We’ve all been there, right? Where do we get some nail polish on our clothes by accident? It’s devastating to watch as the nail polish slowly begins to crawl all over the cloth creating a stain.
Mishaps like this one can happen by accident all the time, so the next time you spill some of your nail polish on your clothes; here is an article on how to remove nail polish from clothes – just for you!
It’s always better to be equipped with the right knowledge so that you can take the appropriate actions timely; so keep reading along.
First of all, the first and the most important action you can take in such a crisis is to remain collected and think things through. Panicking and ending up taking decisions rashly can further damage your clothes.
Now that you know that you need to soothe your nerves and think with a calm mind, here are the rest of the course of actions that will help you in removing the nail polish stain.
What you need to Remove Nail polish
You probably already have all of the things at your disposal; that you will need to treat that nail polish stain. Some of them are:
- Clean cotton swabs
- Nail polish remover
- Rubbing alcohol
- The detergent used in laundry
- Paper napkins
- Towels
Removing Nail polish Stain: Steps
1. Excess Nail polish
Before anything, you need to immediately remove any excess nail polish from the spill. If the spill is still wet then you can just lift the excess nail polish by using a card, folded piece of paper, a ruler, a blunt knife, or a spoon. Be careful not to rub or smudge on the stain; because this will press the spill further into the fabric.
2. Treating the Stain
Afterward, mix some oil-based soap with water and dip a clean cotton swab in it. Start gently cleaning/ dabbing on the stain and work your way from the edge towards the middle. Remember to keep replacing your swab with clean ones because, if you continue to keep treating the stain even after the swab has soaked up color, you will be making the stain much bigger and more stubborn.
3. Rinsing
Once you have lifted a satisfactory amount of the nail polish, hold the stained area taut under a faucet. Now let the cool water flow directly through the stain for some seconds.
Removing Nail polish Stains from Clothes: Commercial Nail polish Remover
For more stubborn and critical stains, I would recommend it best to consider using a store-bought nail polish remover. This is how you can do it.
- Find a surface you can work on.
- Lay a towel or a handful of paper napkins on the surface.
- Lay your clothing on the towel, or the paper napkins.
- Dip a clean cotton swab into your nail polish remover and start to dab on the nail polish stain. The nail polish would have started to spread because of the nail polish remover; however, the towel or the paper napkins underneath will prevent it from spreading.
- Keep replacing the cotton swabs with clean ones once they start to get colored and, you should change the towel or the napkins too; if they soak up color as well.
- Once the stain has been fairly treated, rinse the spot well with running water and regular soap.
Removing Nail polish Stains from Clothes: Alcohol and Acetone
This technique is actually similar to the one using a nail polish remover. The only difference here is we are talking about acetone instead of a nail polish remover.
- Start by lifting off the excess nail polish using a card or the edge of a blunt knife.
- Lay a handful of clean paper napkins on a surface and place your clothing on it.
- Dip a clean cotton swab into the acetone and start gently dabbing the cotton swab on the stain. Work your way towards the middle of the stain from the edge of it. Remember to keep replacing the cotton swabs and the paper napkins with clean ones.
- When you see that the stain has been fairly removed; apply a bit of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab and remove any traces of the stain by dabbing the cotton swab on it.
Important Tips
- Before you apply any sort of cleaning agent on your fabric; be it soapy water or a nail polish remover, it is essential that you read the warnings and the instructions provided on the product label. Some fabrics might react adversely to certain cleaning agents and it is best to be safe.
- Test the cleaning agent that you are using on a smaller, much less visible section of your clothing.
- If the nail polish stain has dried already by the time you have discovered it; it is still possible to rescue your clothing by following the technique with the nail polish remover. The only difference this time will be, is that you need to repeat the step of dabbing with the nail polish remover quite a few more times. In addition, you can try to pull out the excess dried nail polish using tweezers.
- Do not make the mistake of putting your clothing with dried nail polish in the dryer.
- If it is a white clothing on which you have spilled nail polish, you should apply hydrogen peroxide to treat the stain carefully and then wash the item as you would regularly do.
Closing Thoughts
Nail polish is designed in such a way that it is supposed to stick onto anything it is spilled on. However, with the right materials and the proper technique; it can be simple and quick to remove nail polish stains from your favorite clothes. Just make sure to read the warnings on the product label first and stay calm.
I hope my article on how to remove nail polish stains from clothes was helpful to you.
Best of luck!
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