Disinfecting face paints?

My day job is counseling mothers of infants about breastfeeding. I go to homes, the hospital and the health department to help with everything from latch, to nipple damage to pumping and this involves being in contact with bodily fluids so infectious disease is something I think about all the time and this concern has carried over into my face painting business.
I have developed a little routine to keep contamination down. I wipe the area of skin with an unscented baby wipe, spritz my paints and brushes with rubbing alcohol between each person, put a bit of alcohol in my rinse water and use hand sanitizer between each person and after each booking I wipe away the first layer of paint and spritz them all down one more time before I let them dry and pack them away while I let my brushes and sponges soak in alcohol.
I'm interested in what the rest of you do, what's your routine to keep it all clean?

I'm not too sure about spritzing your paints with alcohol. Do you worry about altering the makeup and it burning some kids eyes? Alcohol on brushes is great cause it can be rinsed off. Where's Shannon - Shannon knows everything!

martha wrote:Where's Shannon - Shannon knows everything!

That's what I was thinking?? lol

the alcohol evaporates off the surface of the paint pretty quickly and i rinse the brushes before they touch skin so no alcohol actually comes in contact with skin. I used the routine at home for myself while banging out some designs and it worked well so i implemented it with clients. I havent had any issues with burning eyes or adverse effects on the paints over the last 6 months:)

I have heard that putting alcohol in the water is a no no too. Maybe I dreamed it, but I think I read that it really has the oposite of the desired effect. Clean wanter is the most effective. If you are not double dipping brushes and sponges, you wash the brush with soap (a bar of ivory is terrific for this) rinse, dip in alcohol and let it dry before using it again, and keep your hands clean between clients, you are doing what you need to do to keep germs from contamintating your paint. I wipe mine down (take the top layer off with a wipe) in between gigs.

I was told the paint itself has anti-microbial agents in it...I use the SF Brush bath for my rinse water.

I had heard that too, anniel, that the paints have anti-microbial agents. I think I read that on the Snaz website but I'm not sure about any other brands. Always wondered about that.

A previous employer of mine had us put a couple capfulls of white vinegar in our 1/2 gallon jugs of rinse water. But, I would think that if you were to use an antibacterial wipe to clean off every "canvas" before painting, then theoretically you wouldn't have to really keep sanitizing everything else that is touching the already sanitized skin, right? If your brushes and paint were only coming into contact with a sanitized area? I am no expert in this area though! I pretty much just make sure to clean my hands often, clean faces that are visibly dirty or on coughing kids, don't paint over broken skin, change my rinse water often and really give everything a good cleaning between gigs.

I know there are more strict standards if painting at a hospital, of course. There was a recent string on this and fesspenter had a great post on her detailed routine required for sanitary painting in the children's hospital.

Pre-cleaning the skin and spritzing your face paints with ISO alcohol is fine. It is common practice among trained MUAs. I do not suggest putting alcohol in your rinse water. It will ruin your brushes, besides the effectiveness of the alcohol is reduced by 50% or more when diluted in water.

Paint goes in one direction for me... from the container to a pallet, and then between pallet and skin only. Only clean brushes or sponges ever touch the makeup in the container, if it has touched skin, it doesn't go back to the container.

If sponging, I try to overload the sponge so I don't need to re-load, if I do, I either use the other side of the sponge or, toss and use a clean sponge.

So, yes, I take a lot of brushes and sponges with me.

Pallets get dropped in ultrasonic cleaner with alcohol in between uses.

Clean water only to rinse. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO IT.

Only clean tools touch the make-up. Clean sponges and brushes always. My rinse water is to rinse the brushes while cleaning them... I NEVER dip my brush in water to use for application. Clean water is added to my make-up with a dropper bottle as required.

Brushes are washed with soap, rinsed twice and then saturated in 70% isopropyl alcohol and allowed to airdry before reuse. 70% is used as it stays wet longer allowing more contact time for sanitizing.

These are the health regs I have to follow

Alberta Health Regs

I asked a health inspector about the face paints and was told as long as they are allowed to DRY completely between uses there should be no real issues. Do not ever put your paints away wet or damp. When I get home I put all my palettes and cakes out to dry at least overnight. They need to be completely dry.

BTW the antibacterial in the make-up is to prevent mould from growing on it NOT to kill viruses etc that make contact. So do not expect that herpes or other contagions will be "killed" by contact because they won't be.

