7.1 Hair Equipment, Implements, Supplies & Disinfection

7.1 Hair Equipment, Implements, Supplies & Disinfection

Quick Answer: A styling chair, workstation, and shampoo bowl are equipment. Shears, thinning shears, razors, clippers, combs, and brushes are implements. Towels, capes, and neck strips are supplies. Oklahoma inspectors look for OAC 175:10-7-11 (no pocketed combs; rollers/clips disinfected after each use; lotions from a shaker; creams with a spatula), 175:10-7-12 (clean towel per patron; closed clean storage; vented covered soiled-linen can; hot wash with detergent; dry hot-to-touch), 175:10-7-13 (used tools off the station and floor; sweep hair after the service), and 175:10-7-5 (debris off first, then EPA spray/wipe that stays wet for full contact time).

Hair Care and Services on the NIC National Cosmetology Theory Examination asks you to name tools and then keep them safe. Independent OpenExamPrep study for Oklahoma adds the Oklahoma State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering (OSBCB) sanitation overlay from Title 175. A Tulsa candidate who can label a thinning shear but cannot say whether it may rest on the station after a fade will miss both a theory stem and an inspection.

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Three categories you must not mix

Theory items punish category swaps. Equipment is the furniture and fixed plumbing you wipe and maintain. Implements are multi-use tools that touch hair or scalp and must be cleaned and disinfected between patrons. Supplies are the linens and barriers that isolate skin and clothing; most are laundered or discarded after one client.

A styling chair is hydraulic equipment. Lock the pump, wipe arms and the seat, and keep the base clear of hair. OAC 175:10-7-12(c) requires a clean towel on a facial chair headrest for each patron — the same hygiene idea applies whenever a headrest or neck rest contacts skin. A workstation is the counter, drawers, and mirror zone. OAC 175:10-7-13(a) says the work/styling station and shampoo area stay sanitary, and instruments that have been used shall not be placed on the work station or on the floor. A shampoo bowl is equipment with a neck rest and spray hose. OAC 175:10-7-15(a) requires enough hot and cold water for disinfection and safe conditions, with plumbing that meets state and local codes and stays in good repair.

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Implements: purpose, then the Oklahoma disinfection path

Cutting shears have two blades, a pivot, a finger grip, a thumb grip, and a bumper. They create blunt lines and elevation cuts. Thinning (texturizing) shears have one or both blades notched; they remove bulk and blend weight lines without lowering the perimeter the way a full blunt cut would. Razors soften perimeters and create texture; they are not a substitute for a credo-style skin scraper (those skin-removing blades are prohibited elsewhere in Title 175). Clippers and trimmers remove bulk, fade, and outline; guards and detachable blades are part of the tool, not decoration. Combs are task-specific: a wide-tooth comb detangles wet or curly hair; a cutting comb holds a section for shears; a tail comb parts and sections; a barber comb supports clipper-over-comb; a vent comb helps airflow while drying. Brushes include paddles for length, rounds for a blow-out, vents for speed with less tension, and natural-bristle styles that move sebum down the shaft.

OAC 175:10-7-11 is the Oklahoma implement-and-product rule you should be able to quote in short form:

• (a) Rollers and clips are cleaned and disinfected after each use.
• (b) Placing combs or other articles to be used in the pocket of the uniform is prohibited.
• (c) An adequate daily supply of combs and brushes shall be available — one “lucky comb” in an apron pocket is not a supply system.
• (d) Lotions, powder, or water are dispensed from a shaker or bottle.
• (e) Creams and other semi-solid preparations are removed with a spatula.

A Norman inspector who sees a tail comb in a smock pocket and a finger dipped in a jar of styling cream has two 175:10-7-11 problems, not a style preference.

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OAC 175:10-7-5: clean first, then wet contact time

Oklahoma’s 2025 rule book still requires every precaution to prevent infection by disinfecting tools. The sequence for immersible items is: remove all visible debris with soap/water or a cleaning agent, rinse, then fully immerse in an EPA-approved disinfectant mixed to the label, and stay immersed for the manufacturer’s full contact time. Spray and wipe methods are allowed when the clean item sits on a clean surface and all surfaces stay visibly moist for the listed contact time. Combs may be disinfected in a cylinder jar if they stay immersed for full contact time. Disinfected items are stored in a dry, closed cabinet, drawer, or other closed/covered container without fumes. UV light boxes are prohibited as a sanitation method.

For electrical items with plastic or metal guards, clipper blades, drill bits, and any metal or nonmetal removable parts, the 2025 text requires those parts removed, then all visible debris cleaned, then an EPA-registered spray or wipe used for full contact time, then air dry. Tool housing is also disinfected. Shears and razors follow the same idea: wipe debris, then EPA spray or wipe that remains wet for the contact time. Do not skip the debris step — disinfectant does not work through a mat of hair.

Plan a wet sanitizer (immersion) and a dry, covered “clean/disinfected” store. Establishments are also expected to keep wet and dry sanitizing capacity in use under the Board’s sanitizer rules (see OAC 175:10-5-2 in the infection-control chapters). Multi-use storage should be marked so a used shear never shares a drawer with a ready tool.

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Supplies and OAC 175:10-7-12 linens

Towels blot water, protect clothing, and cover headrests. Capes protect clothing; the material changes with the service (waterproof at the bowl and for chemicals; a cutting cape plus barrier for haircutting). Neck strips are the disposable or single-client barrier between cape and skin — NIC-style infection-control items treat a cape that sits on bare neck as a miss.

OAC 175:10-7-12 in the current administrative text:

• Clean towels are used for each patron.
• Clean towels and other linens stay in a closed container, cabinet, or drawer free from contamination.
• Maintain an appropriate supply of clean towels, linens, and neck strips.
• Linens are not reused; they are laundered before use.
• Wash on hot with detergent and dry until hot to the touch.
• Provide one vented, covered container for soiled linens (towels, capes, sheets) in the salon and in each service room and changing area; used-linen cans are covered with vented sides to reduce pathogen growth.
• Towel warmers are disinfected daily; steamed towels are washed with detergent and bleach, prepared with clean hands or gloves, made fresh each day, leftover steamed towels laundered at close, and the warmer left open overnight to dry.

A Lawton station with a pretty open basket of “clean” towels fails 175:10-7-12(b) even if the towels were washed that morning.

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Station finish: OAC 175:10-7-13

After the last clip, loose/cut hair is removed from the styling/work station, chair, and floor immediately. Used implements do not rest on the counter “for a second” and do not drop to the floor and return to the kit. Smoking at the station is prohibited in school settings under the same section; light fixtures must provide adequate work light. Hair left in the chair hydraulic and a shear laid on the cape are classic inspection and exam pictures.

Exam traps

• Calling a neck strip equipment or a shampoo bowl an implement.
• “Pocket comb is fine if I wipe it.” 175:10-7-11(b) does not create a wipe exception.
• Dipping fingers in cream. Spatula (and related 175:10-7-28 no-finger-in-the-tub language for pomades, waxes, and gels).
• Storing clean linen in an open hamper next to the soiled can.
• Spritzing a hair-caked clipper and calling it disinfected — debris first, then wet contact time.

Keep the three categories, the four Oklahoma cites, and the wet-contact-time habit in one mental map. That is the written-exam and the Oklahoma shop floor.