filters should be changed every 9 to 12 months.
It’s safe to say that the audience was quite disappointed when the presentation ended. We received great feedback, with people saying how much they appreciated the talk.
All we want to say is that it was a great experience for us as well. Paul loves spreading his extensive knowledge, and it’s his personal crusade to make people aware of the dangers of workplace fumes and dust.
In fact, if you have any questions about the extraction needs for your business, we will be happy to help you with advice. Take a look at our range of products. If you don’t find the right extraction solution for your needs, we will be happy to help you with a custom one! Call us on 01489 899070 or send us an email.
