Discovered a cheap trick for removing stubborn gel polish without damaging the nail

I kept having clients with gel polish that just would NOT budge, and I was over-filing their nails trying to get it off. So last week I tried soaking a cotton ball in acetone, placing it on the nail, then wrapping it tightly with a piece of cling wrap instead of foil. Left it on for 10 minutes and the gel practically slid right off. Has anyone else tried this method or got a better way to handle tough gel removal?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim.stella25d ago

The cling wrap trick works because it creates a seal that keeps the acetone from evaporating too fast... but here's something most people miss. If you warm the acetone first for like 10 seconds in the microwave it breaks down the gel way quicker. I've been doing this for years and it cuts the soak time down to like 7 minutes tops. Also make sure you rough up the top layer of the gel with a file before wrapping even if it seems counterintuitive. That lets the acetone penetrate through those layers instead of just sitting on top. Just don't heat it too long or it'll burn your fingers that's a mistake I only made once.

angelacooper25d ago

Oh yeah, the roughing up the top layer thing (that's the part I wanted to talk about) is absolutely key. I actually make a couple of extra deep scratches with a cuticle pusher too, really lets the acetone seep in under the gel instead of just sitting on top. And the warm acetone trick is a lifesaver but you gotta be careful, I learned that the hard way when I microwaved it for like 20 seconds once and nearly burned my cuticles off. My go-to now is fill a little glass dish with hot tap water and sit the acetone bottle in it for a minute, it gets warm enough without the risk of explosion or finger pain.