If you own a nail salon, you want your place of business to be as clean and safe as possible. Clients will appreciate a clean and organized environment when they come in for appointments, and it will ensure employee and client safety. You want to maintain a positive reputation for your salon, so keeping things safe and clean is a top priority. When you are offering services like manicures and pedicures, there are some specific safety procedures you should always follow. Here are 10 tips for safe manicures and pedicures in your salon.
Procure the Necessary Licenses
The first step you will want to take when ensuring safety in your nail salon is procuring the necessary licenses. When you are running a business, there are some essential prerequisites you’ll need to meet to operate. These qualifications will vary depending on what state you live in, but overall, the general requirements are similar between states. For example, to run a nail salon, you will likely need a business license, as well as a cosmetology license. All your staffed employees should also have a cosmetology license if they are performing services on clients. Having all the necessary licenses and meeting the legal requirements ensures that your salon is a safe and certified place for clients to book appointments.
Wash Hands
Washing hands is another essential safety tip for nail salons to follow. When you work in a nail salon, you are constantly in close contact with clients, and you will be touching their hands and feet to provide them with manicures and pedicures. Therefore, you should always wash your hands before every single client appointment. You want to avoid passing germs and bacteria back and forth between yourself and your clients, so making sure that you are washing your hands frequently is a must.
Clean and Sanitize Tools
The third tip for safe manicures and pedicures in your salon is to clean and sanitize your tools. It is important that you clean and sanitize every single tool that you use for client appointments. Many salons use UV sterilizers to ensure that their tools and equipment are free of germs and bacteria that could cause illness or infection. You can also use cleaning solutions to wash your tools before sterilizing them for an extra level of protection and safety.
Clean Footbaths
Cleaning footbaths is another necessary safety measure to take in your nail salon. Most salons that offer pedicure services will have pedicure units with footbaths. While these footbaths are relaxing for clients and elevate their experiences, they can also get very dirty and potentially hold dangerous bacteria. Therefore, it is essential to make sure you are cleaning and disinfecting footbaths after each use and client appointment. Never reuse water from one appointment to the next. You should always wash the footbath with hot water and soap, and then empty it and refill it with clean water and disinfectant.
Organize Work Areas
The next way to make your nail salon safer is by organizing work areas. One of the best ways to ensure cleanliness in your business is by making sure workspaces are well organized. If your salon is a mess that’s filled with clutter and trash, it will be much more difficult to keep clean. Therefore, you should take the necessary steps to organize each space within your salon. For example, always take out the trash, sweep when needed, and put things back where they belong. You should also utilize labeling to ensure everything is where it needs to be and that products don’t get mixed up by accident.
Utilize Proper Techniques
Utilizing proper techniques is the sixth tip for manicure and pedicure safety. When you are performing services on clients, you should always ensure that you are using the proper and correct techniques to avoid harming them. For example, nail technicians in the salon should apply polish, gels, artificial nails, remover, and any other products with proper care and appropriate technique. You should ensure that all salon employees are aware of the correct procedures and techniques to follow so that all clients are receiving the safest possible experience.
Be Careful With Cuticles
The next helpful tip for safe nail salons is to be careful with cuticles. For years, it has been a popular technique for nail technicians to cut back clients’ cuticles. However, this is not a best practice, as it can lead to infection. Any time you break the skin, you create a more susceptible situation for infections. Instead of cutting back cuticles, you should have your nail technicians leave cuticles alone or very carefully push them back without cutting or breaking them.
Avoid Cross-Contamination
Avoiding cross-contamination is another important safety tip to follow in nail salons. Cross-contamination is when bacteria from one surface or substance transfer to that of another. For example, this can happen in a nail salon in many ways, one of which is when a nail technician uses the same dip powder nail pot for multiple clients. You want to ensure that you are not using the same products on more than one client. And if you are using reusable tools and products, they should always be cleaned and sanitized before use on another client.
Store Tools & Equipment Appropriately
The ninth tip for ensuring safety in your nail salon is to store tools and equipment appropriately. Not only do you want your salon to be organized, but you also want to make sure that tools are in safe and appropriate locations. For example, you want all your nail polishes to be in one spot that is clean and easily accessible. Then, you want all your cleaning supplies to be in one location, ideally a closet or cabinet. Keeping your tools in the right places will ensure that cross-contamination does not occur and that your salon is clean, organized, and safe for employees and clients alike.
Avoid Illness in the Workplace
Avoiding illness in the workplace is the final beneficial tip for safety in nail salons. Now that we have experienced the trauma and widespread infection that Covid-19 swept the world with, we are more aware as a society of how easily illness can spread. Therefore, it is imperative to take the necessary safety precautions to avoid the further spread of dangerous germs and bacteria. If you have any employees who are experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness, you should ensure that they take sick days from work until they are well. Avoiding the spread of sickness in the workplace will help you to keep employees and clients safe and healthy.
Now that you have 10 tips for safety procedures in your nail salon, you can utilize these tactics today. Making sure employees and clients are safe at all times will ensure a positive reputation for your business and give clients the best possible experience. Salon Equipment Center has all the necessary supplies for your salon needs, including nail salon tables for sale.
