Face painting: is it clean? I feel like so many people want to ask, but may not know how because they’re afraid of offending someone. I totally understand why cleanliness is an important factor when deciding whether to allow your child to have their face painted. So, I’m here to give you a glimpse into the techniques I use to keep my supplies safe and sanitary!
General Practices
For starters, here are some things you should know about my paints and my policies:
- The paints I use contain antimicrobial ingredients, are FDA approved, and are designed to be used safely on multiple faces.
- I do not paint over wounds, broken skin, or dirty faces (I keep face wipes on hand to clean up those messy little faces when necessary).
- I don’t paint children with contagious illnesses. I’ll give them a sticker or a temporary tattoo to take with them instead.
- Likewise, I will not work when I am contagious. If I become ill when I’m scheduled to face paint, I’ll do my best to arrange a substitute face painter.
On-the-Job
While I’m painting a group of kids, I use the following techniques to keep things sanitary:
- Clean water, stored in a spray bottle, is used to activate the paints. This means I’m not dipping brushes in dirty water, then back into the paints again, to moisten them.
- A clean sponge is used for each child, then the whole batch is double-washed after the event (more on that later).
- The rinse water contains a hypoallergenic solution to sanitize brushes. I bring lots of clean water with me, and change the rinse water frequently.
- I sanitize my hands regularly on-the-job.
After Hours
The wagon is all loaded up and the party is over, but there’s a lot that goes on behind-the-scenes after each job I do, including:
- EVERYTHING gets cleaned- brushes, sponges (a preliminary hand-washing, following by machine washing), stencils, and all containers are washed with soap and water.
- All linens, including table cloths, are washed after every use.
- Even the surfaces of the paints themselves are wiped clean.
- I’m careful to only use hypoallergenic, fragrance-free cleaners to avoid any skin irritants.
The entire process of cleaning all my supplies and laundering the linens can take several hours. There’s a lot of work that goes into making sure everything looks pristine when I set up my face painting station at events.
I’ve noticed people seem to really take an interest in face painting. I’ve even considered setting up more chairs since I often have a small “audience” watching me work. It’s fascinating stuff! So I hope you enjoyed this insider view of how we keep our things tidy.
With love,
Your Friendly, Neighborhood Face Painter!
Wonderworks 