If you accidentally spilled nail polish on your carpet, don’t worry; we can help! We’ll walk you through a tried-and-true technique to remove nail polish from the carpet with the help of our professional guide.
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Is the Nail Polish Wet Or Dry?
When you notice a nail polish stain, immediately clean it up. It becomes more challenging to escape the situation the longer it takes to take hold. If your nail polish is wet, dab the excess spill with a paper towel until nothing comes off. If you don’t want the polish to spread and exacerbate the stain, don’t rub or wipe at it. With a dull knife, remove as much dried nail polish as you can.
7 Methods for Removing Nail Polish from Carpet
Use White Vinegar to Clean the Carpet
Apply copious amounts of white vinegar to the offending nail polish stain. The smell will be absolutely bizarre, yes. Blech, vinegar, and nail polish.
On top of the stain, place a cloth damp with vinegar. Yep, more vinegar.
Give everything a chance to settle for ten minutes.
Use the rag that has been saturated in vinegar to remove the stain.
Use a clean, damp rag to scrub the mark (yes, you can do it right now). If the smell really offends you, try combining a drop of dish soap, such as Dawn, with warm water and dabbing at the (former!) stain, then rinse with clean water.
If the foul vinegar/nail polish mixture hasn’t completely offended you, try some Febreze Fabric Spray, which comes in a variety of fresh scents other than vinegar or nail polish.
Allow the area to completely dry by air.
Mix It Up With a Baking Soda & Ginger Ale Stain Remover
Put a generous amount of baking soda on the nail polish stain and completely cover it.
Apply ginger ale to the area.
Spend about 10 minutes letting the solution sit.
Use a clean, damp cloth to blot the stain until it disappears.
Allow the area to completely dry by air.
Anything leftover from the baking soda should be vacuumed up.
Repurpose Ready-Made Cleaning Products to Spot Treat
It is possible to spot treat the stain with a number of commercial cleaning products that are renowned for removing nail polish from carpets. Be sure to adhere to the label instructions as with all widely accessible cleaning products. Most require a final clean rinse with a damp rag.
• Window cleaner with ammonia
• Adhesive remover
• Dry cleaning solvent
Carefully Use a Bit of Nail Polish Remover
Okay, so first make sure to test this technique on a discrete area of carpet or rug (think the corner or under a piece of furniture that is placed in a strategic location), as it might result in discoloration.
When treating recent stains, nail polish remover performs best.
You must use a nail polish remover that doesn’t contain acetone or has no dye.
Polish can be removed from light or white carpeting most effectively with nail polish remover.
Nail polish should come off by dabbing or blotting at the stain with a rag that has been dipped in nail polish remover.
Make sure the nail polish remover doesn’t soak the carpet completely. Apply it only directly to the stain.
Blot, don’t scrub.
If you don’t have a nail polish remover on hand, why are you even painting your nails in the first place? Bold move.), you can use rubbing alcohol in place of it and follow the same instructions.
Nail Polish Can’t Stand Up to Hairspray.
To start, make sure your hairspray contains a lot of alcohol because that will work the best to get the nail polish out of the carpet. Alcohol-free hairspray will not remove stains; rather, it will make your carpet even stickier because it contains nail polish.
Actually, stains that have already dried respond best to hairspray. Make sure to use the knife trick to scrape off as much dried nail polish as you can and vacuum up the dried bits before spraying on the hairspray.
Use cold water to wet the nail polish stain.
10-15 pumps of hairspray should be used. That is a lot of hairsprays, for sure!
In addition to the hairspray, add a small amount of rubbing alcohol to the stain.
Use a soft-bristled brush (an old toothbrush would do) to scrub (yes, scrub!) the stain with cold water.
Let the area completely air dry.
Shag Carpet? Cut Out That Nail Polish Stain.
If you spilled nail polish on your shag rug, chances are the carpet strands are long enough that you could just take a little off the top without making any obvious bald spots.
So remove as much of the nail polish as you can with a cloth, and then using some sturdy scissors, gently cut the stained strands from the rug. Nobody will ever notice the difference, we can almost guarantee it.
Remove Nail Polish for Good With Dish Soap and Warm Water
Once the nail polish has been successfully removed from the carpet (congrats!), hit the spot with a quick soapy water bath to help get rid of any potential leftover residue from your cleaning product—and to help diffuse that pungent nail polish smell. (Oh, and in case you’re looking for additional suggestions, we have some.) Warm water can be diluted by adding a tiny drop of dish soap like Dawn. Use a sponge or clean cloth dipped in the soapy water solution to scrub the affected area of the carpet. By wiping it down with a clean, damp rag, the soap residue should be rinsed with warm water. Allow the area to fully dry by air.
Another Approach: How to Get Nail Polish Out of Carpet
Before you panic when considering how to remove nail polish from the carpet, give this at-home process a try:
1. Immediately after spilling the nail polish, use a paper towel or clean dish towel to absorb as much of the stain as you can. Avoid scrubbing the stain because doing so could hasten its setting.
2. To prevent smearing the stain when using a dish towel, continuously flip the towel over to the clean side. Do the same thing if you’re using a paper towel.
3. Apply a small amount of non-acetone fingernail polish remover directly to the stain. This ought to start lifting the stain from the carpet.
Summary: Be Careful
Now that you’re hip to the ways of how to get the nail polish out of the carpet, you’re really free to do as you wish. Upholstery can also benefit from many of these techniques. Although you do run the risk of discoloring the fabric with some, if not all, of our stain removal techniques, you should still be at least a little careful about where you spill your nail polish.
You should thoroughly sanitize your makeup after you’ve finished painting your nails. Yep, that’s a thing.
