4.2 Cleaning, Disinfection, and Sterilization

4.2 Cleaning, Disinfection, and Sterilization

Section 4.1 explained how pathogens move. This section is the control ladder you must put on every multi-use tool. NIC will test the three levels of infection control. Washington will test whether you can recite WAC 308-20-110 in the right order. Mixing the levels — wiping a dusty pusher with disinfectant and calling it done — is how a Tacoma station fails an inspection and how a theory item is lost.

Three levels, three jobs

Cleaning is the removal of visible debris with soap or detergent and water. It lowers the number of microbes by taking away the soil they hide in. Cleaning is not optional, and it is not the same as disinfection. A metal pusher with acrylic dust still on it cannot be disinfected, no matter how expensive the EPA liquid is.

Disinfection is the destruction of most vegetative bacteria, fungi, and viruses on a nonporous surface using a chemical that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered for that use. In a Washington salon the product must have demonstrated bactericidal, fungicidal, and virucidal activity, and you must use it according to the manufacturer's directions, including contact time and dilution. Disinfectant does not sterilize, and it does not clean.

Sterilization is the destruction of all microbial life, including bacterial spores, using a method capable of that claim. WAC 308-20-110(6)(b) approves, after tools are cleaned of debris, an FDA-registered steam sterilizer or an FDA-registered dry-heat sterilizer (Canadian certification is also named for dry heat). Those units are not required for every clipper in a manicurist's kit, but they are lawful methods. A kitchen microwave, a toaster oven, and a UV box are not sterilizers under this rule.

Antiseptic is not a fourth level for tools. Antiseptic is formulated for skin. Using it on a nipper does not satisfy WAC 308-20-110 disinfection. Using EPA disinfectant on a client's cuticles does not satisfy the skin-prep rule in subsection (1)(l).

Why cleaning must come first

Debris is a shield. Protein, lotion, acrylic slurry, and skin cells keep disinfectant off the surface. WAC 308-20-110(6) states that EPA-approved disinfectants are indicated by their registration number on the product label, and the manufacturer's directions shall always be followed. Subsection (6)(b) then says each listed method is approved after they are cleaned of debris. If you invert the order — dunk a dirty bit, then rinse — you disinfected the dirt, not the tool.

Keep solutions at manufacturer recommended strength, free from foreign material, available whenever the location is open, and changed daily (WAC 308-20-110(6)(d)). A Kent jar of cloudy disinfectant with floating grit is no longer a disinfectant. Strength and cleanliness of the bath are part of the level, not housekeeping trivia.

The nonelectrical sequence you must recite

WAC 308-20-110(7)(a) is the order for nonelectrical tools and implements after each client:

1. Remove all hair and/or foreign material.
2. Clean thoroughly with soap or detergent and water.
3. Rinse thoroughly with clear, clean water.
4. Disinfect with an EPA-registered disinfectant with demonstrated bactericidal, fungicidal, and virucidal activity, used according to manufacturer's directions, or use a steam sterilizer or dry-heat sterilizer under subsection (6)(b)(ii) and (iii).

That sequence is not a suggestion. Skip the rinse and you leave soap film that can interfere with some disinfectants. Skip the soap step and you are asking EPA liquid to chew through visible soil. A Spokane candidate who answers "wipe with disinfectant wipes and put it in the UV box" has missed every required step except a surface that looks wet.

WAC 308-20-110(7)(b) adds a geometry rule: tools and implements without sharp edges or points, including combs, brushes, rollers, and rods, must be totally immersed in an EPA-registered disinfectant according to manufacturer's directions. A Bellevue tech who stands a plastic pusher handle-up in a half-full jar has not immersed the whole item. If it has no sharp edge, the whole object goes under.

Sharp implements still must be cleaned and then disinfected; they are not an excuse to skip EPA process. Do not drop clips into your mouth, clothing, or pockets (WAC 308-20-110(7)(c)). A client's personal tools stay out of the establishment except when prescribed by a physician (WAC 308-20-110(7)(d)).

Subsection (6)(b)(i) also names complete immersion or spray with an EPA-registered disinfectant as an approved method after cleaning. That spray language does not cancel (7)(b). Items without sharp edges still need total immersion. Spray is how you reach surfaces you cannot dunk — which leads to electrical tools.

Electrical tools: no motors in the jar

WAC 308-20-110(8) is a shorter order because you cannot soak a motor:

1. Remove hair and/or foreign matter.
2. Disinfect with an EPA disinfectant specifically made for electrical tools and implements.

An e-file handpiece, a table lamp switch, or a circulating-spa control is not a cuticle pusher. Do not immerse motors. Use the EPA product labeled for electrical tools, keep the surface wet for the labeled contact time, and let it stand as directed. Sanding bands on that e-file are not electrical tools; they are single-use and belong in the next section. The bit that is a reusable metal bit is cleaned of debris and disinfected as a nonelectrical implement if it can be removed. The motor housing is wiped with the electrical-tool product.

Salon scenario — Tacoma e-file. After a fill, the Tacoma manicurist pops off the used sanding band (discard), brushes dust off the handpiece, and wipes the handpiece with an EPA disinfectant made for electrical tools. She does not drop the motor into the immersion jar. She does not call the UV cabinet the disinfectant step.

UV cabinets are storage, not a level of control

Salons still sell boxes labeled "UV sterilizer." WAC 308-20-110(6)(c) is blunt. All cleaned and disinfected tools and implements must be stored in a closed nonairtight container or a UV unit. UV sterilizers shall be used only for clean storage of already cleaned and disinfected tools and implements. The machine does not earn the word sterilizer in practice. If the pusher went into the UV box dirty, it is still dirty. If a porous file went in, it is still a single-use fomite.

Store new or cleaned and disinfected tools separately from used tools (WAC 308-20-110(9)). Used tools wait in a labeled drawer or container at the workstation until you run the sequence. Do not mix the clean drawer with yesterday's bits.

Contact time, immersion, and strength

Manufacturer contact time is a clock, not a vibe. If the label says ten minutes, the item stays wet or immersed for ten minutes. Lifting a brush out at thirty seconds because the next client sat down is not disinfection. Mixing a weaker-than-label soup to "make it last" violates subsection (6)(d). Changing the solution daily is the floor, and you change it sooner if it is dirty.

Salon scenario — Olympia shortcut. An Olympia student dunks unwashed nippers, counts to five, and lays them on a towel. Foreign material is still on the joint. Contact time was not met. Cleaning never happened. That is not WAC 308-20-110(7).

Salon scenario — Yakima UV faith. A Yakima owner tells booth renters that the UV box "kills everything overnight." WAC 308-20-110(6)(c) still limits that box to storage of tools that were already cleaned and disinfected. Overnight glow does not replace soap, rinse, or EPA contact time.

Salon scenario — Everett jar geometry. An Everett tech disinfects plastic spatulas by standing them in a cup so the handles stay dry "for grip." Those spatulas have no sharp edges. They must be totally immersed.

Chapter 5 will apply this ladder to stations, linens, blood spills, and pedicure basins. For Domain 1 process questions, remember the ladder itself: clean, then EPA disinfect or FDA steam/dry heat; UV is a cupboard; antiseptic is for skin; motors do not go in the jar.