South Dakota Nail Technician Practice Test

South Dakota adds its own Laws and Rules exam to the national theory test; all 51 answers cite state text.

In what condition must each item of equipment be at the time it is used on a client in a South Dakota salon?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the South Dakota Cosmetology Commission or the NIC. Bank checked October 14, 2026.

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All 51 questions

Infection control and safety rules 17

  • A client bled at the nail table and the station has been cleaned and disinfected. Which steps end South Dakota's procedure? ARSD 20:42:05:06(1)
  • A client's finger is bleeding and the technician has put gloves on. If appropriate, what does South Dakota's rule have her do with the injured area? ARSD 20:42:05:06(1)
  • A lamp, an electric file and a warmer share one nail station. What does South Dakota require of a salon's electric outlets? ARSD 20:42:04:04(3)
  • A new client sits down at a South Dakota nail table. What does the equipment rule say of the buffers and files used on her? ARSD 20:42:04:04(9)(f)
  • A South Dakota licensee knows she has a contagious disease and goes on practicing. What does the statute make of that? SDCL 36-15-56
  • A South Dakota nail technician cuts her own finger mid-service. After stopping the service, what does the rule have her do next? ARSD 20:42:05:06(2)
  • After each service, what does South Dakota require of the metal bits of an electric file? ARSD 20:42:05:01(19)
  • The equipment list for a South Dakota nail technician includes a covered waste container. How often is it emptied? ARSD 20:42:04:04(9)(d)
Show all 51 questions (43 more)

Infection control and safety rules, continued

  • In South Dakota all nail files are single-use items unless they are made of what? ARSD 20:42:05:01(20)
  • In South Dakota's cosmetology rules, what does "clean" mean? ARSD 20:42:01:01(3)
  • In what condition must each item of equipment be at the time it is used on a client in a South Dakota salon? ARSD 20:42:04:01(2)
  • South Dakota's rules define infection control as processes that consider all possible modes of transmission. Which processes does the definition list? ARSD 20:42:01:01(10)
  • What does South Dakota require of the sanding bands used on electric file mandrels? ARSD 20:42:05:01(19)
  • When may a ceramic nail file be used on more than one client in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:05:01(20)
  • When must the floor of a South Dakota work station and the surrounding area be made free of hair and other debris? ARSD 20:42:05:01(16)
  • Where is a clean and disinfected electric file kept between services in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:05:01(9)
  • Which ventilation must a South Dakota salon or booth have where nail technology services are offered? ARSD 20:42:04:01(6)(b)

Electric files, nail tools and equipment 9

  • A South Dakota licensee uses an electric file on enhancements. What must be displayed in public view of the salon or booth? ARSD 20:42:04:09.01
  • A South Dakota salon adds a nail technician. Which furniture does the rule list for her work on clients? ARSD 20:42:04:04(9)
  • An inspector asks whether a South Dakota licensee's electric file was made for human nails. What must the licensee do? ARSD 20:42:04:04.01(2)
  • Before operating an electric nail file, a South Dakota licensee must complete how many educational hours? ARSD 20:42:08:08
  • How must the attachments of an electric file or drill be used in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:04:04.01(3)
  • South Dakota lists equipment for each licensee doing nail work. Which item on the list is used to apply product? ARSD 20:42:04:04(9)(e)
  • What must be true of an electric file or drill used in a nail procedure in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:04:04.01(1)
  • What must the education for operating an electric nail file cover in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:08:08
  • Which callus tools are prohibited equipment in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:04:04.03(2)

Foot spas, paraffin, artificial nails and scope 13

  • After the bleach solution is flushed through a South Dakota whirlpool foot spa in the weekly cleaning, how long does it soak? ARSD 20:42:05:08(3)
  • At the end of each client service in South Dakota, the spa basin is drained, cleaned and disinfected. What is the last step? ARSD 20:42:05:08(1)
  • For South Dakota's weekly whirlpool foot spa cleaning, how much 5.25 percent bleach goes into the filled basin? ARSD 20:42:05:08(3)
  • In South Dakota's end-of-day foot spa cleaning, what is done with the screen after it is washed? ARSD 20:42:05:08(2)
  • Is applying and removing artificial nails within the practice of nail technology under South Dakota's statute? SDCL 36-15-17.2
  • Paraffin wax has been peeled from a client's skin. What does South Dakota require? ARSD 20:42:05:10(3)
  • South Dakota pedicure foot-spa stations are cleaned and disinfected after each client. Which part does the rule add by name? ARSD 20:42:05:08
  • South Dakota's daily whirlpool foot spa cleaning flushes the system with low sudsing soap and warm water. For how long? ARSD 20:42:05:08(2)
  • South Dakota's statute lists massaging, cleansing and exfoliating as nail technology on which parts of the body? SDCL 36-15-17.2
  • What does South Dakota require of the paraffin warmer used for hydrating services? ARSD 20:42:05:10(1)
  • What is used whenever paraffin wax is distributed to a client in South Dakota? ARSD 20:42:05:10(2)
  • Which nail enhancement product is on South Dakota's list of prohibited products? ARSD 20:42:04:08.01(1)
  • Which of these does South Dakota's statute say nail technology does NOT include? SDCL 36-15-17.2

