How To Clean Up Nail Polish On Carpet

Below I've compiled tips and tricks for how to clean up and remove nail polish on carpet, such as when you've accidentally spilled or dripped some while applying it to your nails.


It is never a happy moment when you spill or drip nail polish onto an area of your home, but I know there is hardly a bigger groan than when it happens on your carpeting, and unfortunately it can happen there quite easily because many of us sit on the floor to paint our nails, including our toenails, and accidents happen.

Once you've done it once I bet you'll never skip the little time it takes to take the precautions necessary to protect your carpet from harm when using polish again, but what about how to fix it this time?

There are lots of potential methods for cleaning up these spills and drips, but I will be honest that this is a difficult stain to remove and nothing is guaranteed to work.

Plus, you can do a lot of harm to your carpet if you're not careful, such as taking out the color in the carpet itself, or even harming the fibers.

Therefore, I urge you to test any stain removal method you decide to use in an inconspicuous area first, to make sure the method chosen doesn't harm your carpet.

A couple more of my own tips before we get down to the suggestions and methods I've got listed below.

The methods I have found that work best are those which have you act quickly to deal with the spill or drip, and often they involve acetone or nail polish remover to clean it up.

Fortunately, if you're already doing your nails you probably already have acetone or nail polish remover nearby when the accident occurs.

Make sure you don't smear or grind the nail polish deeper into the carpet fibers with your stain removal technique, so always blot gently, never scrub.

Also don't re-transfer the nail polish back onto the carpet as you remove it with a paper towel or white cloth, so frequently change to a clean spot on your blotting cloth to avoid those problems!

Now scroll on down to see the tips already compiled, along with some videos to help you understand the proper gentle blotting technique to use when working on this tough stain.

Nail Polish Carpet Stain Removal Tips

Below is a video showing nail polish carpet stain removal tips.

I really like this video a lot, because it visually shows basically the same techniques already described by me in my nail polish stain removal guide, which you can see here.

The basic steps from the video include:

1. Blot up as much of the nail polish as possible.

Try to deal with the spill or drip before it dries.

However, if the stain is already dry wet it with a spray of water, and then use a plastic knife to scrape away as much of the polish as possible.

2. Wet a cotton ball with nail polish remover, and blot onto the carpet.

Hint: If the nail polish remover contains acetone you should first test it in an inconspicuous part of your carpet, to make sure the acetone does not harm or discolor your carpet fibers.

Acetone {Referral Links}

3. Hopefully the stain is now gone, and either way the next step is to blot at the place the spot was on the carpet with a solution of dishwashing liquid and water, which will help get rid of the remover in the carpet.

4. If the stain is still visible you can next blot at it with a cotton ball dipped in 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Hint: Again, test this first in an inconspicuous part of your carpet because hydrogen peroxide can bleach some carpets.

Here is the video for full details:



Photo by dreamglow pumpkincat210, from Flickr CC

Removing Nail Polish Stains From Carpet

Here's another video suggesting several ways to remove nail polish stains from carpet.

The video below suggests using hydrogen peroxide, a paste of baking soda and water, a stain remover formulated to remove nail polish, or non-acetone based nail polish remover to get out these stains from your carpet.

Although the video suggests using only non-acetone nail polish stain remover, I recommend using acetone for nail polish stain removal, assuming your carpet isn't wool. It works well for the process, generally.

In the video the man used one of the Carbona Stain Devils to help remove the carpet stain.

Carbona Stain Devils are a brand of stain remover that comes in many formulations, each of which is designed to remove a different type or group of stains. It is Stain Devil #1 that is designed to remove nail polish stains, along with gum and glue.



Please note that although the person in the video suggests using this product for carpet, it is designed for washable and dry clean only fabrics. Therefore, use it on a carpet only with caution.

So, those are the tips I've gathered so far for removing nail polish from carpet. I'd love to hear even more suggestions from you though, if you've also found either a product or method that is effective.

You can submit your own tip here, and I'll add the best ones to the site.



Photo by katie@!

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Stain Removal Tips & Tricks For Busy Moms

Carpet Stain Removal Tips

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