Wow, these are great responses – THANK YOU! My internet has been down this morning (again), so I’m just now able to log on. (It’s 1:30 in the afternoon here, but that will be 9:30pm on the US East Coast.)
As far as studs are concerned, I think it would be safe to offer surgical steel, and thank you for the advice about making doubly sure it’s nickel-free. If I do this, I’ll probably also offer sterling silver and gold-filled, as they are relatively affordable. Cat, my sister is like you, can only wear 14KT or higher gold, still even to this day (she’s 42). If the service is popular, I may invest in some gold piercing studs, too.
You’ve all expressed the feeling I sort of had, that I should offer piercing for the lobe only, no place that has cartilage. Like many of you, I’ve heard of horror stories with upper ear piercings, plus that weird little part that sticks out right in front of your ear’s opening. I’ll stay away from there.
Mary, you’ve got me giggling about swallowing gum! That was great advice, THANK YOU for it!!! I totally know what you mean about using 2 piercing guns at one time, and I really wish I could do that, but often I’m the only one in my shop. Turns out I have a couple of those traveler’s neck pillows, so I’ll be sure to use one.
Should I obtain a stool for the customer to sit on while I’m piercing their ears? I actually have 4 folding chairs that we use all the time for various things in the shop, I could very easily seat the customer in one, and sit in another myself to put me at the right height for piercing. Do you think that would be okay, or do I really need to find a stool? (No, I can’t run out to Wal-Mart and pick one up, the only store we have here is a very small base exchange, and they don’t carry stools. So I’d probably have to order one online.)
Most of the brand-name piercing guns I’ve found from a simple eBay search include release forms. I’ll also search online for other forms, and be sure that the version I end up using is comprehensive. Mary, I like your idea of listing the materials the studs are made of on the form, so customers have it right in front of them and sign to indicate they’re aware of the materials.
Sheila, I live on a US Army base in the Marshall Islands. The Army leases the entire island (2-1/2 x ½ miles – tiny!) from the Marshallese government. There’s no such thing as a health department here. The only organization that might have an issue with my offering an ear piercing service is the Army weenies. Let me ask this, is it common in the States that you have to have some sort of formal training or certification in order to pierce ears? When I was in college in FL, I worked in a mall store that offered piercing, and I pierced ears for customers with only the store manager showing me how it’s done. No formal training and definitely no certification, but that was, ahem, 25 years ago. Maybe I should do a Google search for ear piercing certification or something like that, and see what I come up with?
Anyway, I suppose I could go to the Army organization here and ask about approval to pierce ears in my shop. It’s unfortunate, though, that I’m just as likely to get a weenie who wants to make his mark on the world and throw his new-found weight around by saying now just because he can, as I am to get a reasonable person. Which is why I’m thinking I might just ask for forgiveness later if it turns out I’m violating some obscure regulation, rather than trying to get permission now, kwim?
Sheila, that’s good advice to check ID’s to make sure the person signing the release is 18. Our island is VERY small; around 1,500 people live here, so we tend to know each other pretty well. So chances are good that if a teenager comes in and wants their ears pierced, I’ll know if the adult with them is actually their parent. I don’t have a copy machine in the shop, and since we don’t have cars here, most people don’t carry their driver’s licenses with them, instead we carry our military ID’s. Which I wouldn’t want to copy anyway because they have social security numbers on them, which opens up another whole can of worms I would sooner see kept closed. But I LOVE your story about the tattoo parlor – that’s priceless!
THANK YOU all for your advice – it’s exactly what I needed!!!