How to Remove Acrylic Nails Without Use of Acetone (3 Free Safe Methods)

By the time you finish reading this article, you will have learned how to remove acrylic nails without acetone.

Acrylic nails make your nails look nice for a long time compared to natural nails just painted with nail polish. However, they are still fake nails, which, within a few weeks, or for the very meanest of us, a few months, they will start to look really messy and mess up stuff. Regrowth of the real natural nails will start to show beneath the polish line and above the fingertips. In the worst cases, they may begin to crack and separate from the natural nail and start pulling your clothes or strands of your hair.

That is when you know for certain that it is time to get rid of the acrylic nails. In the previous post, we saw how to remove acrylic nails using an acetone nail remover solution. However, some people have shared horror stories where the acetone has burned their fingertips off along with the acrylics. So they search for chemical-free alternative means to remove acrylic nails without acetone.

You may be wondering if there is a way you can get rid of those acrylic nails at home using household items, without the need for acetone-containing nail polish remover. The answer is yes, and here, I present to you three easy and safe ways to remove your acrylic nails without acetone-containing remover solutions.

These are three methods you can use to remove your acrylic nails without the need for a nail polish remover solution or going to a salon or nail technician, who may put a dent on your bank balance.

Method 1: Remove acrylic nails without acetone by using dental floss

Remove acrylic nails

If it no longer makes sense for you to maintain your enhanced nails and too cheap to go into a salon to have them removed professionally, this is one of the methods you can use to remove them from home. It involves using dentist-recommended dental floss to pick off the nails one at a time. This process can be painful if your nails are still firm or short. though you could accomplish it alone, it is wise to enlist the help of another partner who is patient with you and probably cares/loves you.

You must also have sufficiently enough dental floss to have a comfortable strand for each nail before you begin.

Steps:

  1. Using a cuticle stick, gently pry up the entire bottom edge of an acrylic nail.
  2. Let your partner, while facing you, take a piece of dental floss and carefully slide it underneath and along the entire length of your pried fake nail. It is okay if he/she cannot get it along the entire length, though if they did it would be easier to work the floss.
  3. Let the partner now work the floss back and forth, slowly while moving across the nail. This is when a caring partner is of help. The process can be very painful. They should not yank the floss upward too quickly as this may lead to your natural nail getting torn off with the acrylic.
  4. Repeat the process with every nail until they’re all removed and you have acrylic free fingernails.
  5. Some of your natural nails may be a little torn or cracked from the process, thus you need to clean them using a  nail buffer or an appropriate electric nail file machine.
  6. Apply cuticle cream and moisturizer to restore your skin back to shape.

METHOD 2: How to remove acrylic nails using a laminated business card

This removal method is a lot easier compared to the first one where we used dental floss. The card must be strong enough (laminated). With this method, you can remove acrylic nails without acetone.

Steps:

  1. Using a cuticle stick, gently pry up the entire bottom edge of an acrylic nail.
  2. Slide the corner of the card and gently slide it up and down and slowly work your way
    across your nail bed.
  3. Work one side of the nail and then switch to the other side so that it doesn’t rip your natural nail under the acrylic.
  4. Repeat the process until all the fingernails are done.
  5. Buff the nails to clean them using a  nail buffer.
  6. Apply cuticle cream and moisturizer to restore your skin back to shape.

METHOD 3: Just File Away the Acrylic Nails

Items required:

  • Nail clipper
  • Buffing tool (with a coarse side)
  • Cuticle stick
  • Scissors for cuticles
  • Cuticle cream and moisturizer

Steps:

  1. Trim the tips of your acrylic nails short by using a nail clipper, making sure to cut off as much of the tough acrylic as possible. You can use the course filer to file the nails if the coating is tough to be cut with a clipper.
  2. File down the acrylic coat. Use the coarse side of the buffing tool to achieve this. Patiently and carefully work one nail at a time, filing away the acrylic to a point where it is only thin layer overlaying your natural nail and the nail looks almost acrylic-free. You can use an electric nail file for this.
  3. Use a cuticle stick to pry up the edge of the fake acrylic nail which is now still left on top of your natural nails. Now get your cuticle scissors and Place its tip under the pried acrylic nail and use the scissors to start clipping away the acrylic, lifting the edge and clipping the acrylic until all of the acrylic has been removed from every nail.
  4. Buff the nails to clean them using a  Buffer.
  5. Shape your natural nails with a clipper and filler.
  6. Apply cuticle cream and moisturizer to restore your skin back to shape.

That is it. You now have three chemical-free safe methods no how to remove acrylic nails without acetone.

Here is another method you can try: