I made the mistake of cleaning one with a cotton pad and acetone, big mistake, cotton strands everywhere, I also tried a tissue, a bit better but still not the best. What works for you?

by greeneyeraven

16 Comments

  1. Fabric scraps like from old tshirts work great for me. You can also use felt, lint free wipes, or paper towels depending on how fuzzy they are. Bounty, Kirkland, and Viva are all fine ime

  2. You can use a lint free wipe or regular paper towel with acetone to wipe them off. I usually use the cotton pads used for removing makeup and never have a problem with strands getting stuck or in the bottle. But paper towel works well in a pinch. Even a rag that you will use exclusively for this purpose should work

  3. imathrowawaylurkin on

    I don’t. Then, I curse to myself when trying to open the bottles and swear that I’m going to clean them up the next time, and when next time rolls around, I repeat the cursing and making empty promises to myself.

  4. I actually have no problem with using q-tips dipped in acetone. I’d use cotton balls, but the q-tip method is safer for my manicures. As long as I get it clean enough, there isn’t really anything there for the cotton fibers to stick to, I just keep cleaning until everything is smooth

  5. Lint free wipe and acetone. For the grooves in the cap I use a paint brush dipped in more acetone, or sometimes a Q tip depending on the shape of the grooves. Some caps like to eat Q tips but the really smooth ones don’t rip off too many cotton fuzzies

  6. themcardboardhills on

    I use a strip of unraveled cotton ball, but I wrap it around the bottle threads and then use a plastic pipette to apply acetone so I don’t get any in the polish. Then I let that sit for a couple of minutes: after it’s had a minute or two to sit and soak, the cotton threads all come off along with the gummy polish. If there are any stragglers, they’re easy to remove with tweezers or a paper towel.

    If it’s the actual bottle mouth that’s crusty, I’d rather put a few drops of thinner around the top and let that sit for awhile and wipe it clean.

  7. I use a cotton round with acetone, the key is that it must be quite soaked with the acetone and you have to rub it around the top of the bottle long enough that it actually gets all the dried polish. If you’ve got strings of cotton sticking you’ve still got polish on the neck of the bottle. I usually put the cotton round in the cup of my palm and act like I’m screwing it on the bottle like a lid.

    I also cut up an old pair of cotton pajama pants to use, but I usually forget about them and use the cotton round instead.

  8. I use a cotton ball and acetone. I have never had issues with strands being left behind that I have noticed.

  9. I’m actually fine with using cotton rounds and nail polish remover. Just make sure you’re applying pressure on the sides of the bottle opening to clean instead of wiping over the top, in order to avoid getting remover or lint inside the bottle – you don’t want to mix remover in your nail polish. Also, I keep a seperate box to put my just used polish bottles in so I know which ones need a post-mani cleanup. I never put used bottles back into storage without cleaning them up!

  10. Obvious_Caterpillar1 on

    I accidentally discovered that thinner on a lint free wipe also works. Thought I was using acetone until I looked closely at the bottle.

  11. 😬 Honestly, I … clean them with a cotton pad soaked in acetone. Works great. No cotton strands. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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