Acrylic Removal

More golden advice from Vicki Peters circa 2001

  

TIP OF THE WEEK #7: ACRYLIC REMOVAL

By Vicki Peters

   

This week's tip of the week is about acrylic removal. So many of us still take the nippers and clip off old acrylic to replace the nails and this should be against the "nail law". It is extremely damaging and hurts the client.

WHEN DO YOU REMOVE NAILS?

This varies but when the nails will take more work to fill is when I opt to soak them off and do a new set. If I had a new client that came from a discount salon, and I knew this was not a one time client I was going to keep, what I would do is fill over the MMA the first time and schedule her a two hour fill appointment next time she plans on coming in to get her nails done. Be sure to explain why you would do this, the benefits of switching her over to an EMA based product and how wonderful you can make her nails with a new set.

HOW TO REMOVE THE ACRYLIC NAILS SAFELY

Soak them off of course.

Schedule her first hour for soaking while you're doing another client so you don't waste time not making money while she soaks. Set her up in straight acetone with Vaseline on her fingers and cuticles and cover the bowl of acetone with a towel. Add some cuticle oil to the acetone and maybe some marbles for her to play with that will help work the product off. You can heat the acetone up by placing the bowl of acetone in another bowl of very hot water and covering it. You may want to file the MMA down a speck and cut the length off first to hasten the process. Let her sit for the whole hour if possible. The longer you leave her in the acetone the better if her fingers can take it. The idea is to leave the nails in the acetone until they fall off. Taking them out and scraping the product off is ok, but can waste time - they set back up as soon as you take them out of the acetone. MMA nails will take longer then EMA nails.

Another way to remove the nails safely is to take a very wet cotton ball with acetone (use real cotton it absorbs better than synthetic cotton) and place the ball of cotton on the nail and wrap in tin foil making it fit snug around the finger. Condition her hands first with a heavy lotion. After placing the acetone and cotton on the nails, wrap all ten nails in tinfoil and paraffin dip her three times. The acetone won't get into the paraffin so don't worry about that and if it does oh well, no harm. Place her hands in a plastic bag and mitts. You can also place the hands with the plastic bags into warming mitts with or without the paraffin. The heat speeds up the process. Leave the hands and nails in the paraffin and mitts for 45 minutes. Remove the mitts and plastic bags, and with some pressure on the nails remove the tin foil taking the melted acrylic with it. You should be able to take a tissue and remove the remaining acrylic and have the clients use a nail brush to remove any acetone from her fingers and nails. If they are soaking have them wash the acetone off their fingers too.

For MMA nails the soaking may take about an hour, with EMA nails 30-40 minutes max. Fiberglass much less time and gels, forget it. They need to be buffed off.

This procedure needs to be positioned right so it is not a hassle and you're not wasting valuable time. Got a client that can't sit still for that long? Put her feet into the pedicure bath and let her soak her feet while soaking her nails - she will mellow out about sitting there quickly. She can remove her shoes and socks herself and she can put them back on so it does not take any time from you. Just get the pedicure bath ready.

SO WHAT DO YOU CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE?

That depends on your pricing structure. When I was in the salon I charged a higher price for my pink and whites that included the soak off or backfill whenever I chose it needed to be done. This way the client could not dictate to me when to do the new set, it was my decision when I had the time. I did a lot of white tips for my pink and whites instead of backfilling and offered the soak off every 3rd or 4th fill. Which in the long run took me less time because the fills were easier. I place the tip as high as I could to stretch the white tip for a longer period of time and the clients who liked the white tips liked the soak off service that came with the deal. Other clients that did not want the soak offs because they liked having their natural nails opted for the backfills. Again I included them in the price so it was my decision when they got backfilled. I charged $5 less for a regular fill with clear or pink that usually got polished.

Bottom line I feel that the soak off takes the same amount of time clipping and cleaning up the mess after does and is a gentler and kinder way for the client as well as the nails to remove them. We need to take better care of the natural nail underneath the acrylic and soaking them is one sure way to achieve that.

Vicki

The Peters Perspective

"When you stop learning your career ends and your job begins"

DISCLAIMER

Any products mentioned in the "Tip Of The Week by Vicki Peters" is not an endorsement of any kind.