Lash Salon Hygiene: How to Sterilize Your Workspace & Tools

To avoid the spread of germs or eye infections, it is critical to keep your hands and workstation sanitized, as well as all of your lash supplies properly decontaminated, in order to be a successful lash artist.

Because each state has different laws regarding decontamination, it's critical to understand the rules and regulations of your local health department. It is also critical to understand the differences between cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting, and sterilizing in order to ensure that you are following all of your state decontamination laws.

4 methods of decontamination:

1. Cleaning: Clean with warm water and soap, removing surface particles.

2. Sanitizing: Using alcohol to kill or reduce bacteria.

3. Disinfecting: Using barbicides or germicides, bacteria are reduced to a safe level.

4. Sterilizing: Using high heat, all living organisms on non-porous, hard surfaces are killed.

As a lash artist, the majority of your time will be spent learning proper sanitizing and disinfecting techniques. Instructions for sanitizing and disinfecting your work station, lash supplies, and even yourself are provided below to prevent the spread of germs or possible infections.

Sanitizing your work station:

Get rid of anything that isn't reusable. (Eye pads, micro-brushes, lash wands, and so on.) We recommend sending the lash wand home with the client for self-care.)

Wipe down the workstation with a disinfectant wipe. (This includes anything you or your tools touched while performing the service.)

Self-sanitation:

Hands should be thoroughly washed with warm water and soap after each client for 30 seconds.

Hand sanitizer should be kept at your station for use during service. (Apply at least a dime-sized amount of hand sanitizer to one hand's palm.) For the product to be effective, rub hands together for 30 seconds.

Disinfecting your lash supplies:

*Reusable tools must be thoroughly cleaned before disinfection. Any surface debris will reduce the disinfectant's effectiveness and may cause cross-contamination.

Disinfecting steps:

• Warm watcher and soap are used to clean reusable tools.
• Use a new disinfectant and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• After the recommended time has passed, remove the reusable tool. To remove residue, rinse the equipment in clean water.
• Allow the tool to air dry or dry with a clean, lint-free cloth. Cover the tool with a clean cloth or store it in a tightly closed container.
• Wash your lash bed fitted sheet on a regular basis so that clients have a clean place to relax.

Keep in mind, lash artist, that the eye is a very delicate and sensitive part of the body. It is critical that you keep your work station clean and that you sanitize and disinfect all tools used between clients.

We recommend that you allow yourself at least 10-15 minutes between lash services. This gives you enough time to clean and tidy your lash bed, organize and sanitize everything at your work station, disinfect all of your tools, and thoroughly wash your hands before your next client arrives. We've also discovered that having a second set of tweezers on hand can be useful when the first set is in the disinfectant.

Don't forget to check your local decontamination laws and regulations, as they differ from state to state. Following these laws will keep your clients safe and will help to prevent the spread of germs and/or serious eye infections.