Acetone, Your DIY Best Friend

     If you like DIY projects, you probably have a few dried paint specks, some spilled superglue, or maybe you want to reuse/repurpose an old container covered in writing. Or maybe you're just a normal girl and have spilled nail polish on carpet or drippy hair dye stains. Acetone is your one-stop-shop for all of these.

     When we first moved I went on a painting binge. When it comes to painting a room, I'm sooooo over it. I have painted every single home, apartment and studio where I've ever lived or worked. I just rush through as fast as possible. I would rather steady myself than tape and I'd rather be careful than put down drop cloths. In my bathrooms I ran into a bit of an issue with light colored roller spray specks on dark vinyl flooring. I bought latex paint remover and had zero luck with it, unless you consider having your hands smell like benzene for a week a success. I tried scraping it but there were so many speckles I'd just give up and then in a few months try again only to get frustrated and give up again. One day I was sitting on my bathroom floor and I'd just taken off my toenail polish and thought, 'why not try acetone on those pesky old paint specks?' 

Lo and behold IT WORKED!

     That little bit of success got me going and I've been using acetone on everything ever since. I had some spots on my carpet where I'd spilled a few drops of acrylic sealer when my son and I did a painting together. I soaked a cotton ball with acetone and worked it into the dried sealer for a few seconds. Boom! Gone. Brown hair dye on my fabric shower curtain? Gone. Superglue on my favorite kitchen rug. Gone. Ink on my jeans. Gone. You get the picture.

    I even used it on a jar I plan to reuse for later.

Before: Now you see it...

After: ...now you don't!

      A word of caution, don't be stupid. This stuff takes off paint and dye so it's probably a good idea to do a patch test on a small area before ruining something worse than it already is.
     Good luck!