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How to Clean Nail Polish off Wood Flooring

I get asked questions about how to clean nail polish off of things all the time!  I have gathered the questions and I thought I’d try to tackle the a few of the most commonly asked questions, starting with hardwood & laminate floors.

Question:  I am wondering if you know of any way to get nail polish off laminate flooring? My twins decided one day to dump a bottle on the floor and smear it around. I found it pretty quickly, but it dries so quickly that it is just a big mess. I have to cover it with a rug. I have tried a few things and asked many many people but no one has any ideas. I am thinking we may just have to replace the floor. I thought there is no harm in asking you.

Answer:  I can honestly say that I’ve never had this problem before, I’ve had someone spill nail polish on my tile floor, but never my wood flooring.  So I started by doing a little “Googling” and came across this forum that gave me a couple ideas, then I set out testing my theories.

In order to test the theories first I had to “spill” some nail polish.  As much as I believe in what I do, I didn’t think my husband would appreciate me painting nail polish on our floors so I grabbed a piece of our leftover flooring and painted that.  I painted 3 separate spots because I wanted to try out three different ideas.

Armed with these cleaning products I set out to find the answer to this reader’s question.

#1: De-Solv-It

De-Solv-It is great for cleaning up all kinds of messes so I figured, why not try it on nail polish?  I sprayed the De-Solv-It on the nail polish and let it set for a few minutes.  Then, using a piece of felt, I attempted to scrub off the color.  I was actually surprised that a little color came off and thought, this must be the answer!  However after a few more minutes of scrubbing (and I mean really scrubbing) I gave up because the polish wasn’t really coming off.  I managed to get some of the color off but it was not a complete success.

Just for kicks I also tried the WD-40 on this same spot because it is also a greasy product, but I had no luck.  Trial #1= fail.

#2: Hydrogen Peroxide

Next I tried hydrogen peroxide.  Online I had read that a 50/50 mix of water and hydrogen peroxide would work but I really hate to dilute a good thing so I thought I’d try the full strength hydrogen peroxide, and then if I worked then I would try diluting it.

First I soaked a piece of felt in the peroxide and let it sit on the nail polish for a couple minutes.  Then I scrubbed… and scrubbed… and scrubbed.

The hydrogen peroxide didn’t even touch the nail polish stain, after a couple minutes of scrubbing this is all the color it took off!  Trial #2= epic fail.

#3: Rubbing alcohol

At this point I was beginning to think I ‘d have to write a post and say, “The answer to getting nail polish off wood flooring is… still unknown!”  But I had one more thing to try, the rubbing alcohol.

First I soaked a piece of felt in rubbing alcohol and laid it over the polish stain, just as I had done with the hydrogen peroxide.  After a couple minutes I began scrubbing and something magical happened, the polish came right off!  I barely even had to scrub and the polish came right off!!!

I was able to get up all of the polish without even really “scrubbing” and the best part is that rubbing alcohol is also great for cleaning and sterilizing so now the wood flooring is probably cleaner than it was before!

So the answer to getting nail polish spills of hardwood and laminate flooring is: Rubbing alcohol!

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About Anna

"Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Ask Anna. I have always enjoyed cleaning, organizing, decorating and helping people, so I've put that all together on the pages of this blog. I truly hope my tips help you in your home and make sure to contact me if you have a question!"

Comments

    • Anna says

      I don’t have a shine on my floor but it shouldn’t. If you have real hardwood floors and it takes the wax layer off it would be easy to just re-wax that spot. 🙂

      • Barb says

        I used the alcohol on my highly polished engineered hardwood and it took the polish off but did not affect the shine. Great solution to my very upsetting problem. Thank you so much,

    • Jason says

      The answer is yes. It will take the finish off. Just happened when I used the rubbing alcohol.

  4. Deb Muth says

    Great investigative work !!! I wanted to ask, though, if the rubbing alcohol removed any coloring of the flooring?. Your picture makes me think that the alcohol may have worked a little too well. Was that a problem?

    • Anna says

      Nope, not at all! I did the rubbing alcohol last so what you see it all the grease and grime from my other trials! The rubbing alcohol left it perfect and clean! 🙂

    • Anna says

      Goof-Off and De-solve-it are basically the same thing. It took the color off but it was a lot of scrubbing to get just some of the color off.

    • Anna says

      I didn’t have any damage on mine. I’ve used it on a few different types of wood with no damage to any of them. 🙂

  7. Brittany Kelley says

    Dear Anna- Thank the lord above for your website and post on how to get nail polish off laminate wood flooring! I have tried EVERYTHING to remove some spilled nail polish (note: do not try to paint your nails after a few glasses of wine!). Nothing could get this darn nail polish off, and my boyfriend mentioned it EVERY DAY. Finally, I tried your rubbing alcohol remedy and BOOM, GONE!! Thank you thank you thank you. As a tip, be sure to use a scrubbing brush or tool, this worked wonders when used with the rubbing alcohol!

