Grit is the only number that matters on a nail file, and it is the one most people guess at. Silkline's range at ProHair covers nine file products spanning 80 to 400 grit, plus four buffing and shine blocks. This guide matches every one of them to the job it is actually for.
How grit numbers work
The number is the abrasive particle count. Lower is coarser and removes more material. A double number like 100/180 means one side of the file is 100 and the other is 180.
- 80–100 — shaping and shortening acrylic or hard gel. Too aggressive for a natural nail.
- 150–180 — the professional default for shaping a natural free edge.
- 240 — smoothing and refining before polish; safe on thin nails.
- 320–400 — finishing. Barely removes material; it evens the surface.
- Blocks — not for shaping at all. They smooth, buff and then shine the nail plate.
The Silkline files, grit by grit
Colour-Coded Cushion Files — five grits, $4.99
One product, five variants, and the colour is the grit. Blue is 80/80, red is 100/100, green is 100/180, white is 180/180, lavender is 240/240. Individually wrapped, 50 per box. If you stock one file product, stock this one — the colour coding means nobody at a busy station has to squint at printed numbers mid-service.
Best for: blue and red on enhancements, green and white on natural nails, lavender for smoothing.
White Cushion Nail Files — 100/100 and 100/180, $4.99
Same cushion construction, but with white grit. The reason is contamination: dark grit sheds dark dust, and that dust can discolour gel and acrylic while you are working. White grit will not contaminate those compounds to the same extent. Individually wrapped, 50 per box.
Best for: anyone working gel or acrylic where a clean finish matters.
Boomerang Nail Files — 100/180 black and 180/180 zebra, $4.99
Curved rather than straight. The curve lets you file in toward the cuticle and along the sidewall without the corner of a straight file digging into skin. Black is the coarser 100/180; zebra is 180/180.
Best for: cuticle-area filing and sidewall work.
Wood Core Nail Files — 400/400 and 240/240 garnet, $4.99
Thin, with a wood core rather than a foam cushion, so they flex less and give more feedback. The 400/400 is the gentlest file in the range; the 240/240 garnet is the step before it.
Best for: thin, weak or peeling natural nails.
Zebra Nail File — straight 180/180, $4.99
The plain straight-file version of the zebra grit. Same 180/180, no curve. If your habit is a straight file, this is the natural-nail default.
Blue Cushion Nail File — 120/320, $4.99
The odd one out, and useful for it: a coarse 120 side and an aqua ultra-fine 320 side on the same file. Shape on one side, refine on the other, without picking up a second file.
Best for: a one-file finish on a natural nail.
Mini Shorty Cushion File — 240/240, $4.99 single or $12.83 for 50
Purse-size. The only file in the range genuinely sold as a single unit as well as a bulk pack, which makes it the honest entry point for someone who does not want a box of fifty.
High Gloss File — $4.99
Not a shaping file. It is a hygienic finishing and polishing file — the final pass that brings a shine up on a bare nail plate.
Glass Nail File — 12 per drum, $58.20
Two-sided, 3 mm thick, pointed tip, and sterilizable — the only file here you can disinfect and reuse indefinitely. The price is a drum of twelve; per file it is under $5, and each one outlives hundreds of disposables. A glass file also seals the free edge rather than tearing it, which reduces peeling on brittle nails.
Best for: stations that would rather sanitize than restock.
The blocks: smooth, buff, shine
Blocks are a different job from files. They are used flat on the nail plate, not on the free edge.
- Hygienic Buffer (three-sided), $4.99 — the sequence is printed into the block: smooth with the black side, buff with the white, polish with the grey.
- Hygienic Sanding Blocks, $4.99 — two grit sets. 100/180/180 for medium-to-fine work, 320/320/320 for fine-to-extra-fine.
- Slim Buffing Block, $6.32 — double-sided 120/120, 7.4 × 3.3 × 1.3 cm. The narrow one, for getting in close.
- High Gloss Block, $4.99 — the shine step. Nothing else.
Three worked sequences
Natural nail, no polish
Shape with the Colour-Coded green 100/180 or the Wood Core 240/240. Smooth with the Sanding Block 320/320/320. Finish with the High Gloss Block. Three passes, about $15 of stock, and no polish required.
Acrylic or hard gel
Bulk-shape with the Colour-Coded blue 80/80 or red 100/100. Refine with a White Cushion 100/180 so you are not shedding dark dust onto the enhancement. Detail the cuticle area with a black Boomerang 100/180. Finish with the Slim Buffing Block.
Thin, peeling nails
Nothing coarser than 240. Shape with the Wood Core 240/240 garnet, refine with the Wood Core 400/400, and stop. Skip the buffing block entirely — repeated buffing is what thinned the plate in the first place.
Replacing versus sanitizing
Every cushion, boomerang, wood-core and zebra file here is a disposable, individually wrapped, single client, discarded after use. That is what the 50-per-box pack count is for and it is why they cost cents each. The glass file is the reusable exception: wash with soap and water, then disinfect. The blocks sit in between — they are hygienic and washable, but they wear, and a worn block does nothing.
Shop Silkline nail files or browse the full Silkline range at ProHair.