Every Towel Your Nail Salon Needs

Created: Friday, 27 November 2020 09:13

Nail salons require more than highly skilled nail technicians. They also need the best tools and strategized branding to create an overall relaxing customer experience. A significant part of this customer experience is something most nail salon owners overlook — your towels.

In almost every aspect of your nail salon services, there's a towel. From the warm towels you use to wrap your clients' feet to the towel you rest under their fingers during manicures, towels can make or break customers' impression of your nail salon.

In this post, we'll outline every towel your nail salon needs, plus strategic branding tactics to keep your customers loyal to your nail expertise.

What Supplies Do You Need for a Nail Salon?

Besides larger equipment, like spa chairs and manicure desks, some nail salon must-haves include the following.

1. Nail file kit: Filing is one of the essential and transformative steps in your manicure and pedicure processes. Keep a nail file kit at each station, and encourage technicians to carry a spare kit for smooth service delivery.
2. Diamond nail file: Because filing is such a pivotal part of the manicure and pedicure experience, you want to keep the best-quality file on hand — a diamond nail file. These work well with thick acrylics because of their coarser qualities.
3. Pedicure foot file: Aside from filing nails, pedicure foot files are a must-have when smoothing rough soles, removing any dead skin and leaving clients' feet baby-soft.
4. Nail cleanser: Health and aesthetics are equally crucial when delivering a quality nail salon experience. Nail cleanser helps keep the client's nails protected from bacterial and fungus growth.
5. Cuticle exfoliator: A cuticle exfoliator is a relaxing step for the client. It also gets rid of any dead skin while simultaneously preparing the cuticle area for removal.
6. Cuticle oil: In partnership with the cuticle exfoliator, cuticle oils help soften the cuticle area and provide healing moisture to prevent splitting or peeling post-service.
7. Nail forms: These guides are a must-have for gel, acrylic and French manicures.
8. Sable brush: You'll want a quality sable brush to work with acrylic polish, as acrylics are more challenging to work with than regular nail polish.
9. Towels: Every salon uses absorbent accessories like eyebrow and pedicure towels — and a lot of them. 

How and where you implement your supplies is only one part of upholding your clients' expectations. The other is your supplies' quality and presentation. For example, if you place your client's hands on a threadbare, bleach-stained towel, they'll fixate on its ragged appearance instead of your masterful manicure technique.

What to Look for in a Quality Nail Salon Towel

You don't want to buy the first towel you come across. Finding the right nail salon towel is a lot like clothes shopping — some items don't have a flattering fit or style, while others won't hold up to frequent washing and drying.

When looking for a towel for your nail salon, consider the following qualities.

• Cost-efficient: As a business owner, you know how costly it is to run a nail salon. Supplies — including towels — can account for a significant portion of your total expenses. Make the right investment in your towels and stay within your budget by purchasing in bulk. 
• Durable: You'll subject your salon towels to a lot of daily wear and tear. Some of your towels soak up chemicals, others spend long periods in a hot towel cabinet and all towels must withstand daily deep cleanings following salon sanitization standards. Choose an option that can withstand your daily nail salon routines and services.
• Customizable: Customizability also plays a crucial role when choosing a towel. Branding is essential for any business, and you don't want to pick a color, texture or size at random. Shop with a towel distribution center that allows you to customize your order to fit your nail salon's unique needs.

Your towels are a reflection of your brand, and they should meet or exceed these quality determinants. If they don't, your customers may come away with the wrong impression of your business.

Understand the Value of Branding

First, let's talk about the basics of branding. Imagine your nail salon as a person. Who are they? What's their favorite color? How old are they? Summarizing your brand into a single character description — called a brand persona — will help your customers form a relationship with your nail salon.

Relationship-building is vital when differentiating your business from your competitors. It's worth noting that branding is only one factor of this process, but it's arguably the most critical. Your logo and colors are both central to your branding — and you can, and should, customize your nail salon's towels with both elements. 

While browsing towel suppliers, ensure the provider offers a towel that showcases your brand's unique colors. Then, find a bulk embroiderer to embroider your logo on each towel, furthering your towel branding strategy.

The Types of Towels Your Nail Salon Needs

The types of towels your nail salon needs will vary depending on the services you offer. You're going to require towels for pedicures and manicures, and others for services like eyebrow threading, waxing and massage.

Review your menu of salon services. Then, create a written list of every towel type you use or would prefer to use, as well as the quantity used per service. From a business perspective, this will help employees more effectively prepare for services and let you create a regular, thorough laundry schedule.

With these concepts in mind, consider this complete list of towels your nail salon needs.

1. 100% Cotton Towels

While shopping for salon towels, you'll run across two leading types — cotton blends and 100% cotton. Other companies mix in various materials and advertise their superiority, but there's no better quality than a 100% cotton towel if you want advantages like these.

• Breathable: If you find a blended cotton towel, odds are it has some plastic fibers that restrict airflow. Pure cotton towels allow air to easily pass through their fibers, which helps them stay airy and fresh.
• Comfortable: Synthetic towels may also irritate sensitive skin. If you've ever used a towel that felt like sandpaper, it wasn't a 100% cotton towel — instead, 100% cotton towels are plush, cloud-like material your clients will enjoy.
• Durable: Pure cotton towels are easy to maintain. Unlike other alternatives, 100% cotton towels can survive heavy-duty washes without fading or losing their shape or fluffiness.
• Environmentally friendly: Cotton is a natural product. Choosing 100% cotton towels means ditching any chemicals and product-manufactured substances, which can boost your salon's brand when you advertise your environmentally friendly services.
• Affordable: What's more, because cotton is a natural product, it's comparatively inexpensive. If your budget has more wiggle room, you can upgrade to more sophisticated materials like Egyptian or Turkish cotton. Still, everyday cotton reaps similar benefits and a lower price tag. 

