Have you ever been enjoying a relaxing, pampering evening with your friends and someone moves too quickly, and suddenly there’s a pool of nail polish on your leather couch? Or maybe you’ve just treated yourself to a manicure, but your nails didn’t quite set, and now you have some bright nail polish stains on your leather purse?
Just about every nail polish wearer has been in this situation, I know I have. Sometimes, there can be something a little intimidating about caring for your leather furniture and goods. Luckily, we have a list of tips and tricks to help you learn how to remove nail polish from leather.
With these easy do it yourself ideas, you will have no problem with quickly making your own stain removal solutions to get rid of nail polish from your favorite pieces of furniture and even car seats. Once you successfully master how to get nail polish off a leather couch, you will easily be able to save all of your leather goods.
Removing Nail Polish Stains from Leather
Immediate Action – Small Drips
If just a small amount of nail polish dripped onto a leather surface, then you have a couple of quick options. You likely already have some of these at home, such as cotton balls or swabs.
With either the cotton balls or the cotton swabs, you want to act swiftly. Be very cautious with how you clean up the nail polish. You don’t want to smear it, so gentle pats and small strokes are vital in ensuring you clean the nail polish up quickly and efficiently.
Immediate Action – Large Spills
Say you’ve just knocked over the whole bottle of nail polish and you have a pool sitting on one of your leather sofas. Moisten a paper towel with water and gently wipe it up. Similar to a smaller spill, you want small strokes to make sure you clean the nail polish up quickly.
After you have successfully gotten the nail polish up, go back over the spot with a fresh damp paper towel, to ensure that you mopped up all of the polish. Then, go over the place with a dry paper towel or cotton cloth to thoroughly dry it.
Treating the Stain – How to Remove Nail Polish from Leather
Sometimes the polish will leave a stain, and you will have to use a stain remover to take care of it. There are three ideal options for safely removing a nail polish stain. Be sure to test out a small, non-visible section of the leather.
Each option has pros and cons. Non-acetone nail polish remover is designed to break down nail polish, but it may take a few tries and could potentially dry out the leather. Rubbing alcohol may easily remove the stain, but it is likely going to dry out the leather.
A mix of white vinegar and olive oil, with about twice as much olive oil as vinegar, will be the most gentle option, but it is the least effective option for your piece of furniture.
Only Have Acetone Nail Polish Remover?
The acetone in acetone nail polish runs a risk of lifting the color of your leather and is not the best solution for how to get nail polish off leather couch.
However, if you don’t have a choice, the best thing to do is to soak a cotton ball or cotton swab with the acetone remover, squeeze out any excess with a paper towel or tissue and use small, light movements to lift the stain carefully. Let the leather dry in between attempts.
Post-Care
There is a good chance that your leather will be dried out. The next step to stain removal is the post-care. First, you want to gently clean the former stain area of any remaining stain remover with some warm water and a moisturizing bar of soap. Using a circular motion, carefully clean the area.
After washing the stain, you’ll want to apply some leather conditioner or leather cleaner. You can buy some leather conditioner at your local furniture store or make your own beeswax leather conditioner.
Hopefully, you learned something and have some new ideas for how to remove nail polish from leather! It’s always fun to change your nail color from time to time, but it’s never fun to see that same color accidentally streaked across the arm of your leather sofa.
If you enjoyed learning how to remove nail polish from leather, please share and let your friends know that they don’t need to worry about nail polish stains. It is much easier to take care of your favorite piece of leather furniture than it seems.