Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Removing Nail Polish from Wood Furniture

I recently learned this tip, out of necessity. My daughter and her friend decided that they wanted to paint their nails on Saturday. I gave them paper to put underneath, but at some point they managed to either have some drip on the table or inadvertently rubbed a wet nail on the table, because on Sunday, when we were cleaning off the table, we noticed a nice green spot and streak.

The thing about a wooden table is that you don't want to remove the finish, so your choice of cleaners has to be careful. We knew that using acetone or likely even a non-acetone nail polish remover was out of the question. We tried assorted sprays including wood cleaners, to no avail.

Then, we tried steel wool grade 0000, super fine. With the lightest of touch (so as not to sand off the finish), we removed the nail polish from the table. The smear was easier to clean up, as it was a very thin amount. The drip took a little more effort. There was a slight dullness to the finish, but a quick use of some Pledge brought back the shine. Because I know where to look, I can still see the spot, but if you aren't looking for it, it is invisible.

Glad I know this trick, but certainly hope I don't need to use it again.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

4 comments:

Tara said...

Great tip! Hopefully I never have to use it...lol!

Laura Jacobson said...

Oh wow! I have a small spot on one of ours, and am going to have to give this a try! Its a small spot....but I know its there and drives me nuts! LOL. Thanks for the great tip!

Sarah Park said...

This is one of my problems with wooden furniture. Removing nail polish and smudge is really hard if you want the whole thing to still look good. I will surely try this trick.

Tami Vollenweider said...

That's a good idea to use the steel wool for the polish,and at least with finer grade it wouldn't remove the wood stain! Thanks!!

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