24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

The 24 hour tanning rule has been the topic for a great deal of discussion. In an effort to be a responsible salon operator many salons have adopted the strict 24 hour rule. This I think is a responsible thing to do even though there are still many salons that let tanners tan anytime as long as it is the next day.

With all of the negative publicity I would think setting a responsible rule that allows the skin time to heal between tans is a smart thing to do.

How do you do this with minimal blow back from the tanner? Make sure the rule is predominantly posted and is an important part of explaining every package that is sold. Make sure the tanner understands 24 hours and not just once a day. Use the need for a darker tan or more bang for the buck by selling upgrade tanning that provides quicker result. Allowing tanners to tan once a day that may be as little as 12 hours apart is irresponsible. There should always be a hard fast rule in place or that line will always get crossed and abused.

I brought this up again because a tanner reached out to me asking if there was an existing written law that requires the 24 hour rule. This was my response to that inquiry.

I am sorry but the 24 hour rule is for your own protection. The rule adopted by responsible tanning salons is to adhere to the 24 hour rule and software that operates the equipment prevents equipment from being turned on until 24 hours has passed from your previous tan. It is for your own safety. If it is important for you to tan more often than you should I am sure you can find a substandard tanning salon or beauty salon that is not concerned with your safety. It might be smarter for you to plan your schedule to tan within the 24 hour rule. It is important to allow your skin to heal between tans. Be a smart tanner and keep a beautiful healthy looking tan. Also if you want more bang in each tanning session I suggest you try some of the higher level tanning equipment that will give you more color each tan without increasing risk.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

The message I get from your words is that tanning is somehow dangerous.

This comes from phrases such as:

"responsible salon owner, responsible thing to do"

"allows the skin time to HEAL between tans is the SMART thing to do"

"allowing next day tanning.....is irresponsible"

"24 hour rule is for your own PROTECTION"

"...is for your own SAFETY"

".....use upgrade equip instead to give more color faster without increasing RISK" (this is the MOST confusing to me....)



"Responsible" salon owners and their staffs should be well versed in appropriate exposure times and utilize that knowledge for every customer, every visit.


IF -- and this is a rare "IF" -- a customer comes at 9pm closing one night and then back at 9am opening the next day.....then their NEXT tan - will be at LEAST 24 hours later. At THAT point, since they are coming at opening, they will AUTOMATICALLY be set at 24 hours between tans..... unless they wait even longer (say 30 hours, coming in the afternoon), in order to AGAIN get the "opportunity" to "abuse" the system" and come back at 9am opening again after that for just an 18 hour turnaround. But then they are again at opening.....and so back to, at best, coming 24 hours later. A daily rule allows NO MORE than 7 tans/week (assuming the salon is open 7 days). 24 hours does the same -- although as a salon owner you might make it INCONVENIENT AND FRUSTRATING enough that the 7 max is a LITTLE less attainable. But, in reality, most salons find the average customer comes 3x/week or less.


The 24 hour "laws" were enacted in some areas by legislators who don't understand the tanning process and often demonize the industry.



The tanning "process" is not immediate - true.

The tanning process is impacted by many factors, including skin type, recent indoor exposure, recent other exposure (outdoors), drug use, equipment used, lamp life and more- true.


In my opinion, "responsible" salon operators understand these things and explain them to their staff and customers and operate accordingly.

Thinking that "STRICT" adherence to a 24 hour "rule" somehow magically "protects" tanners or their skin from whatever "bad" thing that might befall them if they tanned at 23 hours 48 minutes instead is just silly.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

That is one of the snarkiest responses to a customer inquiry I have read. In one paragraph you have managed to "lecture" the customer, imply they have bad judgement, imply they are not smart enough to do business with the salon, and then imply they need to spend more to be satisfied. If one of my managers responded to a customer in that fashion they would be out the door.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

Sometimes, it seems to me,Steve post just to be 'heard', without reading what he wrote with some thought behind it.

A trend that has been going on for 15 years, so it seems. You need to take with what he says, with much caution.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

I appreciate every ones response to my post. We can't hide from the fact that the service we provide is actually clinical because we are altering the condition of a persons skin. Allowing the skin to heal between tans is important. It is no different that a bar serving a customer after they have had too much to drink. A beautiful tan can be achieved without tanning twice in 18 to 20 hours. There is no law that says you must wait 24 hours so it becomes a responsible call for the safety of the tanner. Please disregard how I presented it to you but consider the importance of the 24 hour rule.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

This is a tanner reaching out to someone they feel is knowledgeable about tanning and was looking for fuel to support an argument with the salon employee. As an uninvolved person I gave a real and factual response to a tanner that was more concerned with fuel for an aggressive fight with the salon not me. From her next response to me she understood. You should read that my message here is to be completely transparent up front regarding the 24 hour rule to avoid this situation.

I say this because there are salon operators that use tan any time you want because it gives them advantage over salons and chains that follow the 24 hour rule. That is irresponsible. Think safety first and it puts a better face on our industry so we are attacked less for questionable practices. I am sorry that my opinion with this subject offends you. My intent is not to offend you but to offer a point of view.

Use this as an opportunity to discuss how you feel this real topic should be handled or if you feel a person should be able to tan every day no matter how short a time has passed between visits. Keeping in mind you must have some sort of hard fast rule or it will be abused and possibly put you the salon owner at risk of overexposing a tanner because you let them decide what level of exposure is safe.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

That was not a suggestion of how an employee should respond. The tanner reached out to me as a industry expert, my response was appropriate. My suggestion to the employee is procedure that prevents this situation entirely.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

I understand your point even though your schedule description was really hard to understand. The 24 hour rule is important for a number of reasons. Yes, it gives the time for the skin to heal between sessions, It creates a rule that your staff really needs so there are no exposure issues because a decision is left to their judgement. This is important where unlimited or as I like to call it recommended tanning, it controls the amount of money you make for tanning. As I am trying to point out things like how often a person can tan is in a very deliberate way explained and understood at the point of sale these issues never arise. Hiding or disguising rules or terms is what gets us into trouble. If we clearly communicate the rules and terms of use with each package we prevent problems.

Also I think it is wrong to suggest that there are no risk involved with over exposure to UV light. We are selling a smarter way to tan that includes minimizing risk. We have danger and warning signs all over our salons why pretend that it is not important to be overly cautious to minimize potential damage to the skin. Wind, cold, heat and uv all have a damaging affect on our skin. We want to control damage by controlling exposure and hydrating our skin.

Again I am getting off topic of full disclosure and making sure our tanners understand all terms up front.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

Steve in these times, it about $$$ to pay the bills and keep the salon open with all means. 24 Hr tanning did not work for me as the software kept the time but it was a minute's later the next day and the next day and the next day. Everyone tanning is not the same as customers have difference time to tan and this will not work for 24 HR tanning. I will continue to tan my customers as they come in, not to say Mass now has, the 18 and under law which go into effect May 5, 2016, another nail in the coffin.

Re: 24 Hour Tanning Rule
 

I understand your position. In difficult times some changes are harder than others, especially when it is hard to retrain your tanners. In the situation where sales are soft for a tanning salon it is probably smarter to tackle some things that will help increase sales rather than something that initially will appear as negative to the tanner. Joe I understand 100%. You are not alone in your situation lets work on getting those sales up before worrying about the 24 hour rule. Most importantly do not feel defeated, don't give up on your salons. You are in the season and can only work on increasing sales one day at a time. Now is when tanners are most likely to tan, you must nudge them along. $100 more a day in business is $3K more a month and $36K more a year. You can't eat an elephant in one bite but you can eat that elephant one bite at a time.