Your new nails are glamorous until you develop a fungus. But this didn’t have to happen. If you know how to clean and disinfect manicure tools, you can avoid all sorts of problems.
There are many reasons why it’s crucial to keep your manicure tools clean. It's not just because of nail fungus, but also warts and bloodborne illnesses like hepatitis and HIV. But what if you’re the only person that uses your tools? Does it really matter if they are disinfected?
Besides the gross-out factor, there's the fact that humans can't see germs with their eyes. It's best to spend a few minutes cleaning and disinfecting the manicure tools you use. Then pat yourself on the back for being professional even when no one is watching.
How Do You Clean and Disinfect Manicure Tools at Home?
What’s the best way to sanitize and disinfect your nail care tools? Here are the two steps to clean your nail clippers and more:
Step 1:
Physically remove debris from the tools.
This means scrubbing them with a brush and washing them.
Step 2:
Disinfect the tools with 70% rubbing alcohol.
You don’t need Barbicide as a salon does, but it does make the job easier. After all, it's a hospital-grade germicide that kills all the bad stuff plus it prevents rusting.
If you use alcohol, you’ll need to submerge the tools for at least 10 minutes.
Cleaning and Disinfection In-Depth
If you want to clean and disinfect professionally, cleanse your hands first.
Then use a clean brush to scour your non-porous tools like nippers, clippers, glass or metal nail files, and drill bits. It’s okay to use soap and water to help you do this step because the brief contact with water shouldn’t cause them to rust.
Rinse off the soap when you’re done and pat the tools dry with a clean towel.
- Why do you need to wash and scrub the tools if you’re just going to disinfect them? It’s because leftover debris can harbor germs and stop the disinfectant from doing its job.
Follow up by soaking the tools in rubbing alcohol in a clean container. They must be completely submerged for at least 10 minutes. Make sure your hands are clean before you remove them from the liquid and let them dry on a clean towel.
- A disinfectant container with a removable tray is handy to have. All you have to do is lift out the tray and let the tools drain and dry before you put them away.
Once the tools are dry, store them in a clean place but don’t wrap them tight in plastic. This keeps any leftover germs from having a safe place to multiply. The same goes for tossing them in a dirty manicure tool bag.
If you have no other place to keep them, you’ll need to disinfect them before you use them again. It’s much better to wrap them in a clean towel or lay them flat on a clean towel in a drawer.
If you’ve used a wooden orange stick, a sanding band, or another porous item like a buffing block on someone else besides yourself, throw it away. The same goes for porous tools that you’ve used on yourself when you have a nail fungus or other type of infection.
Some Manicure Tools Don’t Need Disinfecting
On the bright side, liquid monomer, gel polish, and nail lacquer are self-disinfecting since the chemicals in them stop germs from multiplying. But be careful with dip powder or cuticle oil.
Do You Need to Disinfect Cuticle Oil or Dip Powder?
On the downside, you can’t disinfect dip powder or cuticle oil. Therefore, throw away any leftover product that has come in contact with the skin.
Dispense only what you need from the container instead of dipping the fingers directly into it or touching the dropper to the skin.
How Else Can You Disinfect Manicure Tools?
If you don’t have alcohol or germicide, you can boil metal tools for 20 minutes to disinfect them. It effectively sterilizes the tools to kill everything from viruses to fungal spores.
How Do You Clean and Disinfect Nail Art Brushes
You’ll need to brush cleaner to keep your nail art brushes in top condition. Pour a small amount into a clean dappen dish and dunk the bristles. Use a lint-free wipe to gently press out the excess liquid and allow the brush to dry flat.
Don’t use acetone on natural hair brushes! Instead, if you’re working with acrylics, use liquid monomer to clean the brushes.
The good news is that liquids like monomer and gel polish inhibit microbial growth so soaking the brushes in alcohol or Barbicide isn’t necessary.
How to Clean and Disinfect Nail Charms and Rhinestones
You may not be able to disinfect charms and rhinestones. It depends on what they are made of. For example, you can soak some metal, glass, and plastic charms in alcohol. Unfortunately, acrylic rhinestones may lose their color. But Swarovski crystals can be sanitized in acetone or alcohol.
If you’re able to soak off remnants of polish from the charm without discoloring or melting it, then it can probably tolerate disinfection.
Why Do You Have to Clean and Disinfect Manicure Tools?
Why isn’t it good enough to do just one or the other? Like just use soap and water or only soak in alcohol?
For one, nail fungus spores aren’t killed by soap and water. You need Barbicide or alcohol to get rid of them.
Moreover, if you toss your drill bits in alcohol without removing the leftover bits of nail and skin, the debris prevents total disinfection. It traps the spores and germs and hides them from the alcohol. Get rid of all the hiding places first then kill all the microbes with disinfectant.
Conclusion
We’re happy you dropped by to learn about cleaning and disinfecting nail tools. It may not be as much fun as doing the manicure, but it’s an essential step in the process. Take advantage of our discounts and stock up now on the cleaning and disinfectant tools you need. We offer free shipping on orders over $100.