A majority of indoor tanning businesses now require their clients to purchase their own UV protective eyewear, according to the results of a SmartTan.com poll conducted in late September and early October.

According to the poll, 54 percent of stores now sell eyewear to every client. About 1-in-3 (34 percent) still sanitize re-usable eyewear for clients — a practice that used to be universal in tanning businesses. Another 12 percent provide or sell disposable eyewear as their primary means of assuring eye protection.

“Clients are used to bringing their indoor tanning lotion and their eyewear to the salon with them every visit — that wasn’t the case years ago,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “It has just become a part of the tanning experience.”

Selling eyewear or disposable eyewear has caught on as a great way to assure that clients understand the need to wear the eyewear. “In the early days of tanning in Europe many tanners didn’t wear eyewear,” Levy said. “So early-on in North American tanning, it was more of a struggle convincing clients that they needed to wear the eyewear we provided in the salon free-of-charge. Personalizing the eyewear has given us the opportunity to discuss it with the client, and that has caught on nicely.”