Licensing, salons and examinations 12

  • A nail technician licensed elsewhere applies to South Dakota by reciprocity. How much of the school education may be earned through work experience? ARSD 20:42:03:06.01(2)
  • A South Dakota nail technician wants a salon in her house. How must it be divided from the residential area? ARSD 20:42:04:02(2)
  • A South Dakota salon offers nail technology and nothing else. Which license does its owner apply for? SDCL 36-15-51
  • An applicant from a foreign country seeks a South Dakota nail technician license. How many nail technician education hours must be completed at a school the commission approves? ARSD 20:42:03:06.03
  • For which reciprocity applicant does South Dakota waive the theory examination? ARSD 20:42:03:14
  • How does South Dakota's statute define a nail technician? SDCL 36-15-1
  • How many hours of education does an application for South Dakota's nail technician examination require? SDCL 36-15-17.1
  • How many of the 400 hours of South Dakota's minimum nail curriculum go to manicure, pedicure and massage manipulations of the hand, lower arm, feet and lower leg? ARSD 20:42:06:09.01(3)
  • How much working space does a South Dakota salon license require? ARSD 20:42:04:01(3)(a)
  • Of the 400 hours of South Dakota's minimum nail curriculum, how many go to artificial nails, including electric files, sculptured nails, tips, wraps and gel nails? ARSD 20:42:06:09.01(4)
  • What score must an examinee receive to qualify for a South Dakota license? South Dakota Cosmetology Commission, Examinations
  • Which examinations does the Commission list for a South Dakota nail technician license? South Dakota Cosmetology Commission, Licensing & Examinations

How this list was compiled: Examinations: the South Dakota Cosmetology Commission requires the NIC written theory examination for nail technology and its own South Dakota Cosmetology State Laws and Rules Examination, with a qualifying score of 75% or greater (https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/exams.aspx; https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/licensing_requirements.aspx). Outline of the theory examination: the National Nail Technology Theory Examination Candidate Information Bulletin of the National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology (NIC), effective September 1, 2025 (https://prov-testing.github.io/nic_cib/nail_technology_national_theory_english_2025.html): 110 items, of which 100 are weighted, 90 minutes, eight domains. Facts: Administrative Rules of South Dakota, article 20:42, and South Dakota Codified Laws chapter 36-15, on sdlegislature.gov, and the Commission's examination and licensing pages. Each question names its rule, section or page and links to it. Read 2026-10-14. Licence: Own work. Every question, wrong choice and explanation was written for this site from the public texts named. Nothing comes from the real examination, the sample questions in its bulletin, a practice product, a textbook or a prep course.

How it works

This unofficial South Dakota nail technician practice test asks what the State's own cosmetology laws and rules say. Not affiliated with the South Dakota Cosmetology Commission or the National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology (NIC).

Read the full guide

What South Dakota's examinations are

The Commission asks a qualifying score of 75% or greater on the NIC national written theory and on its own Laws and Rules examination. NIC's bulletin gives the theory test 110 questions, 100 of them scored, in 90 minutes. The Commission publishes no outline of its Laws and Rules Examination.

What this bank asks

Seventeen questions on infection control and safety, 9 on electric files, tools and equipment, 13 on foot spas, paraffin, artificial nails and scope, and 12 on licensing, the nail curriculum, salons and examinations. Anatomy, nail disorders, product chemistry and enhancement steps have no South Dakota text and are not asked; the national manicure theory test on this site covers them.

  • UV sterilizers and light boxes are prohibited as infection control devices (ARSD 20:42:04:04.03).
  • An electric nail file takes eight educational hours first, and the commission's certification is displayed (ARSD 20:42:08:08, 20:42:04:09.01).
  • Whirlpool foot spas are flushed with bleach or whirlpool disinfectant each week and soaked at least 6 hours (ARSD 20:42:05:08).

Questions and answers

How many hours is nail tech school in South Dakota?

400 hours. SDCL 36-15-17.1 asks for four hundred hours of education in a licensed cosmetology or nail school, or an apprenticeship, and the minimum curriculum gives 130 of them to artificial nails (ARSD 20:42:06:09.01).

Does South Dakota have a practical exam for nail technicians?

The Commission lists none. Its licensing and examinations pages name no practical examination for the nail technician license, only the national theory examination and the State's own.

Are these the real South Dakota nail technician exam questions?

No. Every question is our own, written from ARSD article 20:42, SDCL chapter 36-15 and the Commission's pages and linked to them. Nothing comes from either examination or the sample questions in NIC's bulletin.

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