Emerican File Education

GRIT
60-80	Extra Coarse	Used to reduce the length of extra long nails or for the shaping of very thick acrylics and gels.
100-150	Coarse	Used to reduce the length of acrylics and gels. Used for the shaping of acrylics and gels.
150-240	Medium	Used for the heavy and light shaping of the free edge of acrylics and gels. Used to etch the surface of the natural nail.
240-400	Fine	Used for finishing filing on acrylics and gels. Used for filing on wraps. Used for filing the natural nail.
499-900	Extra Fine	Used for finishing filing on the natural nail. Used for filing down ridges on the natural nail. Used as final filing prior to buffing and shining the nail.
900-12000	Super Fine	These are buffers. Used for your final smoothing and shining.

CORE MATERIALS

WOOD: Wood was the first material used as a core for files when files where invented back in the 1920s. The first files were made of wood covered with garnet as an abrasive. Garnet is a very common gemstone that is ground up to be used as an abrasive. Wood and garnet is still used today to make inexpensive emery boards. A wood core is inexpensive and rigid.

PLASTIC: Remember that Mrs. Robinson movie when the young man was told " one word ,,, plastics". Most commonly used plastic for core is polystyrene. It is more flexible than a wood core. In a "cushioned" file, the polystyrene plastic is sandwiched between layers of polystyrene foam. That is done to reduce the file vibration that is felt in your hands when filing. A well made file of plastic core provides a good balance between being rigid and being flexible.

FOAM: Most commonly used foam is polystyrene foam. It is used in "cushioned" files and it is used in buffing blocks. There are two basic variations of foam. There is "open cell foam' and there is "closed cell foam". Open cell foam is pouris and absorbs liquids and gets more spongy. Closed cell foam is waterproof and very firm.
Remember this as type of cell foam has a bearing and being able to sanitize a file.

BACKING MATERIALS

PAPER. This was the original backing used on the first nail files developed in the 1920s. Still used on emery boards. It is inexpensive. It is NOT water-resistant.

WATERPROOF PAPER. This is paper that has been treated with oil based resin. It can be immersed in water. For short periods of time, it can also be immersed in sanitizing fluids.

MYLAR. This is a trade name for a specific polyester material. It is washable. It is sanitizable. It is durable. It costs more than a paper backing and it lasts a lot longer than a paper backing. Have you seen those Mylar party balloons sold at your local store? The material lasts almost forever and doesn't break down .... that is Mylar.

CLOTH. Usually cotton. It is a very flexible backing and very high-cost and very long lasting. It is often used in making nail board buffers.

FOAM. Growing in use in making of premium nail files. I will discuss the properties of buffers when I describe the Foam Nail Files that we sell.

ABRASIVE MATERIALS

GARNET. This is a common gemstone. It is ground up to be used as a grit. Still used on most all of the wooden emery boards. Very inexpensive, very long lasting.

SILICON CARBIDE. The common black nail file. Silicon carbide is a synthetically manufactured crystal compound. It is a very hard substance with very jagged edges. This is why the common black nail file usually cuts deep and fast.

SILICON CARBIDE with a coating of ZINC STERATE. This is what we call the ZEBRA nail file. The zinc sterate is used to coat the silicon carbide as a lubricant. It make the filing smoother and quicker as the coating helps prevent the jagged silicon carbide from becoming filled up with the filing dust. Cheaply made imported Zebra files are often not coated properly and lose their effectiveness too quickly. Also when buying Zebra files, check that they are washable.

ALUMINUM OXIDE. This abrasive material is the only materials that can be dyed colors, so your colored file should be aluminum oxide. The aluminum oxide crystals are much less jagged than the silicon carbide crystals..... therefore the filing of an aluminum oxide file is less harsh.

COMPRESSED ALUMINUM OXIDE. Compressed and bonded with porcelain grains, this is usually called a 'filing stone'. Used extensively in filing natural nails. Lasts a lifetime. Not expensive.

GLASS or CRYSTAL. Files made of glass materials. Used extensively in filing natural nails. Lasts a lifetime. Expensive.