Cotton also absorbs water and other liquids excellently, which is essential when considering uses like heated towel cabinets and wiping away any water or oils from your clients' hands or feet. And, as you do, your clients will appreciate the soft embrace rather than rough, scratchy rubbing.

2. Durable Microfiber Towels

One exception to the 100% cotton towel preference is microfiber towels. Microfiber towels contain a mixture of polyester and polyamide, which is the technical term for nylon. A blend of these two materials forms fine fibers — thinner than a human hair strand — hence the name microfiber.

Microfiber towels hold many more fibers than the average 100% cotton towel. Some microfiber towels have approximately 200,000 fibers per square inch. Each fiber can hold seven or eight times its weight, and it's also excellent at wiping away any dirt or particles. Because of these efficiencies, many nail salons select microfiber towels for cleaning any messes and when upholding salon sanitization best practices.

If you choose to use microfiber towels during cleaning, consider color-coding to differentiate those towels from your service-oriented towels. For example, if your brand's color is pink, choose pink client-facing towels. In contrast, select black microfiber cleaning towels, so employees can differentiate the two uses and avoid accidentally using scrubbing towels on a client.

3. Bleach-Resistant Towels

You're likely familiar with the various chemical exposures in your nail salon — nail polish, nail polish removers, adhesives, disinfectants — the list goes on. Because of these chemical exposures, bleach-resistant towels are must-haves for salons. 

Without the proper bleach treatment, towels can develop stains, fading or discoloration that adversely affect brand image and a customer's experience. Many salons opt for white towels because they feel more comfortable bleaching them in hopes the day's stains will disappear.

These are reasonable concerns and short-term solutions, but you can stand out against your competitors by choosing colorful — and on-brand — towels designed to withstand daily nail salon wear and tear. Bleach-resistant towels also require less intensive cleaning, preserving their plushness and absorbency and saving you time and money in the long run. 

4. Absorbent Fingertip Towels

Fingertip towels are staples in nail salons. Fingertip towels are longer and broader than the typical washcloth, noted for their historical use in prestigious restaurants, where guests used them to dry their fingers after cleansing them in finger bowls. Nail salons apply fingertip towels in a similar fashion, using them to wipe off their customers' fingers or toes after a comfortable soak in hot water.

Fingertip towels have exceptional water absorbency. They're ideal for drying and soaking up warm water for relaxation techniques. For example, many salons use a towel warming cabinet. Load a damp fingertip cloth into the cabinet and set it to evenly warm over a short incubation period. Then, wrap the warm towels around a client's arms, legs, hands or feet, opening pores to more willingly accept the various oils and lotions used during service.

5. Plush Washcloths

Terry washcloths are a common sight in most households, but they play a central role in nail salons, too. If you're a current nail salon owner, you know how many washcloths you can go through in a single day.

During your services, use washcloths under your clients' nails to protect surfaces from polish or chemicals, or to comfortably remove any excess wax on your clients' skin. Because these washcloths will fulfill multiple purposes, you want a washcloth that is plush enough to impress your clients, defiant against chemicals and durable enough to withstand frequent sanitization.

How to Sterilize Your Nail Salon's Towels

Because nail salons use towels so frequently for all their customers, they require proper sanitization before, during and after uses. You'll want to establish a practical towel-sterilization routine and select towels that can hold up to frequent deep cleaning.

Do Nail Salons Need to Sterilize?

Yes. Without proper sanitization, your customers can leave your salon with bacterial, viral or fungal infections — which can be detrimental to their health and your brand. State and local laws require salons to follow strict sterilization procedures for salon beds, tanning beds, foot baths, tables, chairs, equipment and tools, to include towels.

Luckily, 100% cotton nail salon towels and microfiber towels are easy to clean.

How Often Should You Clean Your Salon Towels?

With all the people who pass through your doors each day, you can't be sure everyone is infection-free. It's best to play it safe and thoroughly clean your salon towels between each use. However, you and your customers likely don't have time to sit and wait for a complete laundry cycle, so toss your dirty towels into a "to-wash" pile and keep a reliable source of clean towels to use throughout the day.

If you've left your dirty towels sitting for more than a few days, you may want to give them a deep cleaning before using to ensure they haven't accumulated dust and other particles that can irritate your clients' skin.

How to Clean Your 100% Cotton Towels

To clean your towels, start by loading your commercial-grade washer with a towel-only load. Combine same-use towels into single loads. For example, wash the towels you use for salon services separately from your microfiber cleaning towels.

With your towels loaded, add a conservative amount of laundry detergent — skip the fabric softeners, as they'll leave a bacteria-attracting residue and limit your towels' lifespan — and wash them on a heavy cycle using a warm to hot temperature.

Once your washer completes its cycle, promptly move your towels into the dryer. If you leave your towels in the washer for too long, the dampness will lead to a musty smell and mildew growth, which can be a health hazard. Start your dryer and let your towels completely dry before removing, folding and storing them.

Buy Nail Salon Towels in Bulk at Towel Super Center

We're passionate about two things at Towel Super Center — quality towels and incredible discount pricing. 

We're proud to be the leading online wholesale towel supplier, noted for our 100% cotton towels that will make your customers feel relaxed and appreciated. We have a wide selection of different types of towels in colors that will boost your brand and keep your customers loyal to your cosmetology expertise.

We make shopping easy. Shop our extensive towel catalog online and choose from a rainbow of colors to match your brand, and we'll ship out your order within one business day. And, for more information on ways towels can boost your business, visit our blog!