By Noreen Doll.
While painting recently, we managed to have dried paint splotches on the vinyl floor.
Because the vinyl is textured, removing the paint splotches presented a problem. It couldn’t just be scraped off because the vinyl wasn’t a flat surface – it had tiny ridges.
We tried various things, and then discovered that alcohol would soften the paint so it could be removed.
This is how we used it. The red arrow points to the splotch demonstrated.
Put a stack of baby wipes in a plastic container and saturate them with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. I bought the cheapest unscented wipes I could find at Walmart.
Lay a saturated wipe on the paint splotch and leave it for 20 or 30 seconds to soften the paint, and then rub a little to get if off.
I laid the wipe just over the large splotch so the area could be identified.
If you have difficult areas, leave the wipe on for a minute or two. Add a bit more alcohol if it seems to be drying out.
Scrub gently with a brush, with the grain of the tile if there is one. Then clean it up with the wipe.
Of all the methods we tried, this worked best for us.
Alcohol would probably remove paint from other surfaces as well, but it is always best to test first in a small unobtrusive area.
For more great painting tips, see Cheap Amateur Painting Tips.
© Noreen Doll
Conniecrafter says
thanks for sharing, you never know when this might happen and it is good to know!
Nic says
What if its something that’s not paint that i spewed allover the floor? Will this method still work?
Noreen says
It’s hard to say if alcohol will work on something that’s not paint. Since I don’t know what that something is, it’s impossible to help. But I don’t see how alcohol could hurt, since it didn’t harm my tile floor.