Point-of-sale terminals in salons are touched by every paying client and every staff member who processes a transaction — making them among the highest-frequency shared contact surfaces in the entire facility. The touchscreen, card reader slot, PIN pad, receipt printer output area, and terminal body accumulate skin oils, product residue transferred from client hands, and microorganisms from dozens or hundreds of people daily. A POS terminal that is never sanitized between uses functions as a communal contact surface that effectively connects every client to every other client through sequential touch. This diagnostic guide evaluates your payment terminal hygiene and provides the protocols needed to make checkout as clean as the rest of the salon experience.
POS terminal contamination follows a predictable but rarely addressed pattern. A client who has just received a hair color service arrives at checkout with hands that may carry traces of color product, conditioner, or styling product applied during their service. They touch the terminal screen, insert or tap their card, and possibly enter a PIN. The next client arriving from a nail service brings nail product residue, cuticle oil, and whatever was on the implements that contacted their hands. The third client from a waxing service may have post-treatment product on their skin. Each sequential touch deposits and collects material from the terminal surface.
Staff interaction with the terminal compounds the contamination. Receptionists who handle cash — itself one of the most contaminated items in circulation — then touch the terminal screen to process the payment. Stylists who step to the register between clients bring product from their hands to the terminal surface. Throughout the day, the terminal accumulates a multi-layered film of biological and chemical material from every person who has touched it.
The card reader slot is particularly concerning. Clients insert cards that have been stored in wallets, pockets, and purses — environments that harbor diverse microbial populations. The card reader slot and chip reader contact area accumulate residue from card surfaces, and this residue transfers to subsequent cards inserted into the reader.
Touchscreens present a large surface area that receives direct finger contact from multiple users. The oils and organisms deposited on touchscreens are visible as fingerprint smudges under certain lighting, but even when the screen appears clean, microbial testing consistently reveals significant contamination.
Receipt printer areas accumulate paper dust and thermal paper chemical residue. Staff who tear receipts and hand them to clients transfer this material to their hands and to subsequent items they touch.
State cosmetology boards require that salon environments be maintained in a sanitary condition, which extends to all client-contact surfaces including payment equipment. While POS terminal cleaning is not specifically addressed in most regulatory frameworks, the general requirement for sanitary conditions applies.
The CDC recommends frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces in commercial environments, with increased attention to shared equipment that is touched by multiple people in rapid succession. Payment terminals meet this definition clearly.
OSHA's workplace sanitation requirements include maintaining equipment in a clean condition, particularly equipment that is shared among multiple users. The agency's guidance on reducing workplace illness transmission through surface hygiene applies directly to shared POS equipment.
Payment card industry data security standards primarily address electronic security, but terminal maintenance guidelines from major payment processors also include physical cleanliness recommendations to maintain equipment function and professional appearance.
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The MmowW hygiene assessment evaluates your checkout area hygiene including POS terminal cleaning practices, card reader maintenance, and overall payment processing cleanliness. Many salons discover through the assessment that their POS terminals are never cleaned between clients, that card reader slots contain visible residue, and that the checkout experience undermines the hygiene standards maintained throughout the rest of the salon. The assessment provides corrective actions that bring checkout hygiene in line with service area standards.
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Try it free →Step 1: Wipe the touchscreen between every client transaction. Keep a container of electronics-safe disinfectant wipes at the checkout station. After each client completes their transaction, wipe the entire touchscreen surface with a single wipe. This takes less than ten seconds and removes the previous client's skin oils, product residue, and deposited organisms before the next client touches the screen.
Step 2: Clean the card reader and chip reader area daily. Use a card reader cleaning card — available from payment terminal suppliers — to clean the internal contacts of the card reader slot. Wipe the exterior of the card reader area, including the contactless tap zone, with a disinfectant wipe. Run the cleaning card through the slot once daily to remove residue buildup that can eventually cause read errors in addition to harboring contamination.
Step 3: Disinfect the PIN pad after every PIN entry. When a client enters a PIN, the pad receives direct finger contact on multiple buttons. Wipe the PIN pad with a disinfectant wipe after every PIN entry. If your terminal supports contactless payment methods that bypass PIN entry, encourage their use to eliminate this touch point entirely.
Step 4: Clean the terminal body and base daily. Wipe the entire terminal housing — top, sides, back, and base — with a disinfectant wipe at the start and end of each business day. The terminal body accumulates dust, product residue from handling, and is occasionally splashed by drinks or products placed nearby on the counter.
Step 5: Clean the receipt printer area weekly. Open the receipt printer compartment and wipe interior surfaces accessible without disassembly. Remove paper dust accumulation. Clean the exterior of the printer output slot where receipts are torn. If the printer has a cutter blade, clean it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Paper dust combined with thermal paper chemical residue creates a grimy film on surfaces near the printer.
Step 6: Manage cables and connections. Ensure terminal cables are routed neatly and do not trail across the counter surface where they collect spills, dust, and product residue. Wipe cable surfaces during daily terminal cleaning. Secure cables to prevent them from being pulled or tripped over. Loose cables accumulate contamination and create a disorganized appearance that clients associate with poor hygiene.
Step 7: Promote contactless payment methods. Encourage clients to use contactless tap-to-pay methods — which require no physical contact with the terminal surface — by positioning the contactless reader prominently, adding signage that invites tap payment, and training staff to offer it as the first option. Contactless payment eliminates the touchscreen, card reader, and PIN pad as contamination pathways for each transaction that uses it.
Step 8: Replace terminals when surfaces cannot be adequately cleaned. POS terminals that have developed permanent discoloration, sticky surfaces that cleaning cannot remove, cracked screens that harbor contamination in the cracks, or worn PIN pad buttons that have lost their smooth surface should be replaced. Modern terminals are designed with smooth, cleanable surfaces specifically because hygiene during shared use has become a recognized concern. An older terminal with degraded surfaces cannot be maintained to the same hygiene standard as current equipment.
Most POS terminal manufacturers recommend cleaning with pre-moistened isopropyl alcohol wipes at 70 percent concentration or less. Avoid using household glass cleaners containing ammonia, as these can damage the oleophobic coating on touchscreens that prevents fingerprint adhesion. Do not use bleach-based products, abrasive cleaners, or products containing strong solvents on touchscreen surfaces. Do not spray liquid directly onto the terminal — always apply the cleaning solution to a cloth or wipe first, then wipe the screen. Microfiber cloths are preferred over paper towels for screen cleaning because they do not scratch the surface. Several companies manufacture wipes specifically designed for commercial touchscreen cleaning that combine effective disinfection with screen-safe formulations.
Run a card reader cleaning card through the chip reader and magnetic stripe reader once daily in a typical salon transaction volume. High-volume salons processing more than 50 card transactions per day should use the cleaning card twice daily. In addition to scheduled cleaning, use the cleaning card whenever the terminal reports a read error, as this often indicates residue buildup on internal contacts. Card reader cleaning cards are inexpensive and readily available from terminal suppliers and office supply vendors. Using them regularly extends terminal life by preventing residue buildup that can permanently damage reader contacts if left to accumulate.
Yes. Placing a hand sanitizer dispenser at or near the checkout counter provides clients the opportunity to clean their hands before and after touching shared equipment. This reduces the biological load deposited on terminal surfaces and signals to clients that you take hygiene seriously at every point of their visit. Position the dispenser where it is visible and accessible without requiring clients to reach across the counter. Pump dispensers or automatic touchless dispensers are both effective; touchless dispensers add an additional layer of hygiene by eliminating yet another shared surface. The modest cost of providing hand sanitizer at checkout is offset by the reduction in terminal contamination and the positive impression it creates.
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