How Do You Remove Nail Polish from a Hard Wood Floor??

Updated on December 16, 2010
T.C. asks from Jacksonville, NC
15 answers

My two year old got into his sisters BLUE nail polish and spilled it on our hardwood floor. I have tried to steam clean it, and it did work on the paint he spilled. But not the polish. I can't use polish remover, it will eat away the coating on the floor. I would really love some advice on how to remove this. Thanks!!

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A.S.

answers from Asheville on

I got this from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2006091806071...

There are non-acetone nail polish removers. Try buying some and try using it on an area of the floor that won't show first. Only use enough to dampen a soft cloth. Then, if it doesn't take the finish off, work slowly and gently over the polish without trying to get any on the rest of the floor. If non-acetone remover isn't strong enough and the stain is very noticable, you might have to go with the stonger type of remover. If the finish ends up coming off, you can try to match it with something like Polystain. Use thin coats, applied with a sponge brush, and sand with very fine (220 grit) sandpaper between coats to smooth and level it. It may not come out perfect, but it will porbably be a lot less noticable than the nail polish stain.

1 mom found this helpful

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P.H.

answers from Louisville on

I'm not sure what this would do to a hard wood floor...but... I was able to take nail polish off a bathroom vanity cabinet (top) with hairspray. Weird I know. But I sprayed it on there and was able to get it off. Not sure why, but hairspray takes ink out, so... go figure. good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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E.M.

answers from Memphis on

Magic eraser works on EVERYTHING!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.T.

answers from Nashville on

If it were me, I would take a q-tip and put polish remover on it and put on the polish only. This may take a long long time and alot of patients... being extremely careful to not touch the floor.
OR
I would see if I could take something like a putty knife and scrape it very easily to see if I could loosen it at all. Sometimes if you get it up on one side, polish will peel up the rest of the way.
Good luck.

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L.O.

answers from Charlotte on

Have you a tried using an acetone free polish remover? Is it thinly smeared or more 'goopy'? If it is goopy, I'd try a Pampered Chef nylon scraper (the brown rounded squares that come with every piece of stoneware) and if it is thin, I'd use a Q-tip with the acetone free remover in a spot that isn't noticeable before using it on the actual spot.

Good luck!

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J.M.

answers from Charlotte on

I just removed a whole bottle of blue nail polish off of our hardwood floor using a Magic Eraser pad. I love these things, they do work on everything!

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K.D.

answers from Knoxville on

If it doesn't "pick off" with your fingernails, then it has adhered to the polyeurethane layer on the floor and you must use mineral spirits to get it off. Fingernail polish remover is a gentle form of this and should work. Yes, you endanger your finish, but it can be done. Use a clean, soft cloth and wipe gently without digging into the softened finish. You should be able to get it off without removing more than a layer or two of polyeurethane sealer (which is the clear top coat). Then you can recoat the area in long broad strokes with fresh polyeurethane. Home stores like Home Depot also sell a product based on solvents that is a "non-sanding" floor refinisher. It works the same way: it loosens the surface to redistribute the finishes, thus filling scratches and wear. This might be a good solution. You could apply, gently scrape off the polish, then "redistribute the finish" by wiping in broad strokes to even it out. Working along the boards and grooves lessens the appearance of a patch. good luck.

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K.S.

answers from Louisville on

I was painting my daughters nails the other day and spilled purple nail polish on our brand new wood floors. I just used soap and water and a lot of elbow grease and you can't tell where is was now. I did catch it right away. Good luck.

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H.B.

answers from Memphis on

My two year old did the same thing. After trying everything, I decided to use Nail polish remover. I did not rub it on thickly. I just blotted it, hoping to not remove the clear coat finish on the floor. It actually worked. It took time and patience but it is all up and there is no trace of it ever even being there. I hope you get some better choices. I tried for months and it was in a very noticable spot.

Good luck!

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K.

answers from Charlotte on

Nail polish will bind with many finishes, making it difficult to remove without also removing the finish. The trick is to remove the stain without removing all the layers of surface finish. Try Murphy wood cleaner and plastic scouring pads. Stubborn stains may be approached by rubbing gently with fine steel wool and wood floor cleaner like Murphy® Oil Soap.

Afterwards, rinse and dry the area. If floor finish or wax has been removed in that area, you may need to recoat with appropriate finish or wax.

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W.C.

answers from Lexington on

This question was asked over a year ago elsewhere....here's a link to the Yahoo thread with several suggestions. Good point: consider whether you have actual hardwood or pergo or fabricated hardwood before deciding on a point of action :)

link here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2006091806071...

I also found this through wiki DIY:
Nail Polish Stains: On resilient flooring, rub with a cloth dampened in a concentrated detergent solution, or use scouring powder, water and a plastic mesh pad. On wood and cork, rub gently with steel wool. After removing a stain, rinse the area thoroughly, dry completely, and, if floor finish has been removed in that area, recoat with appropriate finish or wax.

Good luck!

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B.F.

answers from Richmond on

My daughter also spilled blue nail polish. I let it sit for over a week until I had time to look up removal ideas. I had no luck with Magic Eraser, hairspray, shaving cream, or regular cleaners. I love Solumel, but wouldn't dare try it on my wood floors, as, I my experience it degrades wood finishes. What finally ended up working was using an Oxyclean paste on the floor, letting it sit about 10 minutes, and then using a tooth brush and a little elbow grease... It came right off. The only draw back, was that when the Oxy clean dried, I had to vacuum up some white powder residue.

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F.L.

answers from Knoxville on

I just parntered up with the mom team which is a non- profit oragaztions that is work with a wellness company called melaleuca and they have over 400 environment safe products for your household. They have a producted call sol- u- mel and it is go for get out stain in carpet hard wood floor any many other things. I tryed it on my carpet wher my kids spill kool- aid on it whicch all over my carpet and tooked all the stain right out now my carpet looks brand new again.
If you would like to know how you can get environment safer products in your home just ask me and i will be glad to tell you.
http://www.themomteam.com/faithlcoburn

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C.

answers from Johnson City on

I don't knmw about hard wood, but here is one you can keep in your reference file. My son got into my polish and painted his finger and toe nails a couple of years ago. Someone told me to use something called SPOT SHOT. It's in the upholstery cleaner section at Wal-Mart, with the resolve and stuff like that. It's in a navy blue aerosol can with an orange lid. It took that red polish out of my carpet!!

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K.G.

answers from Miami on

This will sound retarded, but my son spilled nailpolish on my hardwood floors and i had an idea of how to remove it and it worked miraculously. The ironic part is that u will need clear nailpolish to remove it. I know it sounds stupid, but take the clear nailpolish and with the brush, dab some onto each stain. wait 3 seconds and take a wet mr clean sponge eraser and quickly scrub it off. keep doing this on each nailopolish stain. u will see, it will come off! let me now how it goes

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