Double dipping wax

[mandy78]

Do you just use a metal spatula for the hot wax and not strip wax or do you use them for both... if you do where do you place it in between dipping as i assume it would get very hot if it was left in the wax?

Thanks

 

[Kim Lawless]

I use a new spatula each time as that is what i was taught & just incase as i am a worrier & slightly OCD so i like to be mega careful.

If you're happy working the way you do, then that's fine. Especially if you're a worrier.

The doctors that I have asked have all told me that it is impossible to say how a person got the MRSA bug. For example, you couldn't pinpoint it down to a brow wax.

Also, the client would have to be extremely ill to get it in the first place, in which case......you shouldn't be waxing them anyway. It all goes back to basics. Contra-indications. That's why I always ask, 'Ok, so you're feeling fit and well today?' before I wax. xxx

 

[weezie]

Now that makes sense........

Im a drizzler.....I use a large wooden spatula but transfer wax with a smaller one........but I do wipe on the hot bar of the heater pot...... but this wax hasnt touched the clients skin as per above.......

Not sure why im drizzling really .......hmmmmm

Hee hee Surely the drizzle then falls into the wax pot thus making this pointless. :hug: plus it must take a lot of time and effort x

 

[Beauty Boutique]

If you're happy working the way you do, then that's fine. Especially if you're a worrier.

The doctors that I have asked have all told me that it is impossible to say how a person got the MRSA bug. For example, you couldn't pinpoint it down to a brow wax.

Also, the client would have to be extremely ill to get it in the first place, in which case......you shouldn't be waxing them anyway. It all goes back to basics. Contra-indications. That's why I always ask, 'Ok, so you're feeling fit and well today?' before I wax. xxx

thanks for that all makes more sense now xxxx

 

[champagne]

Hee hee Surely the drizzle then falls into the wax pot thus making this pointless. :hug: plus it must take a lot of time and effort x

Exactly !!!

Yep the scrape off on the bar goes back into the wax......but this hasnt touched the client has it ???

Pointless drizzler, thats me !!

Im going to have to get used to sticking that big fat spatula into that pot..

lol lol

 

[Zondrae]

I suggest you check your local skin penetration regulations and health bylaws. Depending on where you live, you may find double dipping is against health regulations. It is in the state I live in.

Makes it easy for me though really - I just don't/can't do it. Ever.

 

[champagne]

Lol when I mentioned the fact that I dont double bip to my local H&S visitor......he didnt know what I was talking about.....

 

[nixnewcastle]

I was always under the impression that this way of waxing was eventually going to be outlawed as effective and cheap as it is to use rather than the tube waxes with disposable applicater heads.

 

[Martin Duffy]

I'd be very suprised if it ever is outlawed - with a complete absence of any evidence that double-dipping causes infection it is highly unlikely that anyone would go to the effort of making legislation against it.

 

[Kim Lawless]

OUTLAWED????? It'd be spatula's at dawn and I'll be leading them

 

[Cutesteph]

I suggest you check your local skin penetration regulations and health bylaws. Depending on where you live, you may find double dipping is against health regulations. It is in the state I live in.

Makes it easy for me though really - I just don't/can't do it. Ever.

Its also against health regulations where I live so I don't/can't do it either

 

[angelina221]

The following is taken from Habias' code of practice for waxing;

For the purpose of waxing treatments, all disinfectable surfaces (e.g. metal re-usable implements and work surfaces) must be disinfected after thorough cleaning between services.

Industry techniques and views on waxing hygiene are changing. Current accepted practice is that a new spatula is used for each client and the risk of cross-infection from re-dipping a spatula into the same wax pot used for more than one client is small.

The importance of adhering to the waxing aftercare advice needs to be stressed to clients, as this is the most likely cause of any post-waxing infections.

AMEN!!

 

[Zo Zo]

I was always under the impression that this way of waxing was eventually going to be outlawed as effective and cheap as it is to use rather than the tube waxes with disposable applicater heads.

Maybe this rumour is put about by manufacturers and wholesalers of tube systems...

 

[Martin Duffy]

Maybe this rumour is put about by manufacturers and wholesalers of tube systems...

I wouldn't be suprised; I remember when the tube systems first came out & there were all those ridiculous images in the new promotional material of green germs coming out of wax pots & other accompanied scaremongering.

