The short answer
| Schedule | When | Which units | What it involves |
|---|---|---|---|
| After each client, (10)(b) | Between every client | Every unit | Drain and remove visible debris; clean with soap or detergent, rinse with clean water and drain; disinfect with an EPA registered disinfectant as its label directs, surfaces wet ten minutes or the label’s time |
| Nightly, (10)(c) | At closing | Whirlpool foot spas, air-jet basins, pipe-less foot spas and other circulating spas | Drain and remove debris; clean with soap or detergent, rinse and drain; fill with clean water and the disinfectant and circulate it for the entire contact time; drain, rinse and air dry. A unit with a filter screen, inlet jets or other removable parts takes them out first, clears the debris behind them, scrubs and rinses them |
| Weekly | No such schedule | None | Washington’s rule has no weekly cleaning |
Each cleaning is a row on the Department’s BC-638-005 with its date and time, written at the time.
Two schedules, not three
If you have run a shop in Texas or California, you are used to a third tier: a deep clean every week or every other week with a soak measured in hours. Washington does not have one. WAC 308-20-110(10) sets the after-client cleaning in (b) and the nightly cleaning in (c), then moves on to the record in (d) and to simple basins in (e). There is no weekly subsection, no overnight soak, and no box for one on the form. A Washington sheet with a “Weekly” row on it is logging a cleaning the rule never asked for; harmless, but it tells an inspector the shop is running another state’s schedule. ReadyPedi’s Washington profile offers no weekly row and refuses one if asked, in these words: “Washington's rule has no weekly cleaning; log the After Each Client or Nightly cleaning on its own.”
After each client
The one that happens all day. Under (10)(b) the water is drained and visible debris removed, the surfaces are cleaned with soap or detergent, rinsed with clean water and drained, and then the disinfecting sentence is the rule’s own: “Disinfect the surface with an EPA registered disinfectant according to the manufacturer’s directions on the label. Surfaces must remain wet with disinfectant for ten minutes or the time stated on the label.” Keep the surfaces wet the full time, ten minutes or the time the label states, and read the label rather than guessing which. Every unit takes this cleaning. Each one is a row with its date and time. The steps in the rule’s order are in our guide to how to clean a pedicure foot spa in Washington.
Nightly
“Nightly” is the rule’s own word, in (10)(c), and the procedure is written for “whirlpool foot spas, air-jet basins, ‘pipeless’ foot spas and other circulating spas”: at closing, drain the unit and remove debris, clean the surfaces with soap or detergent, rinse and drain, fill the basin with clean water and the EPA registered disinfectant, turn the unit on to circulate it for the entire contact time on the label, then drain, rinse and air dry; a unit with a filter screen, inlet jets or other removable parts also has them taken out, cleared of debris, scrubbed and rinsed before the basin is cleaned. It is in addition to the day’s after-client cleanings, not instead of the last one, and it is its own row. The form has no Nightly box, so mark the closing row “Nightly” beside the time (our guide to the Washington BC-638-005 log explains why); ReadyPedi prints it that way.
The clause reads “Nightly:” and nothing more; it names no condition about use. Read plainly, the nightly cleaning is owed at closing on every circulating unit. ReadyPedi expects the Nightly row on a unit that logged a client that day, which is the day the row would otherwise be missing from; on a unit that sat idle, running the procedure and logging it is the safer reading and costs ten minutes.
Simple basins and reusable liners
Subsection (10)(e) covers “simple basins and reusable liners (no circulation)”, and the procedure it gives is shorter: drain and remove debris, scrub with a clean brush and soap or detergent, rinse and drain, disinfect with the surfaces wet ten minutes or the label’s contact time, drain, rinse and air dry. It has no nightly procedure of its own; the nightly steps in (c) are written for circulating units, and a basin with no pump has nothing to circulate. (e) states no cadence of its own. The plain reading, the one ReadyPedi uses and the one its Washington page states, is that a simple basin or reusable liner is cleaned after each client and takes no nightly cleaning. How the Department applies (e) in the field is not something the rule’s text settles; if your inspector reads it differently, do what they say and log it. In ReadyPedi a unit set as a Basin offers After Each Client alone, and refuses a Nightly with the rule’s own cite: “A simple basin or reusable liner takes the After Each Client cleaning only; the nightly procedure (WAC 308-20-110(10)(c)) is for circulating units.”
Disposable liners are not in the Washington rule at all. A liner does not exempt the basin under it from (e) in anything the text says, and what the Department expects of a disposable liner is not in the sources behind this guide; ask before you rely on one.
Both cleanings are recorded
The record clause, (10)(d): “A record must be made of the date and time of each cleaning and disinfecting as required by (c) and (d) of this subsection. This record must be made at the time of cleaning and disinfecting.” The “(c) and (d)” is the rule pointing at its nightly clause and at itself, a drafting slip; the plain reading is that every cleaning and disinfecting, after each client and nightly, gets a row with its date and time, written at the time. Not at closing from memory: “at the time” is the rule’s phrase, and it is tighter than Texas’s “at or near the time”.
If you ran a shop in Texas
Texas has three schedules (after each client, end of day, every other week), a Not Used entry for a quiet day, a department-approved form, and sixty days of retention. Washington has two schedules, no not-used entry, a form the rule does not name, no retention period, and a record made “at the time” rather than “at or near” it. The after-client and closing cleanings map one to one; the bi-weekly soak and the Not Used row do not come with you.
Where it is logged
On the Department’s BC-638-005, which the form guide linked above walks through column by column: date, time, the disinfectant used, printed name and signature. One sheet per unit is a recommendation, not the rule’s words, but keep to it. ReadyPedi logs either cleaning at the chair in three taps, stamps the time, and prints BC-638-005 for any unit and date range. The rule next to the app is on the Washington page.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a weekly or bi-weekly deep clean in Washington?
No. WAC 308-20-110(10) has two cleanings, after each client in (b) and nightly in (c). There is no weekly subsection and no box for one on the Department’s form.
Does the nightly cleaning replace the last client’s cleaning?
No. The last client’s after-client cleaning is done and logged, then the nightly procedure is run at closing and logged as its own row.
Does a pipe-less foot spa take the nightly cleaning?
Yes. (10)(c) names “pipeless” foot spas among the circulating units, and (10)(a) defines a foot spa as “any basin using circulating water”.
Do I clean a simple basin nightly?
The rule’s nightly procedure is written for circulating units, and (e) gives a basin its own shorter procedure with no nightly step. The plain reading is after each client only. If your inspector asks for more, do it and log it.
What about a day a chair had no clients?
The rule has no not-used entry and the form has no box for one, so nothing is written for a quiet day. The nightly clause itself names no condition, so whether a circulating unit that saw no clients still takes the nightly cleaning is an open reading; until it is settled, running it and logging it costs ten minutes and settles nothing against you.
This guide explains Washington’s foot-spa cleaning schedules in plain language and is not legal advice. The Washington State Department of Licensing’s rules are the authority on Washington foot-spa cleaning and recordkeeping requirements.