Love dirty talk? 1 in 4 guests leave nail salons with a bacterial or fungal infection. Yikes.
When we first heard about this statistic, we knew we’d never put our feet into a tub with jets again! And we wanted to make sure you didn’t either. That’s why The W Nail Bar uses copper pots for our pedicures. Aesthetically beautiful? No doubt! Natural antiseptic? You bet.
Unfortunately, The W’s sanitation standards aren’t exactly universal. In other words, nail salons across the country are still using unsafe practices and procedures—and they may be doing so without you even knowing.
Poorly run salons prey on the public’s ignorance to take shortcuts, not only to do more services (aka, make more money), but on sanitation practices, as well. In other words, they rely on the fact that the general public doesn’t know what’s right and what’s wrong.
Which is exactly why we’re here to pull back the veil.
But before we jump in, let’s do a quick run-down of the three different phrases often used in the nail tech business, according to the Stateboard of Ohio/Barbicide: sanitation, disinfection and sterilization. Fact: while often used interchangeably, these terms are actually vastly different on effectiveness. Take a look...
- The words sanitize, clean and hygiene all refer to the broad category that means you have done something to remove visible debris. Examples of this would be wiping down a counter, holding something under running water, using soap and water on an item or using a cleaning solution like Ship-Shape® Cleaner.
- Disinfecting is the killing of most microbial life that can lead to infection in humans—such as Influenza, Staphylococcus, HIV/AIDS, Herpes, Salmonella and Hepatitis. This step is done following a cleaning (see definition above) and requires the use of a disinfectant such as Barbicide®, Barbicide® Plus or Barbicide® Wipes.
- Sterilization is the killing of all microbial life, and requires an autoclave or cold sterilizer. This method is mainly used in healthcare.