 

[essentia]

I appreciate that most therapists do not double dip for brazilian waxes but as noted by a Doctor Advisor for Womens health that the temp does not kill viruses. If you are using DD for face, body and leg you still run the potential risk of passing on viruses. There are lots of reports on the internet or Doctors recommending no DD. For the sake of being really safe for a bit more effort shows you care about your clients.:hug:

The aesthetician should wear gloves so there is no contamination from her hands and you don’t contaminate her with any infections you may harbor.
Women should be requested to change into disposable underwear since HPV has been found on the underwear of infected women. The waxing table paper or towels should also be changed between each client.
The skin should be "pre-cleansed" before the wax, and treated again after the wax with a soothing and cleansing agent.
The aesthetician should NEVER double dip the wax applicator into the heating unit. If the salon uses stick applicators they must to be disposed of after each client. Metal spatulas and all non-disposable instruments such as tweezers and scissors should be properly sterilized.
The heating units for wax should be kept no lower than 98.6 degrees F or 37 degrees C.
These temperatures are intended to be antimicrobial and antibacterial (fighting bacteria, fungus). However, these temps are not ANTIVIRAL. In fact, the temperature necessary to destroy DNA viruses (such as HPV and HSV) is about 106 degrees F or 50 degrees C. These high temps are necessary in order to denature the nucleic acids of viruses. Since some viruses have been known to live on inanimate objects, it is possible to spread them through improper sterile techniques, since the heat of the wax itself is not adequate to destroy them.
Women with the following conditions should avoid waxing: thin skin, vulvar varicosities, poor circulation, poorly controlled diabetes, genital warts, active herpes and other active skin disorders.
Women on the following medications should avoid waxing: Acutane, steriods and immune suppressive therapies.

 

[gillian w]

We should all do what we used to do in the old days when using old fashioned figure of eight wax that we used to have to re use ....whack up the temp to almost boiling point and then strain the hairs out through an old pair of tights.
I double dip except on intimate areas or if blood the same as most of you and i use the same wax on myself and my family so im quite confident im not giving any of us anything horrible.

 

[goddesslynne]

Does anyone else measure the temperature of their wax? I have done this and it's around 120 degrees F. Seems like that, along with careful hygiene should eliminate problems. I use disposable spatulas, new for every client, and no double dipping on the intimate areas. I'm in California, USA.

 

[PolishedAussie]

Personally I wouldn't double dip, with hot or strip wax. People can get viruses such as warts, infestations and infections on legs and arms as well as everywhere else on their body which could potentially contaminate the wax pot. There are laws in Australia that 'outlaw' double dipping, although this does not prevent therapists from doing it. It is very hard to regulate, but the general public are becoming more aware of the practice and are generally horrified that it goes on. These people will then seek out therapists that don't double dip.
I am going to open a can of worms here but I have found that most of the therapist that I have talked to on the double dipping issue have felt bullied or pressured into double dipping in the work place. A lot of the therapist are young when they come out of college and often don't want to rock the boat at work or lose their jobs. It has almost become entrenched misconception in the beauty industry that wax cannot harbor bacteria, fungus or viruses and that it is hot enough to kill these pathogens. There are health guidelines developing around the world that prevent double dipping practices and surely that is due to there being potentially a contamination risk??

 

[angelina221]

It's because they can find no evidence to support that double-dipping can cause cross-infection. Also they can't find any evidence that double-dipping doesn't so they err on the side of caution.
Interestingly i read a report only last week about samples that were taken from 13 salons and tested.
The salons sent used wax and unused wax.
The majority of the samples were not contaminated at all.
Interestingly of the samples that were found to be contaminated(and the contamination was not enough to cause alarm), half of those were from unused samples!

 

[Martin Duffy]

People can get viruses such as warts, infestations and infections on legs and arms as well as everywhere else on their body which could potentially contaminate the wax pot.

I would hope that after a consultation & a visual inspection that no therapist would be waxing over warts, infestations or infections anyway!

Even so, wax that touches the skin stays on the skin; it doesn't go back into the pot because it is "stuck to the skin"!!!

Everytime a client comes to me they can see their spatula going back into the pot after it has touched their leg, and guess how many times in the 13 years I have been waxing anyone has ever commented on it? A big fat zilch! And they still come back time after time.

Thought this link might be of interest:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr722.pdf