4.2 Wet Disinfection Units and Multi-Use Implements
Key Takeaways
- 18VAC41-20-270 B 1 requires each nail technician to have a wet disinfection unit at the individual's station, with a cover to prevent contamination, and disinfection solutions used according to manufacturer directions.
- 18VAC41-20-10 defines a wet disinfection unit as a container large enough to hold an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal solution in which objects are completely immersed.
- 270 B 2 multi-use sequence: remove foreign matter (drill bits soaked in acetone and scrubbed with a wire brush); wash with hot water and soap; rinse and dry with a clean paper towel; fully immerse at least 10 minutes; then rinse, dry, and store in a clean predisinfected dry cabinet, drawer, or sealed covered container, or leave in the wet unit per manufacturer directions.
- 270 B 3: single-use items, including nail care implements designed for one client, must be discarded immediately after that client; disinfection and reuse are prohibited.
Station equipment, not a communal jar
Chapter 3 explained why cleaning must happen before disinfection and why a towel wipe is not a contact time. 18VAC41-20-270 B is the Virginia sequence an inspector times at the chair.
18VAC41-20-270 B 1 is blunt: each barber, master barber, cosmetologist, nail technician, and wax technician must have a wet disinfection unit at the individual's station and must meet the standards in the definition of wet disinfection requirements. A wet disinfection unit must have a cover to prevent contamination, and disinfection solutions must be used according to manufacturer's directions.
One covered jar at the reception desk for four nail tables fails B 1 even if the liquid is an EPA-registered disinfectant. The unit belongs at the individual's station. A unit with no cover fails B 1 even if the liquid is correct. Liquid mixed "by eye" or left until it is cloudy and full of debris fails manufacturer directions.
What a wet disinfection unit is
18VAC41-20-10 defines a wet disinfection unit as a container large enough to hold an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered disinfectant that is a bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal solution in which the objects to be disinfected are completely immersed.
Three testable ideas live in that definition:
- Size: the container must be large enough for complete immersion. Nipper hinges sticking out of a too-small cup are not immersed.
- Liquid: EPA-registered and bactericidal and virucidal and fungicidal. A household cleaner that is only "antibacterial" on the marketing panel is not the definition.
- Immersion: objects go in the solution. Spray-and-wipe of a multi-use nipper is not 270 B 2 unless you are in a different rule (electrical clipper blades that cannot be removed, 270 B 5).
Manufacturer directions still control concentration, replacement schedule, and whether implements may remain in the unit after the 10-minute minimum. Virginia does not publish a "change the liquid every X days" number in 270. Follow the label; do not invent a salon-wide number.
Multi-use implements: the 270 B 2 sequence
Multi-use implements are tools constructed of hard, nonporous materials such as metal, glass, or plastic that the manufacturer designed for use on more than one client. 270 B 2 names clippers, scissors, combs, and nippers. For nail technicians, add metal pushers, reusable carbide or diamond bits, metal files designed for reuse, and dappen dishes if the manufacturer designed them as multi-use.
Disinfection is carried out in the following manner prior to servicing a client:
| Step | 270 B 2 duty | Nail-station example |
|---|---|---|
| a | Remove all foreign matter, utilizing a brush if needed. Drill bits are to be soaked in acetone and scrubbed with a wire brush to remove all foreign matter | Product packed in a bit flute is still foreign matter |
| b | Wash thoroughly with hot water and soap | Soap, not a spritz of disinfectant, is the wash |
| c | Rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry thoroughly with a clean paper towel | A used cloth towel is not the specified dryer |
| d | Fully immerse implements into wet disinfectant solution for a minimum of 10 minutes | Hinges and flutes under the liquid, clocked |
| e | After immersion, rinse, dry thoroughly with a clean paper towel, and store in a clean, predisinfected, and dry cabinet, drawer, or sealed covered container, or leave instruments in a wet disinfection unit used according to manufacturer's directions | Wet tools in a sealed bag are not a dry cabinet |
Read the sequence as order, not as a menu. Disinfectant poured onto a still-dirty nipper does not skip steps a–c. Chapter 3 already told you why organic debris blocks disinfectant. 270 B 2 is the legal order that implements that science.
Drill bits get their own sentence because product in the flutes is the usual failure. Soak in acetone and scrub with a wire brush. Wiping a bit on a towel and dropping it into the jar leaves cured gel in the flute. That bit is still dirty when it hits the next enhancement.
Ten minutes is a minimum full immersion for this multi-use rule. A five-second dip is not 10 minutes. Leaving tools in the unit longer is allowed when the manufacturer directions for that wet unit say so (step e). Do not confuse this 10-minute implement rule with pedicure-basin contact time in 4.3; basin disinfection follows manufacturer directions for pedicure units.
Storage after the soak is its own trap. Implements come out, get rinsed and dried, and go into a clean, predisinfected, and dry cabinet, drawer, or sealed covered container—unless you leave them in the wet unit as the manufacturer directs. A zip bag of still-wet nippers, a used towel on top of the table, or a drawer that has never been disinfected is not step e.
Single-use items: discard immediately
18VAC41-20-270 B 3: Single-use items designed by the manufacturer for use on no more than one client should be discarded immediately after use on each individual client, including powder puffs, lip color, cheek color, sponges, styptic pencils, nail care implements, or disposable razors. The disinfection and reuse of these items is not permitted and the use of single-use items on more than one client is prohibited.
For nail technicians the high-yield list is porous or designated single-use nail care implements: disposable files and buffers, wooden pushers/orange sticks, sanding bands, disposable pedicure liners if you use them, and anything the manufacturer marked as one client. Alcohol on a porous file does not convert it into a multi-use tool. 270 B 3 forbids that conversion.
If the manufacturer designed the item for one client, Virginia does not let you "disinfect it because it still looks fine." Immediate discard is the control. Reuse is the violation.
Clippers, wax pots, and mixed shops
Nail technicians still see clippers on toenails. 270 B 4 allows rechargeable clippers to sit in a clean area other than a closed cabinet for recharging; cutting edges are still disinfected. 270 B 5 requires electrical clipper blades disinfected before and after each use; if the blade cannot be removed, a spray or foam is acceptable when it is an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal disinfectant used per manufacturer instructions and the entire handle is also disinfected by wiping.
270 B 6 wax-pot rules matter in a shop that also offers waxing. They do not expand nail-technician scope (Chapter 2). If you work in a mixed salon, know that wax pots have their own EPA-disinfectant rule and that sticks are not left standing in the wax.
Inspector picture
A Norfolk nail technician shares one uncovered plastic cup of cloudy liquid among three tables, wipes nippers on a towel, and soaks used files "because we are busy." That station fails B 1 (no individual covered unit with manufacturer-use solution), B 2 (no debris removal, soap wash, 10-minute full immersion, or proper storage), and B 3 (single-use files reused). The exam item will dress this up as a Saturday rush. The regulation does not pause for a rush.
Under 18VAC41-20-270 B 1, where must a Virginia nail technician's wet disinfection unit be kept?
How does 18VAC41-20-270 B 2 require foreign matter to be removed from drill bits before the soap wash?
After washing, rinsing, and drying a multi-use nipper, what is the 18VAC41-20-270 B 2 minimum immersion step?
What does 18VAC41-20-270 B 3 require for single-use nail care implements designed for one client?