Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

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Immersion with pedicure

30 June, 2016
Question:

I recently got a pedicure, and it is perfectly intact without any chipping. Is it possible to keep it on when I immerse in the mikvah tonight? It feels wasteful to remove it and get a new pedicure, and I usually like to keep them for weeks, before they chip.


Answer:

Yes, in this case you may immerse with the pedicure because you desire to keep it, it is fully intact, and you plan to keep it for weeks. Where women are less meticulous about toenails than fingernails, halacha allows for extra leeway in immersing with a pedicure. There is a range of halachic opinion on this matter, so you may wish to call the mikveh in advance of immersion to clarify its policy.

In the future, it would be best to schedule pedicures for shortly after immersion, so that you could remove the nail polish before mikveh and immerse without polish.

Please see our page on Nails and Mikveh for a more detailed discussion, and feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

This response was updated on 15 January, 2024.

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