What flooring for a hair and beauty salon?

Are you preparing to set up your hairdressing, beauty or barber salon?

As well as changing their look, customers also come to such places to relax, so you certainly want your salon to be unique. You want it to feel individual, creative or you simply want your client to feel at home.

Back in the early 2000s, most hairdressing salons still looked like a butcher's or butcher's shop - sad, white (or rather greyish) walls, covered with posters and usually square, greyish tiles with dark grouting on the floors (because you can't see the dirt). To our delight - trends are changing.

Of course, we know that clients should be attracted to your salon first and foremost by your and your team's skills, but let's not kid ourselves - it's nice to work in a cool environment, and it's nice to receive a client in a neat and interesting place.

I'll leave the choice of wall colours, furniture and furnishings to you or the designers. I will, however, touch on the subject of flooring.

Does the floor have to be boring? Is grey stoneware or micro-cement the only option? Well, no.

Of course, the floor must be easy to clean. It will have to be swept, washed and so on frequently. Thus, despite your sincere desire, you are giving up wood or classic laminate, of which there are plenty.

So what should you choose? A few suggestions:

• LVT Flooring

A product already widely known and increasingly loved. Why? It beautifully imitates natural textures like stone or wood.  It is quiet, i.e. there is not that loud clatter of heels. It is not afraid of water (frequent washing shortens life - this rule does not work here).
As a digression - a few years ago, we laid LVT panels in one of the galleries in Gdańsk. It was a time when unsettled rains passed through the tri-city area, which scarred not only the orchard. There was a lot of flooding everywhere, and there was standing water almost up to the knees in the gallery. And guess what? The freshly laid panels did not peel off, did not swell, did not stand up, absolutely nothing happened to them.
In addition, LVT vinyl panels meet the requirements for installation in public buildings, i.e. they have a flame-retardant class Bfl-s1 and, depending on the thickness of the wear layer, they are usually in use class 33.

• How about eco? That is, linoleum carpets

Unfortunately, linoleum is not that popular in Poland. Many, many people put linoleum on a par with pvc. After all, linoleum sounds similar to rubberoleum. Well... The uninformed will continue to be stuck in their ignorance, while for those who want to know more.... In short: Linoleum is made exclusively from natural raw materials. So what goes into the composition of linoleum?
- Linseed oil - the main binding agent of the floor covering,
- Natural resins - give the linoleum its flexibility,
- wood flour - filler responsible for the absorption of dyes,
- cork flour - gives the carpet its softness, thermal and acoustic insulation,
- limestone - strengthens and smoothens the material,
- dyes - give the carpet its natural colours,
- jute fabric - acts as an underlay.

And now what does this mean? Linoleum is resistant to heavy traffic, furniture wheels and can be renovated on the surface. Any mechanical damage or stains can be easily removed by polishing the surface. That would be enough :-)

Below, see PelsPels Barbers from Norway. This is a barbershop with tradition, which is regarded as one of the best in the world. Marmoleum Modular tiles were installed on the floor.

•     PVC floor coverings

They themselves were called to the board a few sentences earlier. PVC is installed in hospitals then why can't it be used in salons like this?

Yes, I know - for many people it is 'gumoleon'. A drab, dull one, which is associated with old salons, where this gumoleon often peeled off, supposed to resemble wood, some kind of stave, and was similar to virtually nothing. It was generally unattractive. But you know what? This is the 21st century! Everything is moving forward.

So PVC flooring doesn't have to be boring. All you need now is your imagination and an idea.

I'm not going to write about their properties and characteristics, I'll just say in brief that they have protective coatings, where chemicals don't scare them. And if installed correctly, they do not peel off, so they can be used for years and there is no risk of something cracking. Proper installation is the key to success!

Thanks to the wide range of colours offered by manufacturers, the multitude of colours and also the multitude of welding cords, your floor can become a true work of art.