ORLANDO, Fla. — For weeks, stay-at-home orders have kept hair and nail salons as well as barbershops around Central Florida shut down during the pandemic. Now they are back open.

Florida mandates say:

• All customers will be by appointment only.
• Allow at least 15 minutes between the conclusion of an appointment and the beginning of the next appointment for proper disinfecting practices.
• No group appointments are permitted.
• Masks must be worn by all employees while performing personal services.

Barbershops, cosmetology salons, and cosmetology specialty salons are encouraged to adhere to the following guidance:

• Thoroughly clean and disinfect prior to reopening. Make sure to disinfect all surfaces, tools and linens, even if they were cleaned before you originally closed. This type of cleaning should continue between each day of operation.
• Consider providing unworn masks to clients for use during their appointment.
• Remove all unnecessary, frequently touched items like magazines, newspapers, service menus and any other unnecessary paper products and décor from customer service areas.

In the Parramore section of Orlando, J. Henry’s Barbershop is a staple for many when it comes to haircuts. But the owner, John Henry, and other barbershops and salons closed their doors in March ahead of stay-at-home orders.

As talks of reopening businesses began, Henry — a member of Orange County’s Economic Recovery Task Force — spoke with DeSantis in finding safe ways to jumpstart the economy.

He says strict cleanliness practices that have been routine in his shop and others for decades helped convince leaders they could reopen safely now.

“So you always want to keep a good, clean environment and every barbershop and hair salon and also nail salon, we’ve been trained to do these things our whole entire career, so I think that was a key point to the governor’s decision-making with allowing us to reopen in the first phase,” he said.

He and his barbers are looking forward to getting back to work. 

“Man, trust me, I talked to my guys, we talk all the time pretty much because we’re a close-knit family here at J. Henry’s Barbershop, and they’re excited about coming back to work," said Henry. "We’ve got a lot of people that really, really want to get back into the barbershop and we’re lucky and grateful just to have them interested in supporting the business.”

He said while they hope they will stay busy Monday, they will also closely follow social distancing guidelines.

Henry said faith helped get him through these uncertain times and that same faith is helping them know they can get their business here back up to where it was. 

In Oviedo, Salon Alexandria is asking customers to wear masks. After each client seats, counter spaces, and tools are cleaned.

They also have customers wait in their cars until it’s their turn. The nail area has a new divider and customers are asked not to touch products.

“No one is allowed to touch polish anymore, I am the only one that can touch it,” Salon Alexandria nail tech Kimberly Meadows said.  “Then it will be sanitized after I touch it. I am not letting any cell phones on my desk and actually no personal belongings will be on the desk at all.”

The salon says they are normally not open on Mondays but because of the overwhelming number of requests for an appointment they are now.