# Getting nail polish out of fabric **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953 "2004-05-13T14:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/1 "2004-05-13T14:15:33Z")
While I was in the shower this morning, my 4-year-old daughter decided she was quite old enough to paint her fingernails herself, thankyewverymuch. End result was a _large_ patch of nail polish on my jersey-knit sheets. Do any of you guys know a way to get the polish out? I put the sheets right in the wash, with plenty of bleach, but that didn’t work. I’m not going to dry them yet, because I know that drying will set the stain. Any advice is much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/2 "2004-05-13T14:36:03Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > While I was in the shower this morning, my 4-year-old daughter decided she was quite old enough to paint her fingernails herself, thankyewverymuch. End result was a _large_ patch of nail polish on my jersey-knit sheets. Do any of you guys know a way to get the polish out? I put the sheets right in the wash, with plenty of bleach, but that didn’t work. I’m not going to dry them yet, because I know that drying will set the stain. Any advice is much appreciated. nail polish remover… a.k.a. acetone But you can only use it if your sheets are not synthetic, i.e. pure cotton, otherwise you’re outta luck. Nail polish is like a plastic that dries on contact with air, so bleach and other oxidizers won’t work. It’s best to use the unscented or uncolored nail polish remover, if you can’t find any acetone. What are “jersey-knit sheets” anyway? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/3 "2004-05-13T14:59:38Z")
There is also non-acetone remover out there, but jersey sheets are usually pure cotton. ( **Rusalka** , they’re like sheets made out of t-shirt material). I’d test a corner of the sheets to make sure they stand up to the remover before attempting it, and there may yet be a stain from the polish even once you’ve removed the lacquer. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/4 "2004-05-13T17:35:01Z")
Yeah, I think I’ll try the nail polish remover. I’m not too worried about testing a small corner first; the sheets are already ruined from the nail polish; the remover couldn’t possible make it any worse, and might make it better. Thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/5 "2004-05-13T21:17:06Z")
I am here to burst your bubble. Once while painting my toes on the bed, I spilled some on my cotton sheets. I tried the nail polish remover, but it didn’t remove the stain entirely. It did however, make a small bright red stain in to a much larger light pink stain. Bleach didn’t work. Oxy stuff didn’t either. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/6 "2004-05-13T21:54:11Z")
Acetone in copious amounts should do the work. Probably after administering it 2 or 3 times. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-nail-polish-out-of-fabric/244953/7 "2004-05-14T00:16:34Z")
Well, it seems like the sheets might be history. I tried the acetone, with very minor results. The sheets are cream-colored and have blood stains on them anyhow, and we’ve been talking about replacing them. Looks like this is the deciding factor. But thanks for the advice anyway.