Editor's Note: Clean Up Your Salon or Clear Out

Lately, it seems like I've seen more articles and received more inquir­ing phone cans about how unsafe nail salons are that I am beginning to wonder if an organized movement is afoot. .Last week I got a call from a television show producer who was doing a segment on nail salons. I am always happy when a reporter takes the time to solicit the opinion of someone who has something good to say about the industry and the quality of work being done in to day's nail salons. When she mentioned that the working title of her piece was “Deadly Manicures,” I feared that the show would probably focus on the horrors that await unsuspecting nail clients. Unfortunately, the interview was cancelled and I lost my chance to put in a good word on nail care.

 Although I cringe whenever I see these reports, I have to admit that I think some of the bad press this industry receives has been well earned. The issue is cleanliness and sanitation, and too many nail technicians aren't making a clean salon a priority.

I visit a nail salon a couple times a month. I usu­ally go to a different shop every time. And I am dis­tressed to tell you that a good portion of these sa­lons are sorely lacking in salon cleanliness. I'm not talking about salons needing expensive and sophisticated disinfection prod­ucts and equipment; I'm talking about simple things like requiring the client to wash her hands, changing the towel after every client, and disinfecting im­plements between clients (in front of the client).

I know very well that for a client to leave a nail salon with an infection or a disease picked up from unsanitary conditions, the salon has to be pretty dirty or the technician has to be quite careless in her work, but I am afraid that still not enough is being done by nail technicians to raise the standards in our industry. Of course, it's the state board of cosmetology's job to tell offending salons to “clean up or clear out.” But there isn't a state in the country that has enough cosmetology inspectors, so the press acts as a consumer watchdog and is warning your potential clients that salon services might not be safe.

The danger of ignoring the seriousness of this issue is that people who might have been interested in nail care are now turned off to it. Please - clean up your salon and let's clear the industry's bad reputation.