#81 - HOW TO STERILISE AND CLEAN TWEEZERS
Why should you clean your tweezers and how often should you clean them?
By Australian law, you're require to clean and sterilise your tweezers and similar tools after EVERY SINGLE CLIENT!
Bet you didn’t know that!
If you don’t clean your tweezers, you risk spreading infections such as Blepharitis, conjunctivitis and spreading of other "very popular right now" viruses etc which are all nasty gross things you don't want happening to yourself or your clients.
Think about it… would you want your lashes done with tweezers that haven’t been cleaned? You have no idea what the past 20 customers before you were infected with!
When you pay a couple hundred $$ to get your lashes done, you want your eyes looking amazing with those fresh new lashes, not all gross and infected right?
So do your customers!
Sterilisation between each client is of ultra importance because it will kill any potential micro organisms like a virus, bacteria or fungi that may be on your client.
It is also a legal requirement according to the Australian Public Health Regulation Act 2012. (New Zealand has a similar Act, so this is all applicable in NZ too).
Well read on! We will describe exactly how you should be cleaning and sterilising your tweezers.
If you have tweezers with glue on them you will need to get it off first as it is unlikely to come off in the sterilisation process.
HOW TO CLEAN YOUR TWEEZERS - INDUSTRY STANDARD:
What to do if you have glue hardened onto the tweezers:
There are 2 options you can choose from:
Option 1:
What you need:
- The dirty tweezers with glue on them.
- Acetone (Buy here)
- Cotton pads
If you have acetone, you can soak the end of the tweezer in acetone for about 5 minutes (use a glass jar or similar) and the glue should come off easily with a cotton pad once you’ve soaked it.
Option 2:
If you don’t have acetone you can just simply try and flick it off with something hard like another tweezer or something else similar. You want to use something that is hard enough to flick the glue off but not too hard that it will damage the tweezer.
Once you have the glue off you can now clean and sterilise the tweezers!
What you will need:
- Your tweezers/tools that are in need of being sterilised
- Warm water
- Detergent/Dishwashing liquid
- Dish scrubber
- Disinfectant such as Isopropyl Alcohol* / PinoClean / Barbicide etc
- Clean Lint-free cloth
*With the Isopropyl Alcohol we don’t stock it at Locks Lash as we are not able to send it to you through Australia post, but you can easily get it from Bunnings or somewhere similar. Make sure you get 100% Isopropyl Alcohol and not the watered down one (explained why later on).
Most councils we have checked with recommend this method for sterilising your tools. We advise you check with your local council about the specific requirements regarding cleaning tools in your region as it may differ.
**You must clean your tools between every client to reduce risk of infection and to be compliant with health and safety laws. The process for cleaning and sterilising your tweezers takes some time so if you have back to back clients you will need several sets of tweezers. Buy more here**
STEP BY STEP GUIDE:
- It is important to protect yourself, that you wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) like gloves while carrying out any sterilisation of your tools.
1) After removing any glue from the tweezers, get some warm water and mix in some detergent (the same amount/concentration you would use for your dishes). Warm water is important as opposed to hot or cold water, for hot or cold water may cause particles of bacteria to stick to the tweezers.
Give the tweezers a good scrub all over with your scrubbing brush or pad to remove any particles. The detergent with warm water step is important because (without getting too scientific) bacteria, virus etc have a layer of fat around them to 'protect' them, so in order to kill a virus, bacteria etc you need to break down that layer of fat first which is best done with warm water and detergent. (Detergent is specifically designed to break down fat. Normal soaps are not, which is the main difference between 'soap' and 'detergent'.)
2) Rinse them under warm water to remove the detergent.
3) Let them air dry or dry them with a clean lint-free cloth
4) Once dry, submerge the tweezer in isopropyl alcohol for at least 30 minutes. Dry with a clean disposable cloth/tissue. If you use another type disinfectant (which is also totally fine) like PinoClean or Barbicide it is important to follow the guidelines and instructions for that specific disinfectant. Each disinfectant will have different times for its effectiveness.
5) Remove tweezers from disinfectant and allow to air dry only.
*a note on the isopropyl alcohol; you should only use 100% isopropyl alcohol and not dilute it with water. Watering it down can make your tweezers rust/tarnish … which is not what you want to happen to your favourite pair!
As mentioned before this process takes at least half an hour so you will need more than one set of tweezers. Buy your next set here by clicking here!
A great tip is to have different colours for each set of tweezers. So for your 3 sets have a Electric Blue Curved and Electric Blue Straight tweezer for your first set, a Pink Curved and Pink Straight tweezer set for your second set and a Stainless Steel Curved and Stainless Steel Straight tweezer set for your next set! That way you know which you are up to and it gives you time to let the other tweezers to sanitise and dry!
Australian & New Zealand laws make it mandatory to clean the tools between each customer before using on the next customer. If you have back to back customers (go you!!) you will need more than one set of tweezers.