Black Washable Foam Nail Board.
This file is a silicon Carbide file. It is washable so based on what I explained before, the core is of closed-cell foam construction.
Why is it better than cheaply made files? Generally, the cheaper import files will shed off their filing grit more quickly and wear more quickly. Then they will begin to buckle and cease and that makes them less rigid and they become too flexible. Then they begin to cut too unevenly and if you notice that you start to cut the clients cuticles too easily, that is why.

Zebra Washable Foam Nail Board.
A silicon carbide file that has been coated with zinc sterate. Purpose is to lubricate the harshness of the jagged silicon carbide.
A cheap coating of zinc sterate or a incorrectly applied coating of zinc sterate would defeat the purpose of applying it to be a lubricate.

Foam Nail Boards.
Now this is an interesting type of file.
One purpose of using foam is to achieve flexibility. When a file is constructed with a specific degree of flexibility it can speed filing up to 10 or 12 times more effective.

Some lower priced foam nail boards have the grit applied to a backing and the backing then applied to the board core.
Not ours. Ours has the abrasive sprayed directly onto the foam. Plus the foam has a certain thickness. This allows the entire board to flex in such a manner that it follows the contours of the clients nail. Because the grit is sprayed right onto the foam, the grit particles settle deeper into the cells of the foam and that means that the grit surface is performing a less aggressive filing action on the clients nail surface. There are no paper edges to cut the cuticle. Sponge files are sanitizable.

Sterifile Nail Boards.
These files have all the components needed to stand up to the rigors of being sanitized again and again. Closed-cell construction, Mylar construction, dense materials, the best of glues.
Mylar files can be safely washed and soaked in sanitizing again and again.

Mylar Nail Boards.
The materials says it all. Mylar is washable, it is sanitiziable, it is very durable. It is superior to the typical paper backed nail file.
Mylar files can be safely washed and soaked in sanitizing again and again.

I think so. I am not a super expert but I can give you some advice.
So you think you may be using a cheaply made import silicon carbide or zebra file.

First examine the cushion material. You want a closed-cell core. It should be dense. The file should be cushioned.... it should pop back out when your finger pushes down onto the surface of the file.
If you can easily feel the central core of the file, then the file is cheaply constructed.
A cost cutting method is for the maker to use a less dense core, so make sure that the file feels rigid enough. If a file of this type construction flexes too much, then the paper backing will crack and begin the break down.
Look for a clean edge along the surface of the file ... where the machines cut the file out of a large section of file material .... the edge should not be serrated.

In general, the high quality files can be purchased for about 1.59 from dozens of sources. From mail order suppliers, from the supply house in your home town, from firms in the nail business that have their files made for them and have their own brand name printed on the files. Typically these are all high quality files.

There are also files whose price sometimes reaches 2 dollars and more. And usually they are worth the price because they may be for specific applications or may be made in special shapes ... often you might consider them to be a 'high performance' file.

What we do at our supply store is market the high quality 1.59 range of nail file for less .... what we call 'value priced'. Our highest price for the best file is still less than 1.00. We do that because we are small and don't have a lot of overhead to cover .... and because we are small we need to attract business to have an opportunity to establish our business and be able to grow in the future.

And you will notice ™ (that stands for Trademark) on most of our files. Because the manufacturer is one of the very best and holds patents for dozens of innovations in nail board design and construction.

Now about lower priced, basic files. The black cushioned file and the zebra file. High quality, made in the USA files like that usually sell in the area of 50 to 60 cents. We sell them for much less .... same reason as before, to get established in business.
When you see those basic files for sale at low prices ( like $10 a package ), the first thing you will notice is that they DON'T advertise made in the USA. That's your tip-off.

Who makes high quality files? Mostly manufacturers in the USA and in Korea. The only problem with the Korean files is that a FEW Korean distributors have been found marketing low quality made in China files mislabeled, claiming to have been made in Korea. So be cautious.

At the factory individual files are cut out of a large mat of nail material
and this leaves a sharp edge.
When you first use a new file...use a second file to make one filing pass
over the edges of the new file.
This will help to avoid cutting your client.