Step by step guide to sterilising metal nail instruments

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pittas99

The Foot Spa Cyprus
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Messages
30
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12
Location
cyprus
Hi, do to need the auto calve too? I use a ultrasonic but no
 
Hi Mrsbaker
The Autoclave is the is more important than the ultrasonic. The ultrasonic cleans the tools but it is the autoclave that actually sterilises the equipment. If the tools are clean ( ultrasonic ) but not sterilised ( autoclave ) then they are not safe to use. The ultrasonic alone does not kill the the harmful pathogens that can be present on the tools.
Used together then you can be confident that your tool are safe.
The autoclave are quite expensive machines but you can pick up very good models second hand! The autoclave should have a serviced certificate to show that it has reached the aquried standard for safe use. X
 
Hi Mrsbaker
The Autoclave is the is more important than the ultrasonic. The ultrasonic cleans the tools but it is the autoclave that actually sterilises the equipment. If the tools are clean ( ultrasonic ) but not sterilised ( autoclave ) then they are not safe to use. The ultrasonic alone does not kill the the harmful pathogens that can be present on the tools.
Used together then you can be confident that your tool are safe.
The autoclave are quite expensive machines but you can pick up very good models second hand! The autoclave should have a serviced certificate to show that it has reached the aquried standard for safe use. X

Absolute rubbish. All that is required of manicure tools is to wash in hot soapy water (which will remove 99% of pathogens) and to soak in a solution such as barbacide or mundo for the recommended amount of time. We are nail professionals not surgeons, our tools do not have to be sterilised just disinfected. An autoclave for manicure tools is complete overkill and a utter waste of money.
 
Absolute rubbish. All that is required of manicure tools is to wash in hot soapy water (which will remove 99% of pathogens) and to soak in a solution such as barbacide or mundo for the recommended amount of time. We are nail professionals not surgeons, our tools do not have to be sterilised just disinfected. An autoclave for manicure tools is complete overkill and a utter waste of money.
Thank goodness, as this is what I do!!!!
 
Good Morning..
Unfortunately dangerous pathogens are not visible to the naked eye and cannot be removed by cleaning and soaking ( barbacide ) alone. You may be treating a client with a very serious disease that either they haven't told you about or that they don't know that they have! You may then inadvertly contract disease tissue onto your tools in the form of blood ( microscopic amount), infected tissue and viral fluid.
If you then wash/ soak your instruments then that tiny harmful pathogen is still resting on your tool waiting to be transferred to a new host i.e your next client! The only way to avoid this transfer is to use an autoclave as this is the only method of sterilising that is 100% guaranteed.
One of my clients contracted sepsis a very serious bacteria infection from a beautician in the UK and she sent one week in hospital on strong antibiotics.. Scary stuff!
If you live in a litigious society wouldn't you want to protect yourself as well as your client? Disease transfere can easily be traced back to the source i.e your salon?
You mention that autoclave is overkill? Overkill is the standard that we as an industry should be aiming for...x
 
I think we have to be realistic. I don't know any beauty therapists using an autoclave as standard. As had been said, standard hygiene procedures are what's required.

I had a client with MRSA and my next client was a nurse. I was panicking. What do I need to do. She told me my regular procedures would be absolutely fine as required by my insurance company.

The client you refer to could have gone somewhere with no hygiene procedures at all so to imply that she could contract this because we don't autoclave is extremely misleading.

Barbicide kills MRSA and hiv. That's fine for me x
 
Hello again..
Barbacide is an excellent disinfectant but it only kill some and not all pathogens and it dos not kill bacterial spores.
The video is just a tool for those beauticians who may have considered the method of autoclave but didn't know how to go about it. I know ( and my clients know) that ever time I open a packet of equipment that the tools inside are safe to use and haven't been accidently mixed up with my dirty tools.
I work as a foot healt therapist and as a beautician with the same tools on the same people and I know the dangers of cross contamination are the same regardless of whether I'm doing a pedicure or a foot health treatment but as a foot health professional I am legally obligated to sterilise my equipment.
My intention is not to contradict your training or your insurance cover policy it is only to bring awareness of the dichotomy that exists between us ( beauticians ) and that of other contact service industries chiropody and tattooing as example who's hygiene procedure is known to be much more stringent...X
 
There are other ways to sterilise tools besides an autoclave...
But pathogens and their spores don't get transferred just by metal tools. There are files, towels, our clothes, the air etc. I especially hate the dusting brush...

