Hair removal by waxing, tweezing, or threading code of practice

Provide a safe service

Sterilisation

• All instruments must be sterilised.
• When you clean and sterilise instruments, keep them so they remain sterile.

Gloves

• Cover your hands with clean well-fitting single-use disposable surgical gloves before starting hair removal on any customer.
• Cover your hands after touching any object which has not been cleaned and sterilised, unless you use an effective sterile barrier.

Prepare the skin

• Evaluate the skin site before each service.
• Discuss any skin condition that may lead to skin irritation.
• Clean the customer’s skin with an antiseptic using a clean, single-use swab and maintaining product-specific recommended contact time.

Use of wax

• Do not apply wax to broken skin or over an area where blood has been drawn.
• To prevent cross contamination between customers:
• pre-dispense the required amount of wax for each customer into single-use disposable pots and discard any unused product; or
• use single-use disposable wooden spatulas for wax application and not re-dip the spatula into the wax pot.
• Do not reuse wax that has been applied to a customer’s body for hair removal.
• Keep pots of wax covered between services.

Use of thread

• Use only new single-use cotton thread.

Best practice: some additional recommendations

Waxing

Your processes for waxing and management of the equipment should minimise any potential for cross contamination.

The following is also advisable:

• Offer single-use disposable underwear to the customer for waxing of the full leg, bikini and/or Brazilian waxing;
• Apply wax initially to the inside of your wrist to test the temperature of the wax, then test it on the customer in the area to be treated.
• Apply hot wax with a spatula in thick strips and remove it by hand.
• Apply warm wax with a spatula in a thin film and remove it with a paper or muslin strip.
• Apply a soothing product after you remove the wax.
• Clean metal instruments using a wax solvent to remove all traces of wax before you sterilise them.

Threading

• Twist new single-use cotton thread and roll it onto the surface of the skin to entwine the hair. When the hair is entangled with the thread, pull the thread off and remove the hair.