How to open nail polish if it won’t open: ways to open a dried and tightly closed lid

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Author of the article

Svetlana Pavlikhina

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It's time to update your manicure, but the plug won't come off? Don't worry about this. We offer many life hacks on how to open nail polish if it won't open.

The cap has dried on tightly, or it is an unused bottle, do not rush to throw away the bottle, because one of the above methods will definitely give a positive result.

Opening a new varnish

If the bottle has not been opened before, and attempts to unscrew the cap ended in failure, it is recommended to take the following steps:

Make sure that all protective and decorative covers have been removed from the bottle. Hold the cap with two fingers and pull upward with force.
If the top is difficult to grip and your fingers slip off the surface, you need to tighten your grip. Wrap the lid in a towel or wear rubber gloves. Turn the cap firmly counterclockwise and try to unscrew it.

If the methods are unsuccessful, try methods for opening a dried-on lid. Most likely, the difficulties arose due to improper storage.

How to deal with a dried-on lid

Due to the contact of varnish or gel on the neck, the cap is firmly glued to the bottle. There are several ways to solve this problem.

Soaking in water

If the options for opening the bottle do not produce results, soaking the nail polish in a high-temperature liquid will help open the nail polish:

Pour hot water into a shallow container.
Place the bottle cap down in the water.
Leave for 5 minutes and remove the bottle from the water. Now the bottle will quickly unscrew.

Only the plastic part is placed in water, because upon contact with heat, the structure of the product changes, becomes sticky, and delaminates.

Hot water

Dried particles of a cosmetic product under the lid soften using a simple method:

Place the top of the bottle under running hot water (the higher the temperature, the better).
The bubble should be rotated slowly.
The procedure takes from 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the water temperature.
Dry the lid from moisture so that it does not slip.
Under the influence of water, the material of the cap expands, the dried particles soften, try to unscrew the jar.

Important! Part of the bottle with dye must be protected from the stream so as not to spoil the contents.

Available means

Increasing the grip force will help unscrew the bubble. To increase retention, an ordinary elastic band is used.

If you don’t have it on hand, use tape or a fabric bandage. Take adhesive materials with a minimum width of 1 cm.

A rubber band is placed on the cap of the bottle. It will take more than 3 coats to eliminate slippage. This will help grip the cap and make it easier to turn.

Application of tools

None of the methods helped to unscrew the bubble? Use physical strength. The most powerful life hack if the cap is dry is to use special tools, but with caution, because there is a risk of stripping the thread and damaging the bottle.

Algorithm of actions:

Wrap the cap in cloth.
Take pliers and grab the lid tightly.
Turn the pliers carefully before the first movement so that the contents do not leak out. You can rotate the jar.

Instead of pliers, use any metal tool with a clamp - pliers, tongs, wire cutters.

You need to act carefully, without damaging the jar and preventing the contents from spilling.

How to open dried nail polish: 3 ways

Today, manufacturers produce a varied palette of colors to suit every taste and budget. However, many girls prefer to be content with one shade and do not change it. Very often, a bottle of nail polish dries out at the most inopportune moment, which puts beautiful ladies in an awkward position. Soon it’s time to go to the event, but your nails haven’t been painted yet. Don’t be upset, let’s look at an effective technology for solving a pressing problem.

Hot water

Try a simple technique before committing to a full-blown operation. Turn on the hot water so that it flows with high pressure. Put on rubber gloves and hold the bottle in your hand. Quickly place the neck (the drying area) under the tap, then wrap the tube in a towel. Try unscrewing the lid; in cases where the hardening is not strong, these measures will be sufficient.
If the first technology was unsuccessful, use the following recommendations. Turn on the hot water so that it flows in a thin stream. Put on thick rubber gloves and take the jar of varnish in your hand. Place the lid under running water and wait about 2 minutes. Throughout the procedure, slowly turn the tube so that it warms up evenly. Make sure that hot water does not get on the glass container, otherwise the varnish will dry out in the bottle itself. As in the previous case, wipe the cap with a towel and try to unscrew the tube. Under the influence of high temperatures, the plastic will expand slightly, due to which the lid will “sit” more freely on the neck.

