How to Remove Nail Polish Stains

Painting your nails at home versus a salon is a great way to save money and can help compliment any outfit. However, it’s very easy to spill nail polish when you’re painting your nails at home. What happens when you accidentally knock over the container of nail polish and spill it across your clothes or tablecloth? Purex® shares how to remove nail polish stains from clothing and fabrics.

If there were ever a stain to treat while fresh, this would be the one! Make a small stack of 3-4 paper towels and place the nail polish stain face down on the stack. Follow these steps, regardless if the stain is wet or dry. Using a cotton ball or paper towel saturated with just acetone or nail polish remover, gently blot at the back of the stain. You should see the nail polish stain being slowly transferred to the stack of paper towels. Then rinse the stain out, running water from the backside of the stain.

Repeat the blotting process on a new stack of paper towels and rinse until you no longer are able to transfer any of the stain to the paper towels. Turn the fabric around and apply nail polish remover directly to any of the stain if the color is left. Rinse with water and then spray the area where the stain was with a stain remover.

Let the nail polish stain sit with the pre-treater for 5 minutes. Then launder as usual, following the care tag on the clothing item. For liquid detergent, we recommend Purex® Advanced Oxi + Coldwater Power liquid laundry detergent, since this is a stronger stain. This stain removing detergent, with the cleaning power of Oxi, works hard on stubborn stains. If you’re worried about still smelling the nail polish or remover since it has a strong scent, we recommend adding Purex® Crystals. These fragrance boosters help keep your laundry smelling clean and fresh.

As always, examine the nail polish stained area before transferring the clothing to the dryer. If there is residual stain, pre-treat with a stain remover and launder again, following the steps above. You should only place the article of clothing or fabric in the dryer when you are content with the level of stain removal. The dryer can set the nail polish stain and make it very difficult to remove.

Happy stain fighting! For other cosmetic related stains, view how to remove deodorant stains and how to remove perfume & cologne stains.

Purex® offers an array of great products, all at an affordable price. Discover Purex® liquid laundry detergents, Pacs and Purex® Crystals. Purex® products will keep your clothes smelling fresh in a variety of scents while keeping them looking brand new.

We understand that life gets messy and want to make laundry as easy as possible for you. With quality & value continuing to be at the core of our product development, we continue to create highly effective laundry detergent & supplies. We tested some of the toughest stains to keep your clothing looking brand new. View our Stain Lab for our best recommendations to get life's toughest stains out of your clothing.