How to Get Nail Polish Out of Carpet

Nail polish looks stunning on your fingertips, but it’s not so great when your Summer Passion Sparkle spills into a shimmering puddle all over your carpet. Brightly colored polish can sink quickly into your soft flooring fibers, and set just as fast—leaving you with a tricky cleaning situation.

Before you reach for the scissors, check out these methods for how to get nail polish out of carpet and restore your flooring to its original state.

If you need any assistance keeping your carpet (and your home) clean, Homeaglow is here to help. Book a professional, affordable cleaner today. 

Before you start

First, try not to panic! The worst thing you can do when you notice a nail polish spill is to frantically rub at the carpet to try and remove it. This will spread the stain around further, creating a bigger mess that sinks even deeper into your carpet.

If you’re a regular nail polish user, it’s handy to keep these items in your home in case of accidental spills:

• Paper towels
• Cotton balls
• Hairspray (with a good ratio of alcohol)
• Non-acetone nail polish remove
• Rubbing alcohol
• Baking soda
• Ginger ale 

It’s best to act fast when nail polish tips onto your carpet - so here are our top tips to get these tough stains out of your carpet quickly and safely.

How to get nail polish out of carpet with baking soda

Baking soda is a wizard at cleaning up all sorts of things around your home, including nail polish stains. And if you’ve got some fizzy ginger ale on hand too, it’s a match made in heaven. The chemical reaction created between these two compounds is ideal for breaking down tough stains.

1. Tip some baking soda onto the nail polish spill, and then pour a small amount of ginger ale on top, ensuring you cover all of the colored polish. 
2. Leave this solution on the stain for 10 minutes, then scrub the stain gently in a circular motion to lift the color out of your carpet.

If the stain hasn’t completely gone on the first try, you might need to repeat these steps a couple more times.

How to get nail polish out of carpet with hairspray

If you’ve got a can of hairspray handy, check to see if it has a high alcohol content. Alcohol-free hairspray won’t work on these stains, so skip this method if that’s all you have at home. But if your hairspray has a good ratio of alcohol, here’s how to get nail polish out of carpet quickly.

1. Moisten the stained area with a wet cloth. Then simply spray hairspray directly onto the patch of nail polish. 
2. Blot the area with a clean cloth to begin lifting the stain out. Repeat these steps as necessary until the stain is gone. 

Remember not to rub the carpet fiber as you’re doing this, or else the color can spread and cause a bigger stain.

How to get nail polish out of carpet with nail polish remover

Non-acetone nail polish remover works in a similar way to rubbing alcohol. 

1. Soak a cotton ball or pad with the polish remover and dab it gently onto the nail polish spill. 
2. Soak up the liquid with a clean cloth or another cotton ball. 
3. Alternate between wetting the stain with the nail polish remover and blotting it with a clean cloth until all the nail polish has been removed.

It’s best to use this method on fresh spills that haven’t set into your carpet. If you need a bit of extra strength, you can also spritz a little bit of hairspray onto the carpet as well, following the hairspray method outlined in the section above.

Note: It’s important that you double-check whether your nail polish remover contains acetone before you apply it to your carpet. Acetone can have a bleaching effect, which can permanently alter the color of your carpet.

How to get nail polish out of carpet with rubbing alcohol

Rubbing alcohol is a handy solvent to keep in your home. It can help remove highlighter from carpet, get sticky residue off mirrors and windows, and mop up nail polish stains on your carpet. It’s best to use this method on fresh nail polish patches that haven’t set into the carpet.

1. Grab some cotton balls and wet one of them with the rubbing alcohol. 
2. Gently mop at the carpet stain
3. Wipe away the loosened nail polish with a fresh, clean cotton ball. 

Alternate between the dry and wet cotton balls until the stain has gone from your carpet.

Commercial dry cleaning solutions

Hardware and homeware stores will typically carry a good range of dry cleaning solvents that are safe for carpets. You can use this dry cleaning powder to tackle nail polish stains.

1. Take an old toothbrush and work a small amount into the nail polish spill. Leave the powder to work its magic for around 15 minutes (or as per the manufacturer’s instructions). 
2. Wet the toothbrush and gently scrub the stain with a circular motion. You’ll notice the color begin to lift at this point. 
3. Wipe the area gently with a clean cloth, and then vacuum your carpet to remove any excess dry cleaning powder. 

For stubborn stains or light-colored carpet, you may need to repeat this process once or twice more until your carpet is restored to normal.

How to get nail polish out of carpet after it dried

If you’ve just noticed a nail polish spill that has already dried, don’t stress. It’s still not past the point of no return for your carpet.

For shaggy carpeting or rugs with plenty of texture or color, you can always give the carpet fibers a gentle trim with some scissors to remove the surface nail polish that has been caked on. 

But for short-pile carpets, it’s best to carefully assess the situation before giving it a trim, as you don’t want to make the problem worse by creating a bald spot on your floor.

1. If you can’t sneakily snip the nail polish out of your carpet, get a small paring knife (or similar) and scrape as much dried polish as you can out of the flooring.
2. Vacuum the area to remove the loose nail polish.
3. To remove any remaining stain, we recommend using the rubbing alcohol method outlined above to wet the remaining stain and remove the colored stain from your carpet.

There’s no need to cry over spilled nail polish

With these handy tips, you can get nail polish out of carpet like nothing ever happened. As always, you’ll get the best results if you can clean your carpet before the nail polish sets. But even dried polish can be lifted out with a little extra effort.

We know that removing nail polish from carpet can be time-consuming. The Homeaglow team is always available to help out with keeping your carpet and home sparkling. Find and book your perfect cleaner online today.