Smoking!

[Nicky0189]

Iv been a mobile hairdresser since august 2011 & 1 issue i have is going into a clients home & they smoke. Im a non smoker and i find it very uncomfortable to be around, especially whilst working on there hair. Is it right for me to ask them to not to smoke whilst im there? It makes me smell, my tools & equipment smell. it looks bad on me when i go to my next client & alls they can smell is stale smoke. i dont want to loose or offend my customers...how to i approach this in the right way? Afterall its there home but it becomes my work place for the time im there.

 

[BBH Salon]

I would tell them you have asthma, or some kind of respiratory problem, be polite about it and me as a smoker, if you said that I wouldn’t mind at all, i would go outside if i needed one

 

[TweezerHappy]

Isn't the law no smoking in the work place? That is your work place for that appointment. Just like if someone uses their car as a taxi, while its a taxi it's illegal to smoke in it. While they're using it as their car it's ok.

Not sure if the law is different in Scotland.

 

[Penners]

its a difficult one, I find even if they havn't smoked while i'm there it 'hangs' on my clothes - worst one is smelling of their dinner then going to another customers house, blurgh!

 

[jurate]

ooooh. Im a smoker and a therapist. But! If i have had a cigarette i brush my teeth like crazy before seeing a client and always have mints at hand just in case.

If i am with a non-smoker in any sort of environment i will always ask the person wether they mind if i have a smoke. If they dont - i will still go outside and have my smoke there out of respect to the other person, even if we are at my home.

So yes, i think you could simply ask the clients not to smoke in front of you. Be polite, but hey, you have a right to ask its not like you are at their home for 12 hours at a time so they wont die. Ive been to places where smoking wasnt an option and i survived! When im busy at a salon i may sometimes spend the whole day without a cigarette and it doesnt kill me, so just go for it and ask them to respect you and your work while you are there

 

[Debs001]

Ooh that's a difficult one as your in their home. I spray tan so I use the excuse I don't want any flammables around the machine overspray but that's only a 10 min treatment. some people genuinely don't realise how offensive the smell is or the effect of second hand smoke (I get a really bad chest from being near the fumes of a cigarette), so yeah maybe just say you have asthma?

 

[lee7smith]

I've been mobile for a year now and no one has ever smoked while I have been doing their hair thank god . But I would definatly say something I they did as it repulses me .. Agreed on smelling of their dinner though that makes me sick . Luckily at that time I'm usually going straight home !

 

[ShannonJo]

I'm a smoker but I think of it as if it was another job where you were in an office you'd have a *** every 4-6 hours so just because I'm mobile I will wait until I finish my job I'm still at an advantage as a job usually takes 3 hours. But then again some clients are happy to let you. Anyone who doesn't, then just wait. Harder than it looks with awkward clients though I must admit! Just bring body spray not an over powering one and mints... Lots of mints!!

 

[Nicky0189]

Thanku everyone! Feel much better about the situation. I'll give it ago & fingers crossed it goes well.

 

[ShannonJo]

Good luck xxx

 

[dales nails]

I have one regular client for a blowdry who is a smoker but doesnt smoke when im there. i smell that bad of smoke after i have to pop home and get changed, and even then i can still smell it as its in my hair and shoes! so its a right pain as its eating into appointment time etc. i find im forever spraying perfume. sometimes if i can still smell it on me i apologise to my next clients if they can smell cigarette smoke on me. But yes sometimes clients do need telling i did have one client who used to smoke whilst doing her hair and i did have to tell her in the end as she was doing it whilst i was pregnant