#Care
Stainless steel resists corrosion. It is not immune to it, and most instruments that die early are not worn out — they are corroded at the pivot, which is the one place people forget to dry. This section covers what actually extends the life of a tool: drying the joint rather than just the blades, which oil to use and which to keep away, why a closed case in a bathroom is worse than an open drawer in a bedroom, and what disinfection does and does not do to an edge. None of it takes longer than ten seconds a day. Instruments kept this way stay in service for decades, which is the whole argument for buying a good one — and why our sets ship in cases.
The thin band of dead tissue that the nail carries out from under the skin fold. It is the part that can be removed — unlike the living fold behind it.
The part of the nail that has grown past the fingertip and is no longer attached to the bed — the only part that is actually being cut or filed.
A file whose abrasive is etched into tempered glass rather than glued on. It sheds no grit, washes clean, and keeps its cut for years.
A strip of skin, not nail, that has torn away beside the nail. Cut it flush — pulling it takes living tissue with it.
A nail edge pressing into the skin fold beside it. Most often started by cutting the corner down — and made worse by cutting it again.
The finishing treatment that builds the chromium oxide layer on stainless steel. It is what makes an instrument stainless — and it can be damaged.