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Monday, June 03, 2019

How to Get the Pastel Stains out of your Fingernails


'Plein Air Peonies'            8x10           pastel           ©Karen Margulis
available $155

If you are a pastel artist you know what I am talking about. I don't use gloves but even with a barrier cream I will get dark pastel stains under my fingernails. Especially when using those super dark pastels! Sure you can scrub with a nailbrush and get the stains out....eventually. But what if you were going for a manicure and didn't want to be embarrassed?

You know the feeling when you know the cashier is looking at your hands wondering why you have dirt under your fingernails? Yea that feeling. I needed to get the stains out fast!

I decided to try sticking my fingers in a freshly cut lemon. I didn't know what to expect but it was nothing short of miraculous. My nails came clean and white after a minute in the lemon!  I was impressed. And I will be sure to always have a lemon on hand.

(While I was at it I squeezed some lemon juice on a stained pair of white pants that I had written off. I put the pants in the sun and after a couple of hours the stains were gone!)

Remove stains under your nails with lemon!

6 comments:

Esther Jones said...

I wear gloves simply because I find myself taking too much time wiping them if I don't. But I'm happy to learn that lemon might get stains out!

OdnowionaJa said...

Stunning painting, lovely colours. Oh I want to try painting. :)
Warm greetings, have a nice day. :)

Samantha Rome said...

thank you, i will try !! and it is important to use a cream to hydrate skin: somme pastels and the hands'washing dry the skin :)

Unknown said...

Wow! I'm glad I found your page just today and was wondering the very same thing - how to get the stains out from under my fingernails! Thanks for the tip!

Karen@wickart said...

I dislike wearing gloves for a number of reasons but like clean nails. One trick that has worked pretty well to prevent under-nail staining is before I paint, I scrape my fingernails thoroughly over a bar of lightly moistened soap & work it into the nail & cuticle area. I wipe the excess off my fingertips before using the pastels. A few light passes with a nail brush cleans them up. Not that I don't like lemons too!��

Nettie K. said...

My Mother always used to use lemon juice on clothing stains, and then sprinkle salt on the wet lemon juice and set out in the sun. Amazing results!!