You’re starting a nail salon and want to make sure you are not wasting money with useless salon equipment you don’t need. It’s a huge investment so it’s understandable why you want to make smart buys.

You understand that picking out salon furniture is more than just considering style; it’s about how practical it will be during everyday use. 

So - what equipment do I need to open a nail salon?

Our Shop Salon City’s experts weigh in on what salon equipment you absolutely need to open a nail salon plus a few extra equipment options to keep in mind to help improve your customers’ experience.

NAIL SALON ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

• Pedicure Spa Chairs

It goes without saying that you can’t run a successful full-service nail salon without pedicure chairs. This essential piece of nail salon equipment helps you provide one of your most profitable services, the pedicure. Plus, most pedicure spas come with massage features that give you the ability to increase prices for the service because you’ve added more value to it.

At $40 a pedicure, most chairs will be paid off after doing 60 pedicures! Because they stay in service for years, these chairs can provide you with a higher return on investment (ROI) because the money will be flowing through. To see our reccomendations on what do consider when buying a pedicure chair, see here on how to spend this large expenditure smartly for pedicure chairs.

• Manicure Tables

Just like the pedicure chair, the manicure table is another piece of nail salon equipment that will contribute the most to your nail salon’s success. The quality, the look, your budget and the utility shall be the first consideration factors of picking a best fit manicure table to open a nail salon.

At first glance, the manicure table may seem like an ordinary table that you can relax your arms and hands on, but that’s not the case. For some new salon starters, you can start with a regular desk or a light weight and portable nail table to save cost as well as to fold it easily and carry around.

While for a growing and established accent nail salon, you will want to upgrade it to a heavier, professional and multi-purpose manicure table. For this type of professional manicure tables, there are tons of features that you may not have known about or don’t know why they’re useful for the everyday nail technician. Check out this blog article for important features of selecting a manicure table.

• Reception Desks

If you have a reception area, a stylish and practical reception desk is a must. The reception desk is the focal point of the nail salon and sets the stage for your customers’ experience the moment they walk in the door. As such, focusing on quality is very important.

But it’s just as important to make sure it has a decent amount of storage compartments. You don’t want receipts, menus, and miscellaneous papers all over the place! You want your things to be tucked away and look as neat as possible. Then, add in matching seating and one or two magazine racks for customers to use while they wait.

 

• Nail Polish & Powder Racks/Centers

Next, your client is going to head over to the nail polish racks and shelves. The nail polish racks should be spacious and hold a variety of different sized nail polishes and forms such as powder or liquid. And when it comes to rows, the more the better because now your clients will have a larger selection to choose from.

You can pick nail polish racks that are mounted to the wall or free standing. Many salons choose to have the powder nail polishes on a free-standing, rotating nail polish center and the liquid nail gel polishes mounted to the wall.

A few of the different kinds of Polish & Powder Racks

 

• Pedicure & Technician Stools

Although you want to make sure your customers are comfortable, don’t forget about your employees and yourself. The pedicure stools and the technician stools are critical to your techs’ ability to do their job. Some stools help support the technician’s back and all of them provide comfort when sitting over long periods of time.

 

• Nail Dryer Tables

Think about where customers will sit and dry their nails when you open a nail salon. A nail dryer table is perfect for the job. You can have multiple clients sit around the nail dryer

to avoid the wait of each person having to dry their nails one at a time. This will help speed up the time for them inside of your nail salon and free up space for additional clientele.

Sonoma Nail Dryer Table

 

• Carts & Trolleys

Pedicure carts and trolleys help technicians move their supplies around with ease. Pedicures and manicures take a lot of work and a lot of tools to do. Imagine having to carry all of them with your hands at one time or taking multiple trips to bring everything across the salon. The pedicure cart and trolley will eliminate that inconvenience.

NAIL SALON EQUIPMENT EXTRAS

• Towel Warmers & Steamers

If you’re going to bring a hint of refreshment and relaxation to your salon, any kind of service needs a hot towel such as full-body wraps, massages, facials and shavings can be a sweet treat to your customers, and a towel warmer/steamer can help you fulfill that service easily.

Towel warmers are perfect for small to moderately sized salons and spas. It is a small appliance uses hot temperature to heat up damp towels (you need to prepare the wet towels in advance), normally accommodating 15-60 towels at one time based on different sizes and capacities. Some towel warmers also contain a UV device to sterilize your towels. This 2 in 1 design makes both warming up the towels and killing the virus and bacteria procedures complete all in one step while the price range of towel warmer devices is only around $100 to $200, which is very affordable and is a cost-effective investment when you are just starting a nail salon.

If you want to take your professionalism to next level and pamper your customers with a luxury enjoyment, it worth investing in a towel steamer.

Different than the mechanism of the towel warmers, towel steamers use steam to heat up dry towels, say, you don’t need to damp the towels yourself before using the device, the towel steamer has a built in compartment to be filled with water and implement this task for you. You can sanitize up hundreds of towels on separate shelves all at once and have them ready for your full-body wraps, massages, facials and other services. So, if you have a large salon or spa with the need for large quantities of hot towels, select a towel steamer with a capacity of 360 towels such as the DERMALOGIC 361 Towel Steamer.

 

• UV LED Nail Dryer Lamps 

According to Nails Magazine, gel nail manicures make up 31% of all the services provided in a nail salon. That means you’ll want to have the correct nail salon equipment to provide this service and keep business booming. The UV LED lamp helps the nail polish dry and harden to keep the manicure lasting longer and customers happy.

• LED Table Lamps

The LED table lamp is another piece of salon furniture that can make a difference in your nail tech’s performance. Why? It helps the nail tech to see what they are doing. Can’t they already see? Yes, but a table lamp will amplify their ability to see detail especially if debris is blocking the nail. Specially, for example, the KEEN Slimflex LED Table Lamp will also help to reduce strain on eyes besides provides steady bright light with no flickering at all and enhances viewing.

• UV Sanitizers and Sterilizers

Starting a nail salon means keeping up with health codes to make sure your customers are protected from potential fungi and other infections. The most effective ways to make sure the nail salon’s hygiene is up to code is by using salon UV sanitizers and sterilizers. Having sanitizers and sterilizers on hand will make it easy for you to give your tools a deep clean and allow you to clean multiple tools simultaneously. UV sanitizers and sterilizers will give your customers and you a peace of mind that they are less likely to catch an infection or fungus.

We hope this guide helps makes things a little easier when shopping for the essential salon equipment as you prepare to open your new nail salon. If you have questions or need assistance pricing out packages, call our expert support hotline. We’re here to help!