Cleaning lash tweezers often and frequently should be required habits for every lash artist. Lash extension services can be quite a complex procedure that consists of numerous steps but hygiene should never be skipped.
Lash Tweezer Hygiene Required Knowledge
Always select the appropriate adhesive for your environment, choose lash curls and lengths for the desired style, have trusty tweezers for application and isolation, make sure you don’t put too much pressure to your client’s eyes and so on. However, none of these matters if you don’t prioritize hygiene over everything.
It is very important to clean lash tweezers regularly because, during lashing service, they are the main tools that you use on your client’s eye area. Tweezers touch the eyelid and natural lashes excessively, so imagine what would happen if there were bacteria sitting on the tip. Poor hygiene may give your customer an eye infection, which is why it is one of the most important things for a lash artist to be on top of this matter.
We dedicated this article to lash tweezer hygiene. LivBay Lash artists have numerous tips about proper lash tweezer cleaning procedures, so buckle up and keep on reading.
1. Clean The Excess Lash Glue Off: Dos & Don’ts
As a lash artist, you should never underestimate the power of lash glue. It is a medical-grade adhesive that is made to be so strong that it stays for up to 6 weeks. If the adhesive gets on your lash tweezers, try to remove it immediately. Once the adhesive starts to dry down, you’ll find it harder to continue lashing (especially if it gets on the inner corner of the tip, right at that sweet spot). In that case, you’ll notice that lashes are getting stuck on the tweezers and won’t come off as you try to let go.
Dos
So, how do you get the glue off your lash tweezers? If the adhesive is fully cured, you’ll be able to pop it right off. You can even use your fingernail to do so, however, make sure your nail is very very clean. It would be great if you also cleaned the tweezer with an anti-bacterial cleanser to minimize the chances of the germs getting on the tweezer tip from your nails.
Don’ts
It may seem logical at first but cleaning lash tweezers with lash glue remover is not a good idea. First of all, there’s a chance that it may interact with the material your tweezer is made with, for example, you may notice the color of your tweezer wearing off. Second of all, if you keep lashing with the same tweezers, the residue from the lash glue remover can get in the way and screw up your client’s retention.
Why Do I Keep Getting Glue on Lash Tweezers?
Even the best of us get an adhesive on lash tweezers by accident, so when it happens to you, you should not worry too much. However, if you notice that you need to clean lash tweezers numerous times during a procedure, you’re probably doing something wrong. There’s the possibility that you use too much adhesive. Remember, that when it comes to lash glue, a little goes a long way. Just dipping lash extension slightly into the glue is all you need to ensure a strong bond.
Tip From LivBay Lash Artists - If you’re using a clear glue for lash extension service, it may be hard to spot on the tweezer. So we recommend you to check the tip of your tools frequently during the procedure to make sure that there’s no trace of the adhesive.
2. Sanitize & Disinfect Lash Tweezers in between Clients
The golden rule of lash extensions is to never use the same pair of tweezers twice unless you disinfect them properly. Trust us, we get that you may have a service after service scheduled with almost no time in between - that’s how LivBay Lash artists roll! However, if you don’t have enough time to clean lash tweezers before greeting a new client, you better take fewer customers than give someone a pink eye.
When we’re talking about cleaning lash tweezers, we don’t mean wiping the tip with a wet wipe and calling it a day. Nope! We need a hospital-grade disinfectant for this purpose. It is common to use Barbicide for sanitizing lash tweezers. Barbicide is a popular disinfectant solution that was originally created for barbers. Now it’s heavily used by all kinds of salons including lashing ones.
If you choose Barbicide to clean your lash tweezers, you’ll need to take these steps:
- Take a dish that’s flat enough to let your tweezers lay horizontally and deep enough to contain the approximate amount of water.
- Put 2 oz of Barbicide for every 32oz of cold water and mix in a dish. Make sure you get the ratio right.
- Put the lash tweezers in the solution and let them soak for at least 10 minutes to let them be fully sterile. Don’t leave the tweezers in contact with Barbicide for too long.
- Once you take the tweezers out of the solution, rinse well with some water.
- Gently pat the tweezers with a paper towel or just let them air dry if you have time.
With this simple procedure, your lash tweezers are all clean and ready to meet the next client!
Tip From LivBay Lash Artists - Along with Barbicide, there are other disinfecting solutions on the market that you can use to clean lash tweezers. If you do so, note that every product comes with its individual guidelines, for example, unlike Barbicide some take 20 minutes to fully sanitize. So make sure you read the “how to use” part attentively to ensure that your tweezers are good to go.
3. Store Lash Tweezers Properly
Once you clean lash tweezers and you’re not planning on using them right away, you have to store them properly. If you put them on your desk or worse, throw them in the bag, your tweezers will most likely pick up some dust, debris, and bacteria. So your sanitary measures are not enough useless you maintain the result.
We recommend you to get a tweezer case that is firm and keeps your tools in place. This way you’ll be sure that your tweezers are on point for the next lash extensions service. Another great benefit of having a lash tweezer case is that it prevents the precious tip from bending. Trust us, there’s nothing worse than finding out that your fave pair of tweezers is crooked!
4. Have a Spare Pair of Tweezers For Emergencies
Even if you’re following a proper lash tweezer cleansing routine, something might still go wrong in the hygiene department. If you accidentally drop your tweezers and they touch the floor, you can not continue using them, unless you go through full disinfection procedures all over again. But who has time to stop in the middle of lashing for that long?
To save yourself and your client some precious time, buy yourself an extra pair of tweezers or maybe a couple. The more back-ups the better! If you’re still looking for your ultimate isolator-applicator duo, you can browse a wide selection of some of the best lash tweezers on the market here.
How To Clean Lash Tweezers: Final Words
We hope you got a valuable piece of information that will help you keep your lash tweezers properly sanitized. One more recommendation from us is to make sure that you work with clean hands. Don’t forget to wash your hands well with soap and water in between the lashing sessions along with cleaning your tweezers!
We wish you a successful lashing journey!
1 comment
Hey There. Thanks for the tips. I already do these steps as I have a OR nursing background. With that said, I also have implemented washing my hands and scrubbing under my nails with HIBICLENS. Its relatively inexpensive, and NO I do not do a full surgical scrub, but I pay attention. I feel that when working around someone’s precious eyes, we should be diligent and promote and educate other professionals in our industry so that it continues to thrive.