Burning up: Risks and Dangers of Nail Salons

The moisturizing, the rejuvenating, the refreshing: All these cosmetic and therapeutic benefits can come with a paraffin wax. A good dip-and-sit leaves you with the  supple, soft skin of a baby. But a bad one?

In 2010, one Maryland woman experienced the extreme end of nail salon risks. She dipped her hands in a hot wax warmer during a manicure. While the woman’s hands sat in the warmer, her nail tech moved the warmer. An exposed wire ignited the flammable wax, severely burning the woman. She sued the salon, and the salon settled for a million dollars, reported Miller & Zois Attorneys at Law.

The old adage “beauty is pain” just doesn’t fly, especially when nail care hazards are so abundant. Your clients deserve to walk out of your salon unscathed. So how can you minimize the risks and dangers of nail salon burns?

At the nail salon, there are two common ways to inadvertently burn clients: applying water or products that are too hot and using nail salon chemicals improperly. Let’s discuss how to avoid these two beauty blunders.

Two Ways to Prevent Burn Dangers in Nail Salons

1. Turn the temperature down.

When it comes to foot baths, towels, waxes, stones, and anything else you apply to your clients’ skin, think “warm,” not hot. Heated is nice, while sweltering is not.

Are you convinced the burn dangers of nail salons don’t happen in real life? Think again.  Alexis Marshall visited a spa for a pedicure in July 2022. Unfortunately, the clay mask and hot orange slices her nail tech applied to her lower legs were too hot. When the tech removed the mask and orange slices, Marshall’s legs had second degree burns, blisters, and a staph infection. According to Marshall, the blisters were so painful “she couldn’t sleep, walk, or work for weeks,” reports CBS19 News. Marshall sued, and the salon settled for $70,000.

You can safeguard clients from such accidents by sticking to suggested temperatures. The Arthritis Foundation recommends keeping water bath temperatures between 92 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Kaiser Permanente recommends heating paraffin wax to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot stones should be between 130 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit, says University of New Hampshire Health Services.

To minimize your nail salon’s risks of burns, check how hot your products are. Even if you’re within the appropriate heat ranges, it’s also good customer service to ask if your clients are comfortable. A simple, “Is the temperature all right?” gives your clients an opportunity to request cooler temperatures if they prefer.

2. Be careful with nail salon chemicals.

In a nail salon, you work with a lot of chemicals. Acetone for removing polish, ethyl acetate to film-form polish, and barbicide for cleaning are just some of the chemicals you encounter every day. When properly used, nail salon chemicals provide your clients with beautiful, healthy results. But when used improperly, they can cause skin and nail chemical burns. It’s a frightening and costly danger of nail salon management.

In 2017, Cindy Dillon received a chemical burn from a pedicure. Her nail tech accidentally dropped callus remover gel on the top of her foot. After the nail tech wrapped her foot in hot towels and plastic for 15 minutes, Dillon developed second- and third-degree burns. It took Dillon two months to recover from her injuries, reported Fox4 Kansas City.

This isn’t the first time callus remover has caused horrible skin and nail chemical burns. In 2013, Alexandra Colnon’s nail tech left the callus eliminator on for too long, causing “severe, serious, permanent, and disabling personal injuries,” said the New York Post.

No one wants chemical burns from pedicures. So whenever you use chemicals, follow the directions. Only use nail salon chemicals in the areas and for the amounts of time specified by the product instructions. To avoid the nail salon risks of applying chemicals improperly, review product labels often, and set and follow procedures in your salon. One way to prevent leaving a chemical on for too long is to set a timer.

Don’t burn your candle at both ends. Call us instead.

If you’re a nail salon owner, you’ve got a lot of responsibilities. You aren’t just keeping clients safe from the risks and dangers of nail salon services, like burns and other mani-pedi injuries. You also have to manage staff, service guests, market the business, balance the books, and so much more. Fielding customer complaints is a job in and of itself, and you can burn yourself (or your money) out doing it on your own.

That’s where we come in. Here at WellnessPro, we provide hardworking beauty professionals like you with the insurance protection they need. We handle client claims and associated covered costs so that you don’t have to. Learn more about our coverage here.