Rubber bands for banknotes

In most cases, the problem with opening the varnish is the thinness of the lid. I can't get my hands on it enough to turn it tightly enough. Ordinary rubber bands for banknotes will help correct the situation. Twist them in half, put them on your fingers, then tightly wrap them around the bottle cap. If necessary, use several pieces to ensure a tight grip. You will be able to open even those bottles that are equipped with a sharp and thin cap.

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Nail polish remover

Sometimes it happens that after painting their nails, ladies do not completely close the tube. Soon it turns over on its side, the contents flow out and clog the area where the lid meets the neck. Because of this, it becomes problematic to open the bottle; several steps must be used.

First, open the hot water and adjust the flow to a thin stream. Wear protective rubber gloves, place the tube under water, wait about 1.5 minutes. After this, pour pure acetone into the container or use a product that contains it. Lower the varnish lid into the bowl so that the joint is tightly covered, wait about half an hour. To avoid pouring a lot of product, place the bottle on its side and turn it over periodically.

When the dried varnish softens, remove the excess with a sharp object with gauze wrapped around it. Nail scissors or a kitchen knife will do. Now turn the tube upside down, pour acetone into the hole between the cap and the bottle, wait at least 10 minutes, and periodically add the composition. At the end of the period, try unscrewing the tube and, if necessary, repeat the steps again.

Preventive actions

When you have managed to open the varnish using one of the above methods, prevent it from subsequently hardening. Unscrew the tube, soak a cotton cloth (do not use cosmetic pads) in acetone/nail polish remover. Treat the neck of the bottle so that no marks remain on it. Repeat the procedure until the threads are clean. After all manipulations, wipe the neck with a dry cloth.

Now process the inside of the lid. Pour acetone into it, wait 5 minutes and pour it out. Pour it again, dip a cotton swab in there and clean the threads well from the inside. When finished, rinse the lid with clean nail polish remover and screw it back into place.

Important! You should not leave a tube of varnish half-open in the hope that the lid will not stick in the future. In this way, you will only contribute to the contents drying out quickly.

Do not resort to mechanical methods of influence that involve the use of sharp objects. Do not try to remove the cover with a knife, scissors, screwdriver or pliers. Attempting this way will only ruin the carving. You should not smash the bottle of varnish on the table; the technique is effective in the case of homemade pickles, but not with cosmetics.

how to quickly dry nail polish at home

Video: what to do if your nail polish has thickened or dried out

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Using nail polish remover

If the bottle does not open again, an effective method is to soak it in a special liquid to remove the cosmetic substance. Due to the solvent, the dried elements dissolve, and the jar can be opened without effort.

Follow the plan:

Take a cotton swab and soak it in the solution.
Turn the bottle over and apply the product into the slot, pressing down to ensure maximum penetration.
After a few minutes, turn the cap.
The procedure should be repeated for further soaking and deeper penetration of the product under the lid.

If you cannot unscrew the cap the first time, it means that the dried nail polish has not dissolved enough. Take a pipette, fill it with solvent and inject a few drops into the gap.

Application of acetone

If the bottle is tightly closed due to a large amount of dried product under the lid, the method using acetone will help:

Pour solvent into the container.
Place a bottle in it. To save money, place the bottle on its side and turn it over occasionally. Remove the tube from the cup.
Wipe with a dry cloth.
Unscrew the top of the bottle.

What can I do to make the lid easy to open in the future?

To quickly open the jar at any time, you should follow simple recommendations for using and storing manicure products:

Always seal the tube tightly after use. When applying gel polish, do not leave the bottle open for a long time.
Dyes should be stored in a standing position - this will limit the penetration of liquid under the cap.
When painting your nails, do not leave excess product on the neck.
You can prevent drying by thoroughly wiping the threads on the bottle; to do this, use nail polish remover. Soak a piece of cloth in solvent, treat the outside of the bottle, and dry with a dry towel. Repeat the procedure until completely cleansed. Tighten the bottle only after the surface has completely dried.
Store in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight. Heat and light help thicken the contents.

How to open dried nail polish

Just recently you bought a beautiful shade of polish, but never decided to get a manicure, and today the cap turned out to be tightly glued to the bottle? Don't be discouraged - there is a way out! In today's post we will tell you how to easily open dried nail polish and what to do to prevent it from drying out in the future. Therefore, if you have long been looking for an answer to the question of why varnish dries out and how to open it, then our article is for you!

