How To Get Nail Polish Off Wood Cloth and Carpet

When I was five years old I decided to give myself my first manicure…without my mom knowing…on her new white carpet…with red nail polish. Yes, you can guess how well that went. Needless to say my mom was horrified to find my messy polish crime scene which I thought I could fix by sprinkling baby powder over. (Hey, at five years old it seemed like a great solution.) While my blog post twenty years later won’t do much for my mom I hope it will help you if this happens in your home, whether the mess is from your child or an accidental spill you had. These easy polish stain fixes are from bellasugar.com.

Removing Polish From Carpet
First of all, what color is your carpet? If it’s light or white, using a non-acetone polish remover is probably your best bet. If it’s dark and you’re not sure about whether the dye might interact with it, try pouring on hair spray or rubbing alcohol and then blotting the polish up with a sponge or paper towels. Don’t give up if the polish just seems to keep coming — you want to get every last bit out.

Removing Polish From Cloth
Probably one of the most common polish problems, this is also a tricky one. Nail polish remover can interact with some dyes and fabrics (it’ll actually melt acetate), so perform a spot test before you use it. If you use remover on your fabric, make sure to launder it directly afterward. And if remover isn’t an option, you can always try hair spray. Dry cleaning solvent can also usually remove polish, so if you can’t get it out at home, don’t be afraid to run it down to your cleaners.

Removing Polish From Wood
First rule: don’t use nail polish remover on wood. It actually ruins finishes and leaves new, maybe even worse looking, stains. Don’t panic, though, because there’s actually a really easy way to fix the polish-on-wood problem. Just spritz your polish puddle down with plenty of hair spray (we use Aqua Net), let it sit for about 20 seconds, and then wipe it off. You might need to repeat the process a few times, but it’s far, far preferable to having splotchy furniture.