    • Anna says

      Awesome!!! I’m so glad I could help! That’s good advice, I won’t try to paint my nails after wine. 🙂

  8. MJ says

    Thanks!! I had gotten BLACK nail polish on my bedroom dresser. My dresser is very dark so it’s not easily noticed, but still. I lost hope. Then I found your site and tried the rubbing alcohol. It worked!! And to answer peoples questions about the finish; maybe try in a place on your furniture that wont be noticed to see what happens. My finish DID get dulled but it didnt come off completely, in fact I just used some furniture polish on the dulled area and it was almost as though the nail polish accident had never happened! Thanks!

  10. Cecilia says

    At last!! Thank you so much!! I was desperate since my cat throw to the floor my make up bag with lots of nail polish in it and one broke and spill all over the wooden floor, I’ve tried different stuff and nothing worked, but this was simple and effective. The only thing I had to rubbed a little since it was a big stain!
    Thanks a lot!

  11. Katherine Mundt says

    I spilled top coat all over my floor and I haven’t told my parents yet because they are going to kill me! I don’t know how long it’s been there because I found the bottle open on the floor and my chapped stick was stuck to the floor. I tried getting it off with running alcohol but nothing has happened! Should I try again? I used paper towels to try to scrub it so should I use something slightly rougher?

  12. Krystle says

    I know this post is almost a year old, but it saved me today! My absolutely wonderful two year old little boy dropped a brand new bottle of glittery nail polish on our kitchen floor today, and I was contemplating how much it would cost to replace about 8 planks of flooring when I came across your post. I had already tried all-purpose cleaner, WD-40, and scraping up what I could with a (gasp) butter knife. While it didn’t get everything that was in the grain, it’s about 90% better and I plan on doing one more pass later today. I plan on posting about this little “adventure” on my blog soon, and will definitely link back. Thanks again!

  13. anna hudson says

    hey do you know how to get stained hairdye off walls and white tile floor? thank you

  14. shanelle says

    Oh my. Just tried this on my antique wood floors and it took all the finish off as well as some of the stain :\ Just a word of warning to anyone out there with older flooring. Now I have to figure out how to fix this without letting the hubs know!

  15. Sandra says

    We just tried your rubbing alcohol method to clean up a bottle of nail polish that had spilled on my daughter’s laminate floor. I don’t know if different nail polishes contain different ingredients, but this method didn’t do anything. Not a speck of it came off. Going to try polish remover now. Wish us luck!

  17. paris brown says

    Hi anna,

    Firstly what a great post!! I am having real drama getting off plaster from laminate floor? it looks clean then dries cloudy white? any ideas please?

  20. stacy says

    I tryed this on the floor in my daughters room and it did not remove any of the nail polish but then again those stains have been there atleast for 6 months i have yet to find anything that will get it up

  21. Sonya says

    Just tried this and thought I had hit pay-dirt. It was bringing it up slowly then all of a sudden the entire finish of the hardwood including stain came off in one rub. I think that the alcohol softened it all up.. I think the nail polish was a better look.

  22. Kelli says

    I tried this but it took forever to get off. After an hour and a half of scrubbing off my entire bottle of nail polish off of the hardwood floor and wood table, I switched the Goof Off. All came off in 10 minutes. Definitely recommend that instead.

    • Christine Coltman says

      Thankyou but what’s in the “Goof off” as I doubt the Uk sells it by that name. 🙂

  23. S Godbold says

    We tried all of the above and none of them worked. My husband finally tried using Bug and Tar remover for use on auto. (It is made so as not to harm the clear coat on autos so we figured it would not harm the finish on our hardwood floor). After spraying the foam on the nail polish and letting it set for and hour the polish came right off!

    • mreynolds says

      Hey Chelsea,
      this is Monique, Anna’s assistant. It looks like she just used the up and up brand which is Target’s off brand!It is 91% too! Hope this helps!

  26. Gina says

    I Tried the rubbing alcohol. It ruined my wood furniture. Had to sand and stain.

  27. Kathy says

    Just got through cleaning up a nail polish spill on my beautiful satin finish hardwood floors with the rubbing alcohol as you suggested. It was amazing, cleaned up like a dream and did not hurt the satin finish one little bit! I am so relieved….thank you so much for doing the research !

  28. Shelia says

    I tried the Rubbing Alcohol, but it was 70% & it did not work. I am going to buy 90% & see if the strength makes the difference.

