Basic knowledge of nail polishes

Current Date: Tuesday, 19th March 2024 | Article updated on Thursday, 16th August 2018

Basic knowledge of nail polishes: useful information about nail polishes

This article is about basic knowledge of nail polishes, that means you will learn useful information about nail polishes. Here are different topics covered such as the correct storing of nail polishes, the disposal of old, dried out polishes or the removal of nail polish stains on fabrics and other surfaces. Browse through the different topics around nail polish and learn more about the faithful, colorful companion of our nails. We hope you will find the information you are looking for.

Content: basic knowledge of nail polishes


How to store nail polishes correctly

Nail polishes are loved in all colours and variations. Whether neon, matt, glossy, metallic, glittering or otherwise – there is a nail polish for everyone, if you like it showy and extravagant or decent and elegant. But do we store our colourful favorites correctly?

Our nail polishes love it in a cool, dry and shady setting. Therefore, closed locations are the best storage for nail polishes, such as cabinets and commodes or e.g. makeup bags and beauty cases, in which the nail polishes are protected from sunlight. Are nail polishes exposed to solar radiation, they dry out. You often find described that you can store your nail polishes also in the refrigerator. But this is not to recommend, because they could get a chewy consistency there. Nail polishes love it cool, but not as cool as in the refrigerator. That would be the purest winter for the nail polishes.

The right room is also essential for this. The bathroom is a nightmare for any nail polish. Even if they are in cabinets there, the high humidity can dilute the nail polish and ruin it. Bedrooms are best suited for storing the small bottles, because the nail polishes are there also not exposed to major temperature fluctuations. Below you will find a list of all the most important points you should consider when storing your nail polishes.

Nail polishes love it …

  • … when it’s cool, dry and shady,
  • they are stored in the bedroom and
  • they are in closed locations, protected for sun rays (e.g. cabinets, commodes, makeup bags, beauty cases).

Nail polishes don’t like it …

  • … when they are locked up in the refrigerator (too cold for nail polishes, they could become chewy),
  • they are in the bathroom (too moist for nail polishes, they could become dilute) and
  • they don’t like the sun (nail polishes could dry out by solar radiation).

How to rescue old, dried out nail polishes

Which woman doesn’t know this situation: you hasn’t touched a nail polish for some years, you want to apply it now again and you must determine with great regret that this nail polish is clumpy and/or dried out. What do you do now? Dispose the nail polish? No! There are ways to rescue a dried out nail polish.

Content: how to rescue dried out and clumpy nail polishes

Cause for dried out nail polishes

How can it even happen that a nail polish become dry out or clumpy? The cause for this could be that the nail polish bottle didn’t closed correctly. It does not necessarily have to be the case that the bottle didn’t closed tight enough. This can also happen if the lid or the thread of the bottle contains residues of nail polish. If the nail polish bottle is then closed, the bottle is still minimally open due to the residues of nail polish and the oxygen could ingress any time. Over time, these residues of nail polish stick together, which means that the bottle can hardly be opened and the nail polish in the bottle dry out.

Another cause could be that you keep your nail polish in the refrigerator. As already mentioned above in the section How to store nail polishes correctly, the nail polish can become chewy due to the high cold, which leads to a clumpy consistency. When you add to this the fact that the closure of the bottle didn’t closed correctly or the lid or the thread of the bottle contains residues of nail polish, the nail polish suffer even more from the high cold temperatures in the refrigerator. You can find in the following sections information about it, what you could do, if a nail polish forms clumps or dry out.

Method 1: how to dilute dried out nail polishes

You can rescue your old and dried out nail polishes by diluting them. For that are special nail polish thinners in drugstores available. You put a few drops of a nail polish thinner into the dried out nail polish, shake the closed bottle very well and your nail polish should have then a liquid consistency again to be able to apply it as usual. You should never use nail polish remover to dilute your nail polish! The nail polishes could become porous and/or lose their colour.

Nevertheless, you must be aware that a diluted nail polish no longer has 100% of its original colour and quality. By liquefying your nail polish, it could be happen that the nail polish loses quality (the consistency becomes e.g. minimally more liquid than before) and also the color of the nail polish could be changing a little bit (the color becomes e.g. some lighter than before).

Method 2: how to heating dried out nail polishes in a water bath

Another possibility would be to put your dried out or clumpy nail polish in a hot water bath. To do this, fill a small bowl with hot water and put your nail polish for an hour in it. The heat of the water allows the nail polishes to change their consistency. The dried out inside of the nail polish bottles can become softer and liquefy again. This method is far more harmless than the first, because no chemical substances are added to the nail polish which could minimally damage the quality and colour of it. First you give the nail polish the chance to normalize itself. If the method with the water bath does not work, you should use the first method and dilute your nail polish.

