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12 Extraordinary Uses for Nail Polish Remover

It's not just for your nails: read on for nine unusual ways to use nail polish remover when cleaning your home.

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Keyboard in the workplace in the office
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Clean a keyboard

Moisten a cotton swab with nail polish remover, and gently dab laptop keys to restore them to their original condition.

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Seamless wood floor texture, hardwood floor texture
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Restore floors

Pour onto a paper towel, and wipe away unsightly shoe marks on tile, laminate, and concrete floors (avoid using on wood). Here’s how to remove gel nail polish at home—your nails will thank you later.

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Close up shot of green porcelain texture of the plate. Top view
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Rejuvenate stained china

Soak an old cloth, then dab coffee- or tea-stained areas; rinse off the nail polish remover with soap and water. Avoid decorative patterns, which could be ruined. Another item that can be used in your house is essential oil.

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black oxford shoes with shoelace top view closeup
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Shine shoes

Saturate a paper towel, and wipe footwear until any scuffs or stains disappear. Use a damp cloth to remove leftover residue from the nail polish remover. Don’t miss these tips on how to make your nail polish last longer.

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Highly resistant waterproof glue. Universal glue on a white background. Close-up.
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Erase superglue

To dissolve heavy-duty adhesive from skin, soak a cotton swab, and rub it onto the sticky area. Removing strong glue is also one of the 46 amazing uses for WD-40.

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Closeup of watch
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Revive a watch

To remove cuts and dings from a plastic watch cover, use a cotton swab. Because acetone can dissolve plastic, it will level and smooth the surface. But don’t scrub too hard, or you could wind up making a hole in the plastic.

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Set of multicolor felt-tip pens, markers on black background; colorful felt pens
Olha Bibi/Shutterstock

Make marker disappear

To remove the toughest of permanent ink stains on hands or walls, drench a cotton ball in nail polish remover and then blot the stain away. Another stain remover is toothpaste. Learn 20 unexpected ways you can use toothpaste besides for brushing your teeth.

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09-men's-grooming-change-razor
iStock/Juanmonino

Clean razors

Acetone is a disinfectant that can be found in many brands of nail polish remover, so dunk a razor to sanitize it, then rinse off gunk between the blades as well to make them last as long as possible.

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Foam bubbles from soap or shampoo washing.
seabreezesky/Shutterstock

Eliminate bathtub ring

To rid a tub or shower of soap and scum stains, dilute the polish remover with a little bit of water, and use a stiff brush to quickly scrub away residue. You can also use hydrogen peroxide in the bathroom as a toilet cleaner. Find out 16 other ways you can use hydrogen peroxide safely in your home.

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Colorful star stickers in nylon package
CoolimagesCo/Shutterstock

Remove stickers

Got a nasty parking ticket sticker violation on your car? Or maybe your kids decided to unleash their entire sticker book on the back seat windows. If you try to just peel off the stickers you’ll see pieces and sticky residue still there. Soak the areas in nail polish remover and easily wipe away the sticky residue.

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Set of professional makeup brushes over black leather background
ldutko/Shutterstock

Sanitize beauty tools

Beauty tools like tweezers, eye last curlers, and nail clippers can hoard germs, especially if shared among friends and family. In fact, dirty tweezers may be a reason you get breakouts between or above your eyebrows.  Rinse these items in nail polish remover and wipe clean for sanitized beauty products.

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a bottle of grey nail Polish on black background
Marina mrs_brooke/Shutterstock

Refresh your nail polish

The most common use of nail polish remover is to take off polish from your nails. But you can actually pour a bit of nail polish remover into old bottles of nail polish that start getting dried up or chunky. Pour a small drop into the polish and shake well. Next, don’t miss these 43 extraordinary uses for household staples you already own.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published in Reader's Digest