Emery boards are small flat long objects which have emery or emery paper glued to them, making them both abrasive and flexible, used for fingernail and toenail care. They are used by manicurists to shape and smooth the nail during manicure and pedicure sessions.
“Crystal nail files tend to be a bit more gentle and work well for brittle, weak nails, but in most cases a good 'ol emery board should be your file of choice,” says Mary Lennon, the president and founder of Côte. Sarah Gibson Tuttle, the CEO & founder of Olive & June, agrees.
Emery boards are available with different grit sizes. This means that the grit on the surface of the file can be coarse or fine. The coarser side should be used initially, whereas the finer side should be used to shape the nails and for the finishing touches.
The emery board files are made from emery paper, a type of abrasive sandpaper stuck on a cardboard stick. When you slide the emery board across your nail, it scrapes the edge of your nail and leaves a rough nail surface.
It is made up of two different rough surfaces. The rough side is used to shape the nail. The relatively smooth side is used to modify some defects.
Emery boards are sandpaper adhered to a cardboard stick and come in different grits so you can file your nail down in length, shape it and then do your best to tame those jagged edges. The coarseness of grit you choose to use depends upon if you have weak, thin, fragile nails or hard, strong, thick nails.
granular mixture used as an abrasive, late 15c., from French émeri, from Old French esmeril, from Italian smeriglo, from Vulgar Latin *smyrilium, from Greek smyris "abrasive powder" used for rubbing and polishing, probably a non-Greek word, perhaps from a Semitic source. Emery board is attested from 1725.
The coloring process does not affect either the board's ability to file or its quality. The common tan emery boards are usually garnet, while most colored files are silicon carbide or aluminum oxide. Some technicians favor colored files so they know at a glance what file to choose for what purpose.
There are classic emery boards, which are inexpensive and easy to stock up on when you just need to get the job done. If you feel like you want to make more of an investment, glass and crystal options are washable and reusable, not to mention they tend to be gentler, particularly if your nails are peeling or splitting.
An emery board nail file, however, will wear out pretty quickly. It's hard to say exactly how many files an emery board will last but 5 to 15 files seems like a decent estimate. This will depend on how long your nails are how aggressively you file them.
Detailing with an emery board.
Again file gently and in one direction to avoid splitting or lifting caused by filing back and forth. This step is to essentially clean it up. Be extra careful not to dig your file and move it back and forth. This can permanently damage the connection between the nail and the nail plate.
Fine files (240-600 grit) are best for removing small bumps, ridges or discolorations and for shaping the free edge of natural nails. Ultra fine files (600-2400 grit) are used for buffing and shining all types of nails. Files come in a variety of materials including padded cushion files, glass, mylar and ceramic.
Prep Your Nails
But first, be sure to clean and dry your nails properly. It is crucial not to file nails while wet; Lin explains, “When we file wet nails, the nail absorbs a lot of water and becomes softer, [meaning] it can become quite easy to break the nail or over-file, especially if the client has longer nails.”
"Emery boards can shape nails faster, but because of its paper material, your nails can file down a lot without you noticing," adds Lin. Great for reworking your oval-shaped nails into square tips at the salon; maybe not so great for simple maintenance.
If you prefer to file your toenails (or just to smooth them out after you clip them), don't drag the file or emery board back and forth. Gently move the nail file in one direction across the top of your toenail until smooth and the appropriate length. Don't cut cuticles.
Professional nail files will feature numbers that tell the user how sharp or soft the file is; the higher the number, the softer the file and the lower the number, the sharper the file. If two numbers are used on a file, it means different sides of the file are different grits.
Strong Acrylic Nail File: Good for acrylic nail shaping and removing, the heavier grit 100/100 can help you to remove acrylic nail, gel polish, polygel and shape the length or nail type of hard gel you want.
As a general rule, if you're a regular nail filer, you should hold onto your nail file for no longer than three months.
Emery Boards
They are made from layers of cardboard paper and come in different grits. Sometimes they have numbers on them. Just remember that the higher the number, the smoother the file.
Both gentle and durable, crystal nail files are the best of both worlds, which a fine grit that makes them ideal if you're concerned about potentially causing damage to sensitive nails. "They are great for natural nails, as they minimize the risk of splitting or damaging the nail plate," says Hanna.
Grades. Emery is rated on the average grit size, glued to the backing. Common sizes are, from coarse to fine: 40, 46, 54, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 180, 220, 320, F, and FF. A 46 or 54 grade cloth is used on roughly filed work, while 220 to 320 grit cloth will give a good polish.
The purpose of wet sanding is to get an even surface finish after dry sanding. Dry sanding shapes the surface, while wet sanding removes the large scratches left by dry sanding.