Sent from my GT-N7100 using SalonGeek mobile app
 
Hello again..
Barbacide is an excellent disinfectant but it only kill some and not all pathogens and it dos not kill bacterial spores.
The video is just a tool for those beauticians who may have considered the method of autoclave but didn't know how to go about it. I know ( and my clients know) that ever time I open a packet of equipment that the tools inside are safe to use and haven't been accidently mixed up with my dirty tools.
I work as a foot healt therapist and as a beautician with the same tools on the same people and I know the dangers of cross contamination are the same regardless of whether I'm doing a pedicure or a foot health treatment but as a foot health professional I am legally obligated to sterilise my equipment.
My intention is not to contradict your training or your insurance cover policy it is only to bring awareness of the dichotomy that exists between us ( beauticians ) and that of other contact service industries chiropody and tattooing as example who's hygiene procedure is known to be much more stringent...X

Of course tattooists and chiropractors have to be more stringent with their hygiene, they use tools that cut through peoples skin and come into contact with bodily fluids.

Manicurists don't do this, we are taught never to cut living tissue so the tools should never pierce skin or come into contact with any blood. In the rare occasion you nick a client with a file, that file is disposed of. I don't see any hygiene issue here that requires an autoclave.

Overkill is not what we should be aiming for, This equipment costs thousand of pounds and is completely unnecessary, as previously mentioned washing in hot soapy water will get rid of 99% of pathogens and barbacide gets rid of 99% of the remaining one percent. Yes there will absolutely be a very small amount of pathogens still on the tools, but not enough to be of any harm to anyone. There are pathogens everywhere, even in the air we breath. Just because there is a small amount of pathogens in the air or on the tools means we are going to get sick. It requires a very large amount of pathogens to be of any risk to anyone, that is why we disinfect everything. Do you autoclave your pedicure chair, or nail desk ? Of course not it's impossible, and they almost certainly have pathogens on them but once they are cleaned and disinfected they pose no risk to anyone.

Scaremongering only reflects badly on you and your business, if you are happy to use an autoclave for your tools then good for you, your right that hygiene should always be adhered to, however to suggest that if you don't' use an autoclave in your salon that you must be really dirty and only offer pedicures for £10 as mentioned in you video is completely ridiculous and clients will see through this, many will be nurses or doctors who know all about pathogen reduction and what is and isn't necessary. Stick to facts.
 
Of course tattooists and chiropractors have to be more stringent with their hygiene, they use tools that cut through peoples skin and come into contact with bodily fluids.

Manicurists don't do this, we are taught never to cut living tissue so the tools should never pierce skin or come into contact with any blood. In the rare occasion you nick a client with a file, that file is disposed of. I don't see any hygiene issue here that requires an autoclave.

Overkill is not what we should be aiming for, This equipment costs thousand of pounds and is completely unnecessary, as previously mentioned washing in hot soapy water will get rid of 99% of pathogens and barbacide gets rid of 99% of the remaining one percent. Yes there will absolutely be a very small amount of pathogens still on the tools, but not enough to be of any harm to anyone. There are pathogens everywhere, even in the air we breath. Just because there is a small amount of pathogens in the air or on the tools means we are going to get sick. It requires a very large amount of pathogens to be of any risk to anyone, that is why we disinfect everything. Do you autoclave your pedicure chair, or nail desk ? Of course not it's impossible, and they almost certainly have pathogens on them but once they are cleaned and disinfected they pose no risk to anyone.

Scaremongering only reflects badly on you and your business, if you are happy to use an autoclave for your tools then good for you, your right that hygiene should always be adhered to, however to suggest that if you don't' use an autoclave in your salon that you must be really dirty and only offer pedicures for £10 as mentioned in you video is completely ridiculous and clients will see through this, many will be nurses or doctors who know all about pathogen reduction and what is and isn't necessary. Stick to facts.
 
My salons use autoclaves as standard.

If there is something more thorough, more efficient, more effective then I adopt it. It's always been a core aspect of my business ethos - to be the best & outshine the competition on every front.

HOWEVER, I don't expect it & we don't do it because we think it's necessary. We do it because every aspect of the service is over & above what is necessary.

It is very clear from repeated threads on here that the majority do not understand sanitisation, disinfection & sterilisation.

People routinely state quite concerning things with regards to this & it is apparent that many are falling really short in regards to hygiene. So it is a sound idea to address the issue @pittas. You went a little off piste lol but that's been addressed by many others & over all you've sparked healthy debate.

