Every reusable metal implement will go through the same three steps, in the same order, between clients. It is washed with soap and water to physically remove debris. It is then fully immersed in Barbicide, an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant, for the contact time the label specifies. Only then does it go into the UV cabinet for clean, covered storage until it is used. Nail files and buffers are single-use. The order is the whole point, and we will be straight with you about what the UV box does and does not do.
Tool hygiene is a fair question to ask a nail salon, and there is rarely a good moment for it while someone is holding your hand. So here is the answer in writing, without anyone having to ask: exactly what will happen to our tools between one client and the next.
Step One: Soap and Water, Before Anything Else
The first step is the least glamorous and the most important. Every implement is washed with soap and water to physically lift off dust, oil, product residue and skin.
This step is part of the real work. Disinfectant cannot reach through a film of debris, and a tool dropped straight into solution with residue still on it can come out looking treated without being treated. Cleaning first is what makes the next step mean anything.
Step Two: Full Immersion in Barbicide
Clean tools then go fully under in Barbicide. It is the blue solution you have seen in a jar on a barber's counter. It is an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant, and it is the disinfection step.
Two details matter more than the product itself. Full immersion, because a hinge sitting above the waterline is a hinge that did not get disinfected. And the full contact time on the label, because a disinfectant is only rated for what it kills over a specific number of minutes. Pulling a tool early is an easy way for this step to get skipped, and nobody watching would know.
The UV box is for storage. The washing and the disinfecting come first.
Step Three: The UV Cabinet, and What It Actually Does
After disinfection, implements go into the UV cabinet. A UV cabinet is storage, and it is not a cleaning step.
UV light only works on what it directly reaches. It cannot get inside the hinge of a clipper or into the seam of a cuticle nipper, and tools sitting on an upper shelf shadow the ones below them. Anything tucked in a crevice is untouched. If a UV box were the only step, the crevices are exactly where a problem could survive.
Utah's cosmetology rules take the same view. Utah Administrative Code R392-702-11(3) says that UV boxes may not be used as an infection control device in a cosmetology facility, and the same subsection exempts UV dryers and ultraviolet lamps used to dry or cure nail products.
What the cabinet is genuinely good for is storage. Tools that have already been washed and disinfected go in dry and covered, and they stay that way until someone opens the door. That is a real job worth doing. It is just the last job.
What Disinfecting Means
Disinfection kills the pathogens a hospital-grade product is rated to kill on a hard surface. It is what Barbicide does, and it is the method used here. We disinfect, and we say disinfect, because that is what the process is. If a salon tells you its UV drawer is all the cleaning a tool needs, that is worth a follow-up question.
What To Look For In Any Nail Salon
You do not need to take anyone's word for this, here or anywhere else. A few things are worth looking at from the chair.
Where the tools come from. Implements should arrive at your station clean and covered, not lifted out of a drawer of loose metal or off the counter from the last client.
Whether the jar is actually full. Disinfectant solution has to cover the tools completely, and it has to be changed. A shallow, cloudy jar tells you something.
Whether anything porous is reused. Files and buffers are porous, which means they cannot be disinfected in any meaningful sense. Ask what happens to them. At Aloha Beauty Lounge, files and buffers are single-use.
Whether you can ask at all. The response to a hygiene question tells you as much as the answer does.
Why We Are Putting This In Writing
Because it is checkable. A salon can claim a standard of care in a sentence, and the sentence costs nothing. Describing the actual order of operations, and naming the step that is commonly oversold, is harder to fake and easier for you to hold us to.
It is the same reason our nail work carries a 10-day guarantee in writing, and the same reason we would rather tell you what a UV cabinet cannot do than let it take credit it has not earned.
Where To Find Us
Aloha Beauty Lounge opens in late November 2026 at 10509 S River Heights Dr #104, South Jordan, UT 84095, serving Daybreak, Riverton, Herriman, West Jordan, Sandy and Draper. Current pricing is on our service menu, and the contact page is the place to send a question about how tools are handled.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you clean your tools between clients?
Three steps, in order. Every reusable metal implement is washed with soap and water to remove debris, then fully immersed in Barbicide, an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant, for the contact time on the label. It is then stored in a UV cabinet until it is used again.
Does a UV cabinet disinfect tools?
No, and we would rather say so. UV only affects surfaces the light directly reaches, so it cannot get inside a clipper hinge or a nipper seam, and stacked tools shadow each other. A UV cabinet is good for keeping already-disinfected tools clean and covered. It is storage, and it is not a cleaning step.
What does disinfecting mean?
Disinfection kills the pathogens a hospital-grade product is rated for on a hard surface, which is what Barbicide does. We disinfect, and we use that word deliberately.
What about files and buffers?
Porous items are a different category from metal implements, because they cannot be meaningfully disinfected. At Aloha Beauty Lounge, files and buffers are single-use: each one is used once and not reused. It is a fair question to put to any salon.
What about pedicure basins?
This page covers reusable metal tools and single-use files and buffers. Details on cleaning pedicure basins are not published yet, so ask once booking opens.
Can I ask about this once the lounge opens?
Please do. Hygiene is a fair question for any salon, and the process on this page is the one to ask about.
