So which of you lovely ladies (and gentlemen of course) treat yourself on a monthly basis to a pedicure? 

Well, not to burst your bubble but more to pop your awareness I will bring to you today a short blog about a little but very important fact around pedicure services that you might not be aware of. 

Hopefully the salon that you visit follows strict sanitation procedures and doesn't skip corners to save money or time.

If the salon that you visit uses disposable foot liners in pedicure bowls then feel free to skip this blog…..but keep checking in for my next blog on “What can happen if your salon doesn't follow strict sanitation procedures”

1.         Once every client has removed their toes from the whirlpool foot spa and is ready to go home the foot spa needs to be filled up to the vent line with hot water with an adequate measurement of Barbicide.   Please click here to find out what Barbicide is and why it is approved by the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology for sanitation methods.   Filling the bowl up over the vent line and allowing the foot spa to ‘bubble’ for a minimum of TEN minutes is to make sure that the bowl and the pipes are completely sanitized.   If the pipes that operate behind the scene are not sanitized correctly, when the foot spa is in operation again for the next client, the dead skin, cuticle floaters and lots of yummy fungus particles will push back into the foot spa, producing a not so pleasant experience for the next client that dunks their toes (which could be YOU!)    Spraying the bowl down with alcohol does NOT sanitize the foot bowl itself; neither does it get into the vents or the pipes!  Do you see the foot spa that you immerse your tootsies in bubble and froth for ten minute before you dunk?   The water will be of a pale blue color if Barbicide has been used.

I have looked behind a vent in a foot spa during a training class I took on this very topic and it is not one I would like to see again! But I can give you the visual of what sort of feet plunge into these things hourly and what sort of stuff is left behind, especially after those dried cracked heels have been exfoliated!