Nail Files

The nail file is the workhorse of the nail technician’s kit just as jeans are the workhorse of the average person’s wardrobe. And while both started out with just one basic style (the garnet and wood emery board invented by Joe Lupo in 1920 is your basic “Levi’s jeans” of nail files), each is now available in a plethora of styles and materials to suit every occasion. One file manufacturer alone makes 380 different nail files, and another mentions 40 different shapes.

While the basic construction of an abrasive adhered to a backing and attached to a core has changed little since the wood emery board was invented, changes have come in the materials and styles all designed to benefit the nail technician.

A file’s grit value is determined by the grains of abrasive in a one-inch square, explains Bobbi Berman of B&W Files in Dania-Hollywood, Fla. The lower the grit value, the coarser the file. “Envision a one-inch square filled with 100 grains of sand; it will be very rough,” she explains. “If you take a one-inch square and fill it with 240 grains of sand it will be much smoother.

According to file manufacturers, the best-selling nail file today is a combination 100/180 silicon carbide file. And with good reason – the 100-grit side is ideal for shaping an acrylic nail and reducing the length, while the 180 grit smoothes and shapes the surface. The buffing block is ideal for finishing both artificial and natural nails.

Any nail technician can do the full range of nail services with just four basic nail files: a coarse file (around 100 grit) for shaping acrylic and taking the length or surface down quickly; a medium file (180-220 grit) for smoothing artificial nails and shaping artificial and natural nails; a fine file (400-600 grit) for finishing artificial and natural nails; and a buffer, or microabrasive, (900- 12,000 grit) to buff and shine the nail surface.