  29. Jenna Rickard says

    Hey Im Jenna, and I let my ex bff come over and she spilt all my nail polish on the floor. And broke my glasses. So I told her to look it up and she did and we found you can also use conditioner but it takes like five minutes. So then I did another search the bight after when she spent the night again and spilt it, and it said to use nail polish remover and paper towels, it didnt work. So then I JUST dound your sight and found the alcohol thing and Im about to tryit wish me luck!

  30. Rachel says

    Just did this on my hard wood floor after a whole bottle of nail polish fell on the floor and broke! It worked great!!! Nothing happened to the floor! Thank you so much!

  31. Patricia says

    Rubbing alcohol will also completely remove fresh ballpoint ink. I was on a plane flight a few years ago and my ballpoint pen got a blob of ink on the cuff of my oxford cloth shirt 🙁 The only solvent I had with me were Purell alcohol hand-wipes, so I tried one and with a couple of minutes’ blotting and scrubbing with it, the ink was *gone*! I was amazed.

  32. Kay says

    I just about freaked out when I saw a big circle of bring red nail polish on my hardwood floor! I ran to the computer & searched for a way to remove it. I stumbled on your page and Ta Da! Rubbing alcohol removed the polish without harming the floors in minutes. Thank you!

  33. Amanda Savage says

    Thank you! I just had a panic attack when my daughter dripped black nail polish on my wood floor! I never would have thought of rubbing alcohol.

  34. toni says

    I also tried rubbing alcohol but I’m prett . Impatient and didn’t want to scrub so I thought of the trick we All used when we were young and I got some clear polish painted the spilt red polish on my floor and wiped it right up after I got all red up I mopped with Lysol and bam no sign at all that my two year old daughter slung red polish all over my new hardwoo . Hope this helps some one

  35. Abby Troutman says

    No offense, but I tried it and nothing came off at all! I used nail polish remover and it worked really well!

  36. Stephanie says

    Just used the rubbing alcohol! Thanks so much! (My almost 4yo son tried to paint his nails while in time out!)

  38. Alycia says

    My daughter was painting her nails and splattered pink polish on the my salons laminate flooring… Eeek. Found this site and decided to use a little hairspray & a sponge. Davines’ More Inside product, ‘This is a
    Strong HairSpray’. Has extra moisturizing factor. Worked great and quick! #donewithdavines #styleslanger

  39. Christine Coltman says

    I really did’nt know where to turn when I saw the Nail viarnishw. ooden floor. I knew Acetone was a no no, bbut what else?………Then I googled it and now I have the answer. ” rubbing alcohol”. Thankyou Anna for you’re time and hard work in the making of this web page.

  40. Ellen says

    I used Coconut Oil and a soft rag. Worked with little effort and no damage to the floors. BONUS: Beautiful shiny floors.
    -ellen

    • Bethany Davis says

      Hi Deirdre! I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. I sent you an e-mail with the answer to your question, so be on the look out for it. 🙂

      • Missy bonaguide says

        Hi! Could I get the answer regarding glitter nail polish off hardwood floors? I’m heartbroken over my daughter’s spill!

  43. Leigh Jones says

    My nail polish problem is bigger than I am reading here. My grandson knocked off an open bottle that fell under my couch. I forgot I even had it there and discovered it about 3 hours later. The bottle was almost full and it is dried to my floor. The bottle is stuck. Now, what do I do as I have read the above and can’t see anything here that could dislodge a bottle. Please help.

    • Bethany Davis says

      Hello, Leigh. I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. We are so sorry to hear about your nail polish mishap! Unfortunately, Anna doesn’t have a recommendation that you can try without possibly hurting your floor because this has not yet happened to her. You may want to try contacting a local carpet company or professional hardwood floor cleaning company (depending on your type of flooring) to see what they would recommend so that your floors aren’t ruined in the process. I’m sorry we didn’t have a solution, but hope that you’re able to find a way to remove the bottle without damaging your floor!

  44. Terisa Clark says

    Whew you saved the day!!! Thank you for your helpful post. Rubbing alcohol was a perfect solution.

  45. carleen says

    I tried the rubbing alcohol on my wood floor and it did not work. Not one speck of polish came off. i let it soak on it, nothing, I trued scrubbing it after letting it soak for a few minutes, nothing. I am still looking for something that will remove it.

    • Anna says

      I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you, I’ve never had it not work. :/ Let me know if you end up finding something, I’d love to have an alternative solution!

    • Judy says

      Try nail polish remover, then use a Solution made out of soap and water to get the smudges out. I had nailpolish spill on my floor once and this worked perfectly!! Hope it works for you too.

  46. Georgia says

    Rubbing alcohol for the win! Cleaned the nail polish right up. A little Bona to the floor afterwards and the nail polish incident never happened. Thanks Anna!

    • Anna says

      Have you tried rubbing alcohol? I’ve had great success with getting nail polish off with that. Since it’s glitter polish follow the directions in the post and soak the area first. 🙂