Does anything take nailpolish off walls?

[BarenakedLady]

My daughter managed to get it all over the bathroom. It came off the tiles easily enough, but the walls/doors are another story. My ex was ready to strangle her. Is it just going to have to be painted over?

:shrug:

[BeachBaby]

1. Magic Erasers!!!!

I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure that did the trick for me in the past. :)

[BarenakedLady]

2. I only had a crumbled up remnant of one left. Heh.

I'll have to get some fresh ones tomorrow. Thanks.

[Pacifist Patriot]

3. Haul out the paint brushes Lady...

I had a quintessential "Terrible Two" child. There are some things the magic eraser will handle and some things that make the paint/wall come off with it. I think you're better off with touch up paint. I have learned to keep a glass jar of every color wall paint in my house handy. My kids are beyond that stage, but not out of general destructiveness. I swear I should buy stock in Sherwin Williams and wood glue.

[BarenakedLady]

5. She's 11!

It never ends.

:banghead:

The paint did start coming up after some scrubbing, so painting will be involved.

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. *snort* I'm amused by the feminine pronoun.

I was certain it was going to be a boy responsible for the mayhem.

[BarenakedLady]

16. Nooooooooo

She is a tween who wants to paint her nails, wear makeup, and shave her legs.

You can just shoot me now.

[Inchworm]

4. Just a guess..butt

Acetone? Ain't that the stinky part of polish remover?

Sorry BNL :(

:hug:

[BarenakedLady]

6. Somehow the Dear

has misplaced my nail polish remover. She found the cap though :eyes:

I'm pretty sure it would take the paint off the walls/doors anyway.

Someone will be painting. It won't be me though. :P

[Inchworm]

7. not nessesarily

in my hed... I'm thinking you have a chance if the walls are glossy....

Ain't acetone in some other cleaner? Try WD-40? :P

:hug:

[Inchworm]

17. btw. It was prolly an accident

:cry:

She dint mean it!!

:cry:

[BarenakedLady]

19. Of course it was.

The permanent marker on her brother's door on the other hand...

[Inchworm]

20. No wait.. accident too!!

umm.. expression dude!

[Midlodemocrat]

8. Dynamite. Works exceptionally well.

And, as a bonus? It kills ants.

:thumbsup:

[BarenakedLady]

12. I'm not familiar with that product.

But we do have an ant issue as well. :)

[Midlodemocrat]

14. A couple of years ago, I blew off the back of the house.

Totally eradicated the ant problem.

:thumbsup:

[BarenakedLady]

18. That sounds a tad extreme

But do tell!

[Midlodemocrat]

21. Dude. Ants. Nothing is too extreme to rid yourselves of the pesky critters.

[sammythecat]

9. That's going to be tough

I was curious and googled but didn't see any good solutions. Anything harsh enough for nail polish will likely damage any paint surface, especially latex wall paint.

Acetone is the solvent, it's cheap and sold at any hardware dept. but I would see how it affects the paint in an inconspicuous area. It WILL remove the nail polish, but it will also remove any "patina" on the wall/doors and you'll be left with an unsightly clean spot. :(

Good luck.

[BarenakedLady]

13. That's what I was thinking.

Tile is one thing, painted drywall and wood is another species altogether.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

11. Anything strong enough to take up the polish

will probably remove the paint even more easily.

[BarenakedLady]

15. That seems to be the case

I'm pretty sure the bathroom door, closet door and portion of wall will have to be repainted.

We will be selling the house shortly so there has already been painting done in other areas. Just more work to be done.

[applegrove]

22. Hope you have some leftover paint from the walls of your bathroom. Matching is a ******!

[BarenakedLady]

23. I'm not sure about that.

Luckily the doors are white though.

Walls are a light green.

[struggle4progress]

24. Acetone would probably work: you can get it at hardware stores -- but it is extremely

flammable and is an explosion hazard, so you don't want to use it unless you can really ventilate the space easily

If you decide to paint, consider investing in some cover-up paint products: these are opaque white paints that you can brush or spray over offending spots -- ordinary paints tend to be somewhat transparent and you may be unpleasantly surprised at how many coats will be required before the offending nail-polish no longer shows through. On the other hand, some preliminary touch-up work with a good opaque white designed for such touch-up purposes will get you down to a tolerable two or three coats of the final color

[BarenakedLady]

25. Good advice

Thanks.

[struggle4progress]

29. You're certainly welcome. And while I know you're strongly tempted to glue a bunch of postage stamps

onto the daughter's forehead and drop her in a mailbox, addressed to some distant relative in Kamchatka, you can probably get over the feeling by (1) remembering how adorable she was as a toddler and (2) imagining all the fun ways you can repay her in some distance future by using her own kids against her

[GreenPartyVoter]

26. Isn't nail polish remover made from that stuff?

[Inchworm]

27. Yes

but watered.

Real acetone is as magic as baling wire.

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Baling wire is magic? I thought it was duct tape.

[struggle4progress]

30. Acetone, bailing wire, duct tape, and good old American know-how got us to the moon

[Inchworm]

31. and spit

;)

[struggle4progress]

32. Absolutely right! And it's how we kept that sparkling shine on our moon shoes!

[DU GrovelBot]

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[flvegan]

34. Non-acetone nail polish remover.

Seems logical, at least.

[Muttocracy]

35. Might be worth a try with rubbing alcohol on a small patch. nt

[Chan790]

36. It depends what the paint is made of...

if it's latex paint, the washable kind ironically, you're kind of screwed as the best things you've got in the arsenal to remove nail polish is nail polish remover or acetone, either of which will also remove the paint. If it's enamel, you can use nail polish remover. In either case, it may discolor and you may still end up repainting the walls. The best case scenario is that the paint is:

a.) white
b.) lead-based

as that will mean less fading from the removal technique. I cover the paint department at work and this is the most common question I get after "Do I really need primer?" (usually no.)