Leaping Lizards!!!! I want to be painted by YOU, lol. I have a few questions....I sometimes use up to 3 sizes brushes on one face. Does that mean that you use NEW brushes for EVERY face? What if you're painting 40 faces? That could easily mean 40 to 100 brushes!???? Also, I'm not understanding everyone's alcohol use on the paints...doesn't the alcohol thin the paint and remain in the paint just like water would? Isn't it like bleach in the sense that it doesn't instantly kill germs? I know bleach has to sit for at least 10 minutes to clean germs...is alcohol different? Wouldn't it change the color/texture of the paint? Wouldn't you be painting kids with alcohol? Wouldn't spraying with alcohol only disinfect the very top surface it lays on? I know sometimes I work water into a paint a LOT over a few hours. Wouldn't some paint lower down in the pallette still have viruses? Also, I though "ultrasonic" cleaners clean with waves of some kind, not with alcohol? I'd love to know more about your cleaner. Thanks

Also, Shannon...you said "only clean tools touch the makeup. Suppose you're doing a bunch of linework on a face. Does that mean every time you reload, you're using a new brush too? Or are you just rinsing (not disinfecting) the brush in between, THEN reloading it?

I have about 40 brushes with me... they are cleaned as I use them and when COMPLETELY dry I use them again. So, I can work all day with the same brushes.

I can load up a sponge or brush well enough to do what I need (after all these years of practise!) and yes, grabbing a clean one is sometimes required to reload.

I do not put alcohol on my paint. I only add clean water from a dropper bottle (distilled water NOT tap water - water up here is full of crud.) to the paints.

I would not use vinegar or any brush washes - the can be irritants to skin and airways. I use vinegar to clean my house but making my paint smell like pickles really isn't desired.

Thanks Shannon...even though we don't have as strict requirements here, and even though I do try to be careful with sponges, water etc., I think I'm going to adopt as many of these Canadian practices as I can!

i just wanted to comment about wiping faces before painting with baby wipes - the first question we usually ask if a child has a suspected irritation (i'm cautious about using the word reaction as it implies allergy, which is rarely confined to a small localised redness as you see with contact dermatitis) is about removal - ie was it removed with a baby wipe?

Wet wipes of any kind leave a residue on the skin that could either irritate the skin in themselves, or encourage irritation when paint is applied on top. Skin on a face is thinner and more sensitive than on a bottom, even if the same brand causes no problem elsewhere on the body, it could be irritating on the face. I'd suggest that if you want to clean skin before painting you spray clean water on to a sponge and use that gently - it will also be cheaper for you than using a disposable wipe.

I buy brushes in containers of 250. I do have a lot of brushes, but it's not like they wear out fast.

Wow leaping lizard that is a lot of brushes!!!!

there is a section on the snazaroo site that talks about cleaning your kit...and there is alot of info on that page

this site has alot of info regarding snazaroo paints but I think it would hold up to all paints that we use...http://www.snazaroo.us/coffee.htm

you have to read thru this post in order to get to the clean kit post i hope this helps out the new commers here...I know in canada they have different guid lines that we do here in the united states

here is the safety link from snazaroo

http://www.snazaroo.us/safety.htm

It is just Alberta, not all of Canada.

While I live in Canada...
I follow the same guidelines as Shannon Fennell in Alberta.
I was trained in paint hygiene by Rick Wray of Infectious Disease Control at SickKids Hospital.
Ontario does not have the same standards as Alberta or SickKids Hospital.
It does not take me very much extra time to paint in this manner, and at the end of my event, my brushes are clean and ready to go for the next event.

Ignoramus here. What is the difference between White meths and isopropyl alcohol? Pharmacist said either would work for cleaning face paint brushes. ??!

I was trained to use 70% isopropyl alcohol for disinfecting my brushes. Higher percentages of alcohol evaporate too quickly to kill germs.
I do not have a clue as to what "white meths" means.

Happy Painting!

I also believe shannon said she does not put alcohol on her paints...eairlier in the post...she just uses it to clean her brushes and sponges between customers and has to let them dry before using them again...i would read her blog as she has so much info on this business...

HI aholly, meths is similar to ipa (which is ethanol, ie almost pure 'alcohol' of the same type we drink in wine and spirits), but it has other agents added to it. It is called Meths because of the added Methanol, which unlike elthanol is toxic - it's done so it can be sold for industial uses and avoid alcoholic drink regulations. Normally it's coloured purple to make it easy to distinguish, but white meths isn't.
It shouldn't be toxic to the skin, only through ingestion. I'd still buy IPA though and dilute to chatever concentration you need.

a