If you are dealing with a nail polish carpet stain, here is everything you need to know:
Wet Polish: Do not scrub. Immediately blot the excess with a clean cloth. Then, gently dab the stain with rubbing alcohol or non-acetone nail polish remover, working from the edges toward the center. Rinse with cold water and blot dry.
Dried Polish: Carefully scrape off the hardened polish with a dull object (like a butter knife) without pulling the carpet fibers. Then, blot the remaining stain with rubbing alcohol or acetone until it fades, followed by a cold water rinse and blotting dry.
Gel Polish: The process is similar to dried polish, but gel is thicker and requires more repeated blotting with alcohol or acetone.
Prevention: To avoid future stains, always apply nail polish over a hard surface or protective mat, away from the carpet.
Nail polish is so hard to remove because it contains concentrated pigments and fast-drying solvents that make these polishes amazing for manicures, but an absolute nightmare for carpets.
They penetrate fibers quickly and often spread even further when you try to scrub them out. This means that there is really no room for error when trying to remove nail polish. What may work for cleaning up other common stains often makes nail polish carpet stains even worse, which is why you need to be absolutely sure you know what you’re doing before you try to remove any nail polish stains yourself.
When you spill nail polish on your carpet, time is the most important factor. Nail polish becomes much more difficult to remove once it dries, so you need to act quickly if you want to give yourself the best chance at removing the stain.
When dealing with wet nail polish, the key is to use a clean cloth or paper towel to blot, and not scrub, the loose nail polish up. Scrubbing is the worst thing that you could possibly do because it will only spread the polish around and rub it further into the carpet fibers.
Once you’ve blotted up the excess polish, the next step is to dampen a new, clean cloth with rubbing alcohol or a non-acetone nail polish remover and continue dabbing the stain. Technique is essential here, and you should try to work from the outer edges of the stain in toward the center, as this will help ensure that the stain doesn’t spread.
After a while, the color will begin to lift, and when it does, rinse the area with cold water and blot it dry. With enough persistence and elbow grease, you should be able to remove the stain completely.
Dried nail polish is much more difficult to remove, but it isn’t impossible. You should start by finding a dull object like a butter knife and using it to scrape off the dried polish while being careful not to pull or cut the carpet fibers.
Once you scrape off the hard polish, apply a small amount of rubbing alcohol or acetone to a clean cloth and slowly blot the stain until it begins to fade. It will take some patience, but eventually the stain will fade completely, at which point you should rinse the carpet with cold water and blot until dry.
Gel nail polish is particularly difficult to get out of carpet because it is even thicker and more adhesive than more traditional types of nail polish. That being said, the process of removing it is much the same as other types of nail polish. You’ll most likely just need to spend a lot more time blotting.
To get gel nail polish out of a carpet, you should again start by carefully scraping off the hardened gel. Then, get a clean cloth along with some alcohol or acetone and gently blot the stain until it fades.
Again, this gel is much harder to remove, so you will almost certainly need to repeat his blotting step multiple times to get the stain to fade completely. Then rinse the carpet with cold water and dab it with a clean cloth until dry.
Red nail polish is one of the most difficult colors of nail polish to deal with because its bright pigments ensure that even the tiniest drops leave bright, noticeable stains that really stick out.
The good news is that you can still remove it the same as any other type of nail polish.
Depending on whether or not the nail polish is still wet, you can either blot the excess up with a cloth or scrape the dry polish off. Then repeat the same blotting steps with a separate clean cloth and some rubbing alcohol or acetone until the stain fades. Then you can rinse it with cold water and dab it dry.
Preventing stains is always the better option than trying to clean them up after the fact. Though there are some carpet-protecting products that can make it harder for nail polish to seep into fibers, the easiest and most effective thing that you can do is simply apply your nail polish over a hard surface or protective mat, keeping it as far away from your carpet as possible.
Are you looking for high-quality carpet care products that you can use to clean up nail polish and prevent stains from taking hold in the first place? Give us a call at (610) 935-2226, or contact us on our website.
Our friendly team of local flooring experts is always here to answer your questions and will happily tell you more about how we can help you keep your carpets looking fresh and new for years to come.
Don’t let a bit of nail polish ruin your home’s carpeting. Contact My Dad’s Flooring America today.