After you know what causes dried out or clumpy nail polishes have and what methods are available to rescue them, you ask yourself how you can prevent the whole thing. The solution is simple! After each time you paint your nails, you must clean the thread of the nail polish bottle which you has used. The easiest way to do this is to take a piece of kitchen paper or a cotton pad, soak it in nail polish remover and wipe the thread of the nail polish bottle clean with it. Then make sure that the nail polish bottle is closed tight enough to prevent oxygen from penetrating the nail polish.

Besides regularly cleaning the nail polish bottles, you also shouldn’t store your nail polish in the refrigerator. For more information about storing your nail polish, you can see above the section How to store nail polishes correctly.

Disposal of nail polishes (when, how and where)

Nail polishes often lasts forever, but one day there comes the point where one should dispose of some loved colours. Many wonder when this point has been reached to let his nail polish go. In addition, only a few people know how to dispose of nail polish correctly. We would like to remedy this situation and explain when, how and where to dispose of nail polishes and how to do something good for the environment at the same time.

Content: how to dispose of old nail polishes

When should one dispose of nail polishes?

You wonder when you could or should dispose of nail polishes? For that, you only have to pay attention to a few things – for example to the colour of the nail polish and its consistency. If e.g. the colour of a nail polish changes itself and a white becomes a slightly greenish, it should be disposed of. Also by every change from the consistency of the nail polish, the nail polish should be disposed of, whether it has dried out or e.g. has become more liquid. Below you find some points listed, which show you possible changes of nail polishes. With that you know when it’s so far to dispose of your nail polishes.

Nail polishes should disposed of when …

  • … the components are separated (you can see e.g. a thick, oily layer on top of the remaining nail polish),
  • the nail polish takes much too long time to dry (if the nail polish is still not dry after a few hours),
  • the consistency has changed itself (e.g. the nail polish has become much too liquid, tough, clumpy or dries out) or
  • the colour of the nail polish has changed (e.g. if an originally white nail polish has turned into a greenish white).

The possible changes of nail polishes which are listed, may occur individually or in combination. An example for this would be, when a nail polish has a clumpy consistency and the components of it have separated from each other; but other variants are also possible. If only the consistency of a nail polish has changed and it has become tough, clumpy or dries out, you still have a chance to rescue the nail polish. About that, you can find more information above in the section How to rescue old, dried out nail polishes. If there is no possibility to rescue the nail polish even in such a situation, it also has to be disposed of. How and where one dispose of bad nail polishes, can be found in the following section.

How and where should one dispose of nail polishes?

First of all we have to mention here that you don’t always have to dispose of a nail polish that you can’t use for painting your nails anymore. Besides disposal, there are also creative solutions – for example using nail polish for handicrafts or painting. Why not enter the terms “handicrafts with nail polish” or “painting with nail polish” in a search engine? You will be surprised what great ideas you will find. Maybe you will find an idea that you would like to implement yourself and then you don’t want to dispose of your nail polish anymore. If you would like to dispose of your nail polish after all, you will find below a step-by-step instruction on how to do this correctly.

The right disposal of nail polishes

  1. Fill the nail polish bottle with some nail polish remover or turpentine. Close the bottle and shake it, until all nail polish residues have come off the walls of the bottle.
  2. Fill the mixture of nail polish residues and nail polish remover or turpentine into a reclosable glass container (e.g. a jam jar).
  3. The lid of the nail polish bottle, on which the brush also sticks, is made of plastic. The lid and brush must throw away in the bin for plastic waste.
  4. The lower part of the nail polish bottle is made of glass. The lower part must throw away in the bin for glass waste.
  5. The mixture (consisting of nail polish residues and nail polish remover or turpentine, which was filled into a glass in step 2) is hazardous waste. The mixture must be taken to a recycling centre/hazardous waste collection point.
    Tip: You should keep the reclosable glass container (e.g. a jam jar), into which you have filled the mixture, until the glass container is full. You don’t need a new glass container every time you want to dispose of an old nail polish. First of all, collect the mixtures (consisting of nail polish residues and nail polish remover or turpentine) in the same glass container for a longer period of time, until it’s completely filled. Then take the used glass container to a recycling centre/hazardous waste collection point.

Attention: never pour residues of nail polish into the sink or into the toilet

Never pour the mixture (consisting of nail polish residues and nail polish remover or turpentine) into the sink or flush it down the toilet! The chemical substances in the mixture are problematic for the sewage treatment plants. It’s difficult for the sewage treatment plants to filter out these chemical substances. This is bad for the environment and consequently bad for humans.

Note: All information without guarantee for completeness and correctness. No liability can be assumed for any damage that may occur.

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