As a spa or wellness professional, your top priority is to provide exceptional services while maintaining a safe and hygienic environment for both yourself and your clients. In this blog post, we'll discuss the essential personal protective equipment (PPE) items that every esthetician, nail technician, and wellness professional should have on hand to protect against bloodborne and airborne pathogens.

Gloves: The Foundation of Protection

One of the most critical PPE items for spa and wellness professionals is a reliable pair of gloves.  Fitguard Touch Gloves, made from nitrile and powder-free, offer numerous advantages. These gloves provide high tactile sensitivity on the fingertips, allowing you to feel your client's skin or toes closely, enabling you to deliver precise and effective services. Additionally, the gloves feature a high palm strength and thickness, ensuring they last throughout your entire service.

Cost per service is another essential factor to consider when choosing gloves. A box of 300 Fitguard Touch Gloves costs only $27, which means that each pair of gloves used in a pedicure service adds a mere 20 cents to your cost per service. By incorporating this cost into your pricing, you can ensure that you're protecting yourself while maintaining a profitable business.

Masks: Defending Against Airborne Pathogens

In light of recent events, we've all become more aware of the importance of wearing masks to protect against airborne pathogens. When selecting masks for your spa or wellness practice, it's crucial to choose those that meet the ASTM level three standard, guaranteeing effective filtration of particulates and other airborne pathogens, such as these.

Wearing a high-quality mask is especially important when working in close proximity to a client's feet, where there is a potential risk of exposure to spores. It's also essential to wear a mask when working closely with clients who may be unknowingly spreading a virus, even if they aren't exhibiting signs of illness. By including the cost of masks in your service prices, you can ensure that you're protecting your health and your income, as many estheticians don't receive compensation when they're unable to work due to illness.

Disinfectants: Keeping Your Implements Safe

Properly disinfecting your implements is another critical aspect of maintaining a hygienic workspace. PREempt CS20 is a highly effective disinfectant that can disinfect to a chemosterilant level in just 20 minutes. This product is safe to use on all your stainless steel, non-porous implements, thanks to its rust inhibitors.

For businesses that don't perform a high volume of foot care, nail care, or other services requiring implements, the one-litre bottle of CS20 is a cost-effective option. It's essential to maintain a log each time you change your disinfectant solution and ensure that you replace it every 14 days, as guaranteed by the product's DIN (Drug Identification Number).

Surface Disinfection: Ready-to-Use Wipes

In addition to disinfecting your implements, it's crucial to keep your surfaces clean and sanitized.  Ready-to-Use (RTU) Wipes from PreEmpt are designed for disinfecting surfaces, sanitizing in just 30 seconds of wet contact time, or achieving a tuberculocidal or intermediate level of disinfection in three minutes.

One of the benefits of these wipes is that they now come in a refill pack for your existing container, reducing plastic waste and saving you money. The refill package includes a sticker with the expiry date and batch number, which you can easily peel off and place on your container when you replace the wipes. This feature helps you stay compliant with health inspector requirements and ensures that you're always using the safest products for yourself, your staff, and your clients.

Sterilization Pouches: Protecting Your Implements and Clients

Sterilization pouches are a versatile PPE item, even if you don't have an autoclave. After cleaning and disinfecting your implements using friction, detergent, rinsing, drying, and immersing in a disinfectant like CS20 or HLD5, you can use sterilization pouches to store and protect your implements.

Simply place your dried, disinfected implements into a pouch large enough to accommodate all the tools needed for a specific service, such as a manicure or pedicure. When you're ready to begin the service, open the pouch in front of your client, demonstrating your commitment to hygiene and disinfection. This practice not only impresses clients but also helps protect your implements from dust and other airborne contaminants between uses.

With 200 pouches in a box, you'll have a long-lasting supply, even if you only have one set of implements that you disinfect after each service.

Investing in the right PPE is essential for protecting yourself, your clients, and your business. By using high-quality gloves, masks, disinfectants, and sterilization pouches, you can ensure that you're maintaining a safe and hygienic environment while providing exceptional services. Remember to build the cost of PPE into your service prices to maintain a profitable business while prioritizing the health and safety of everyone in your workspace.