Nail Polish: How to Remove from Fabric

The ideal way to remove a stain from any surface is to clean it before it becomes dried in. However, that is not always possible due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, your three year old daughter decides to give herself a manicure after waking up alone in the middle of the night. Well, very little bright blue nail polish actually makes it onto her nails. Most lands all over your light colored couch cushions and maybe some splatters onto your beige carpeting. Then is hidden with a blanket. By the time you notice it everything is dried to your nearly new furniture.

The natural reaction may be to go ballistic and start budgeting for new furniture and carpeting. Stop right there! Step back and think logically. There is always a way to get rid of any stain. You just need the right advice and the proper products.

That's where we come in. We will explain to you everything you need to know about removing that pretty blue or whatever color it is nail polish right out of your furniture. This article will also include any products to avoid that were tested and failed. You can apply these tips to other fabrics also. Curtains should be relatively easy to clean in the manner with the best results.

The first thing we did was get on the Internet and search for solutions as you have. There were very little results and some of them just seemed silly or common sense. Some also sounded very likely to remove the color right from your furniture.

The first thing we tried was regular soap and water. We let the stain sit for fifteen minutes and began scrubbing with an old toothbrush. This method had absolutely no affect. It should be discarded if seen elsewhere. However, it may be productive if the stain is still wet or damp.

We also tried shaving cream. Shaving cream has absolutely no effect on the stain either. However, it does leave your furniture smelling very nice. We only tried Skintimate shave gel because it was the only brand readily available. We also let the stain set for fifteen minutes before scrubbing. Other brands may have a different result.

We then decided to give up on other's advise and try whatever we have readily available. In hopes we would be able to save our beloved furniture. We tried ammonia first. This will not lift the stain and leaves a rather strong odor behind.

Then we finally found a method that began to work. First we soaked the stain with very hot water. We let this sit for a few minutes, then added more. Then we poured Oxyclean all over the stain. We used extra hot water to form a paste. We also let that set for around ten minutes. We then took the toothbrush and began to scrub the stain. After a few minutes we began to notice a lightening in the color. We kept that up until the stain was completely white.

Now, you may be thinking. That just left a different color stain. Which is true. Then we had another idea. We rinsed all of the oxyclean off of the fabric and found a spot on the back of the couch to do a test patch. We took small amounts of nail polish remover and rubbed it in. It did not remove the color. (I do advise testing a small area of your own couch before proceeding. All materials are different and some may be faded.) Then we poured the remover on the white areas of the couch. We took a wet rag and began blotting the stains. Within a few application the stain was completely removed. We then removed the cushion covers and washed and dried them. They look brand new.