It’s easy to get lost in the sea of nail files available on the market. What do all these grit numbers mean? Here are the nail file grit chart and guide that will help you choose a perfect nail file for your needs with confidence.
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With a file or buffer, you can also make your natural nails smooth if they have ridges or remove any extra material you’ve placed on the nails while creating nail overlays and extension.
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So if you see two numbers with a slash in the description of a nail file then this tool has two surfaces with different levels of coarseness.
For example, 180/240, where one side is coarser than the other, and you can use this file for two purposes: filing the natural nails in shape with one side and buffing them before gel polish application with the other.
80 grit is too coarse even for fake nails. Only use it for preliminary shaping and filing and for reducing the length of artificial nails.
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150 grit, for example, is a great level of coarseness to smooth out the surface of the acrylic, gel, and polygel nails.
Move the file from the cuticles towards the free edge when you’re buffing the surface of your artificial nails. Avoid touching the skin.
Using a slightly higher grit, like 180, on artificial nails will take too long to file them and may cause an unpleasant heating and burning sensation. That’s because you need to do more filing motions with this kind of file.
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To make it clear, gel polish doesn’t require filing or buffing. However, harder gel polish materials like rubber base gel or hard base coats may need some buffing when you use them as an overlay or as a builder gel.
Use a 240 grit nail file to buff the shine off the nail plate. This will roughen it slightly and that will help gel polish, acrylics, polygels, and gels adhere better.
This kind of buffing is not intended to polish your nails to smoothness. If you polish the nails instead of roughening them before applying any coating or extensions no materials will ever stick to them.
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That’s why when you are buffing the shine off your nails always only buff them once. Never buff the same spot twice.
Just like you need to do with artificial nails, try moving the nail file from the cuticle area towards the tip of the nail when you’re buffing the surface of your natural nails to avoid filing the cuticles and the surrounding skin.
You can also use a 240 grit file for the finishing touches on your artificial nails and for smoothing them to perfection.
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Buffing blocks and nail files with 400 grit and above are micro-abrasive and are good for buffing and polishing the nails to smoothness.
They should mostly be used when you aren’t planning to coat your natural nails with anything. Because no material will ever stick to a super-smooth nail.
1000 and up are the softest nail file grit numbers on the market. These files and buffing blocks are used for finishing off the smoothing process on fake nails and for giving your natural nails a glossy shine without any polishes or top coats.
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I hope that this nail file grit chart and this guide clear any confusion you may have and helps you choose the perfect nail file or buffing block for creating gorgeous nails.
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Have you ever bought nail files at the store without looking closely and wondered why sometimes they felt different from ones you’ve purchased previously?
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Or have you seen your nail technician using a nail file at the salon and wondered why sometimes it feels heavier and sharper than others?
The answer is simple: it’s because there’s more than one nail file grit. That’s right! Like sandpaper, nail files come in a wide variety of grits for various reasons.
After all, you don’t want to use the same nail file you used to remove your gel polish to shape your natural nails. Why? Read on to find out!
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In this article, we’re taking a closer look at nail file grits, what they mean, what they’re for, and how to choose the right kind for you.
If you look closely when you buy a nail file, you’ll notice that most files have a number associated with them. You may have seen some in the past and wondered what these numbers meant.
These numbers are the grit on nail files — the size of the abrasive particles on the file and nail file coarseness.
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More specifically, the grit number refers to the size of each abrasive grain and references how many abrasive particles fit per square inch of the nail file.
The lower the grit number, the rougher the grit, while the higher the number, the finer the grit. Knowing a file’s grit can help you determine which file you need for various nail care purposes.
Now that you know what nail file grits are, the next step is understanding that one file doesn’t necessarily have just one grit.
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Some files have different grits on each side for various purposes. But some have the same. If both file numbers are the same, like 100/100 grit, this means both sides have the same 100 grit.
On the other hand, if the numbers are different, this means the sides have different grits. A file with the number 120/180 grit means that one side is softer than the other.
To give you a better understanding of nail file grit levels, here’s an easy cheat sheet. Grit numbers can be as low as 60 and as high as 240.
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Although 60 grit is far too coarse for the natural nail, this is usually only used for removing calluses and dead skin cells from the feet.
Meanwhile, 240 is often the most recommended as the best to use for natural nails to help shape the free edge and walls. This is the one that may also be used (gently) on the nail plate.
Based on the chart above, you can gauge which grit is best for you to use for various purposes. But what is the rule of thumb when it comes to choosing grits for acrylic and natural nails?
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The most important thing to remember is that natural nails aren’t as thick or strong as acrylic nails. You can use coarser grits on acrylics, but you should not use them on the natural nail or you might cause breakage and damage.
The best nail file grit for acrylic nails is from 80 to 150. If you opt for higher grits, you may have to exert a little more pressure on acrylic nails, but this will work better for your natural nails and are safer.
The best nail file grit for natural nails is 180 to 240. It’s important to use a higher grit so you don’t damage your nails.
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Now that you know all the different types of grits and their uses, the next question you might have is, does the shape of the file matter?
In the market, there are several different nail file shapes and sizes. Do these matter when selecting the best file for you? And if so, what is the best nail file shape to look for?
This shape is good for filing the side walls of the nail all the way to the tip. It’s a go-to shape to achieve classic slim nails.
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This is ideal for use on the cuticle area as it is rounded and can help you avoid harsh lines. Plus, the shape is good to help prevent over-exerting your wrist.
An excellent happy medium between straight and banana, this size allows you to file long strokes on the nail walls while having a curve to fit the cuticles too.
An oval is rounded and is good for the bottom of the nail and the cuticles. It’s also thicker, which means it can cover more area.
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These are basic recommendations, but the truth is that you can use every file for almost every purpose. At the end of the day, the best one for you is up to your personal preference and which shape suits you best.
The most commonly used nail tools are nail files and nail buffers. Are these the same? After all, the nail buffer also has a rough side. The answer is… no, they aren’t the same!
Simply put, one is used to file the nails, and the other is used to buff and polish the nails. And the way they are made is specifically so they can serve their own purpose.
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A nail file is a tool with a hard or stiff core to help file down the nail’s free edge, shape the natural
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