Infection Control, Sanitation, and Safety
Know the enemy before you kill it
Questions here test vocabulary precision more than memorized procedures. Pathogens fall into bacteria (cocci = round, bacilli = rod, spirilla = spiral), viruses, fungi, and parasites. Nonpathogenic organisms are usually harmless but can become opportunistic when skin is broken. Most bacteria are harmless; the ones that matter are the ones that cause infection, and they need a portal of entry - a cut, a wax burn, a picked lesion.
The three levels of control
Cleaning removes debris with soap and water but does not kill. Disinfection uses an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant with a tuberculocidal claim to destroy most pathogens on nonporous implements. Sterilization destroys all microbial life and is not the normal salon standard. Never put a disinfectant on skin - that is an antiseptic, and salon disinfectants are not for tissue.
The single-use rule
Porous items - cotton, wooden sticks, wax strips, buffers, files, mascara wands - are single-use and discarded. Nonporous tools are cleaned then disinfected between every client. Universal precautions mean you treat every client's blood and body fluids as infectious. Wear gloves, wash hands for at least 20 seconds, and follow your exposure-control plan for a blood spill: gloves on, absorb, clean, disinfect with the hospital-grade product, dispose properly.
Traps
The most common trap is a stem that says "sterilize" when the correct salon answer is "disinfect." Another is assuming a UV cabinet sanitizes - it does not reliably disinfect. Watch for questions that ask what you do to your hands (wash) versus what you do to a metal extractor (clean and disinfect).
Rule of thumb
If it touches skin and is not single-use, it is cleaned and then disinfected before it touches the next client - no exceptions.