HABIA publish a code of practice for nail services. It's short, simple & if followed means you are operating within industry best practice. To me it seems the kind of thing that should be pinned at the top of the nail forum. But I'm not in charge lol. This is the link:

http://www.habia.org/PDF/standards-quals/Code_of_Practice_for_Nail_Services.pdf

With regards to this thread the pertinent section is 4 - infection control & hygiene. It wouldn't let me cut & paste so my quote is super short:

"In the scope of nail professional treatments, disinfection is a sufficient level of pathogen control"

I took a peek at the other video re: pedicure procedure & I think this all stems from offering the same service at different ends of the client spectrum. The set up, environment, methodology all struck me as very clinical and in line with hospital protocol. It honestly didn't look relaxing, indulgent, luxurious or any similar buzz words that I associate with a beauty based pedicure. The practitioner is evidently skilled & I'm sure the feet are in great condition post treatment. However, it's not the kind of pedi I aspire to give or receive. I did think the towel wrapping was snazzy though :)
 
Crikey this thread has become quite heated!
I respectfully disagree with you but I respect your right to your opinion.
I would like to say that this forum has been extremely interesting for me and Iv gained so much from this site which is a fantastic resource for us all to share information.
I hope to share some more videos soon.
Sending you all lots of cyber love and kisses xxx
 
Just one more thing autoclaves don't cost thousands max £300- £400 second hand! X
 

Hi as a nurse that's worked in several different areas including theatre and minor injuries it's refreshing to see to see someone taking sterilisation seriously.
I know nail salons aren't required to use autoclaves and some may think it's unnecessary and yes they are not supposed to nick the skin but fungal infections can be present without any visible sign.
I would like to stricter sterilisation guidelines introduced into all salons.
 
And as someone qualified in microbiology I say that fungal infections are not necessarily transferred on metal instruments. They are more likely to get transferred with porous and fibrous materials like files, buffers and towels.
Another great place for fungi are pedicure spas, which are not cleaned properly in many salons. So if you don't use disposables and disinfect your spa correctly then you will not avoid fungal infections. But hey, you are using an autoclave for your metal tools...
Disinfection means killing all pathogenic microorganisms and sterilisitaion means killing all microorganisms.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using SalonGeek mobile app
 
Legislation is d
Absolute rubbish. All that is required of manicure tools is to wash in hot soapy water (which will remove 99% of pathogens) and to soak in a solution such as barbacide or mundo for the recommended amount of time. We are nail professionals not surgeons, our tools do not have to be sterilised just disinfected. An autoclave for manicure tools is complete overkill and a utter waste of money.
I guess it depends where you're from. Disinfection does not kill everything unlike sterilisation. Better to be safe than sorry i say
 
Legislation is d

I guess it depends where you're from. Disinfection does not kill everything unlike sterilisation. Better to be safe than sorry i say

So how do you plan to sterilize foot files, towels, chairs, tables, magazines, cups and saucers, and everything else an infected client may come into contact with?

You can't, yet this poses NO RISK to another client once proper sanitation and disinfection protocols are adhered to.

It's not about being lax with hygiene, I'm very strict that everything is clean and thats the way it should be. I won't be sorry for the not using an autoclave in my salon because there is simply no need to.

To me its a kin to scrubbing up like a surgeon before every treatment…. it would be cleaner for sure, we could come in in our gowns and masks and gloves up to our elbows. But it won't make the treatment any safer as there is already no risk when proper protocols are adhered to.

You can be safe without wasting profits on unneeded equipment. I've yet to see a doctors surgery in Ireland with an autoclave, where necessary they will use disposables. I use disposable everything where possible and disinfect everything that isn't possible to be disposable. I am very clean but realistic about what is and is not a risk to my clients.
 
Hi as a nurse that's worked in several different areas including theatre and minor injuries it's refreshing to see to see someone taking sterilisation seriously.
I know nail salons aren't required to use autoclaves and some may think it's unnecessary and yes they are not supposed to nick the skin but fungal infections can be present without any visible sign.
I would like to stricter sterilisation guidelines introduced into all salons.

Washing in hot soapy water and soaking in barbacide will kill any fungal pathogens that are present. There is no need for an autoclave to do this.
 
So how do you plan to sterilize foot files, towels, chairs, tables, magazines, cups and saucers, and everything else an infected client may come into contact with?

You can't, yet this poses NO RISK to another client once proper sanitation and disinfection protocols are adhered to.

It's not about being lax with hygiene, I'm very strict that everything is clean and thats the way it should be. I won't be sorry for the not using an autoclave in my salon because there is simply no need to.

To me its a kin to scrubbing up like a surgeon before every treatment…. it would be cleaner for sure, we could come in in our gowns and masks and gloves up to our elbows. But it won't make the treatment any safer as there is already no risk when proper protocols are adhered to.

You can be safe without wasting profits on unneeded equipment. I've yet to see a doctors surgery in Ireland with an autoclave, where necessary they will use disposables. I use disposable everything where possible and disinfect everything that isn't possible to be disposable. I am very clean but realistic about what is and is not a risk to my clients.
Oh dear, you really have no idea :(
 

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