Let's start with the fact that on the Internet on various forums and websites you can see a lot of tips and recommendations on how to open the cap on your favorite bottle. The most popular among them are the following tips:

knock the lid on the corner of the table;
pull the cover with pliers;
ask your husband to open the bottle;
throw away.

We want to share with you a simple trick that will allow you to open the cap of a bottle of your favorite nail polish in just a few minutes. What do we need for this? We'll talk about this further.

The varnish has dried under the lid: how to open it?

Method one

To unscrew the lid of the dried product, we will need a cup of hot water and a rubber band (the kind that is often used to secure banknotes).

Now let's move on to the instructions: fill the cup with hot water, turn the bottle upside down and immerse the bottle cap in the liquid. After 3-5 minutes, remove the bottle from the water and unscrew the cap - hot water will soften the hardened liquid and the cap will easily unscrew. If you have trouble gripping the cap, wrap a rubber band around it and unscrew the cap.

Please note that the nail polish should be kept in a cup so that only the cap of the bottle is immersed in water. The fact is that high temperatures can change the structure of the enamel, causing the varnish coating to become sticky.

Method two

You can unscrew the cap of dried nail polish using acetone. Apply some nail polish remover to a cotton swab and wipe it over the area where the cap connects to the bottle. After 1-2 minutes, try unscrewing the cap.

To prevent such an unpleasant situation from recurring, after a manicure, take the time to thoroughly clean the neck threads and the inside of the cap from any remaining varnish.

How to prevent varnish from drying out?

Firstly, the polish likes cool, so try to keep the bottles away from sunlight and heating devices. Please note: heat and light affect not only the rate of thickening of the varnish coating, but also its structure and color.

Secondly, always screw the cap tightly after using the product. Even when you wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second, be sure to close the bottle.

Third, always store vials upright to prevent liquid from seeping under the cap. Shake the contents of the bottles regularly.

It is also important to note the fact that when we shake off the remaining varnish from the brush onto the neck of the bottle, a frozen layer of colored coating forms on it. This leads to the bottle not closing tightly, resulting in a gap and the liquid drying out. Keep an eye on this and always clean the neck of any remaining varnish with acetone.

You can keep the polish fresh in this interesting way: before closing the jar, blow into it. This will help displace oxygen, which destroys the enamel.

And finally: do not dilute dried nail polish with acetone, as this will only ruin the manicure product. The coating diluted with acetone lays down unevenly, with bubbles and quickly peels off. To dilute it, you should use a special liquid, which can now be bought in almost any cosmetic department.

Treat the varnish with care to maintain your friendship with it for a long time!

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Common Mistakes

What not to do:

Do not knock the bottle on a table or wooden surface unless it opens. If you physically impact the plastic part, you can easily break the jar and spill the contents.
Do not overdo it. Before using tools (pliers, tongs, etc.), try other methods first.
Do not unscrew the bottle using a screwdriver, scissors, or knife, otherwise there will be gaps and the product will deteriorate under the influence of air that penetrates.

Basic mistakes to avoid

Very often, if they don’t know how to open the polish, they start banging the bottle on the table. We assure you, this will not work! The fact is that the lid of the bottle with varnish is made of plastic, and it does not deform upon impact like metal. Even a strong blow will not change the shape of the plastic cap. But there is a risk of breaking the bottle.
Long agony when opening a jar of varnish can make you lose patience. Many people often use incredible force, but this requires cunning. After all, it’s very easy to rip off the lid with pliers. Some even try to use a screwdriver. But the best method for removing the cap is to unscrew it, so use our above methods with hot water, rubber bands, liquid or tools.
Why does it happen that the bottle dries out to such an extent that it cannot be opened? This happens because you leave the unscrewed jar open for some time. Such actions lead to air getting inside the bottle. After this, the varnish begins to dry on the surface of the neck.
Try to store jars of varnish in cool places where there is no direct sunlight or high temperatures. Make sure that the bottles with varnish are always in a vertical position, then the product will not flow into the places where the cap is screwed on.