How to get Paint out of Clothes
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Don’t throw it out! Learn how to get paint out of clothes, so you don’t have to throw your favorite piece in the trash.
We’ve been in the middle of working on our family room makeover, that I told you about a few months ago. We decided to wait until the holidays were over to really get started.
As soon as the Christmas tree came down, we got to painting. I finally decided on Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray and couldn’t be happier!!
It’s the perfect gray paint color! I can’t wait to share some pictures of the progress soon.
During the painting, my husband happened to walk thru the room with his favorite coat on and brushed a corner with fresh paint……and you guessed it, he ended up with paint on the sleeve.
How does that always happen?! It’s not just him.. I know I’ve done it myself more times than I care to admit. You think you’re being so careful…
You should have seen the disappointment on his face when he told me about it – after it was dry.
I told him, no worries, I know a little trick that should get dry paint out of clothes, and since the jacket was machine washable, it should come right out!
This method is 99% effective, and is worth a try! Since you already have paint on the garment, you don’t have much left to lose, right?
It’s definitely worth the effort, I promise!
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Paint can be removed from clothes, especially if you act quickly. I’m going to explain how to remove water-based paint from clothes that can be machine washed.
Table of Contents
How to get paint out of clothes:
Supplies:
All you need is an old cloth, 91% Isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol, you can get at the drug store or Amazon) and a brush (I used an old toothbrush).
What To Do First:
Act As Fast As Possible: Try to follow the steps below as soon as possible, because once the paint dries, it can become more difficult to remove. If you are not able to treat it quickly, try to keep the paint stain wet until you can treat it properly.
Remove Excess Paint Before Treating: Use a spoon or flat side of a table knife to scrape excess paint from the fabric. Working from the back of the fabric, flush the stain under warm running water. Or blot stain with a clean rag to absorb as much of the remaining paint that you can from the fabric.
IF Paint Has Dried: Use a spoon, dull table knife or hard bristled brush to scrape away as much paint as you can from the fabric.
Now that you’ve gathered what you need and scraped away what you can, you’re ready to get down to business. Don’t worry, you’ve got this!
Steps to remove paint from clothing:
Use a wet cloth to get the area with the paint wet – it doesn’t need to be soaking wet, just dab it with the wet cloth until the fabric is wet.
Saturate the paint stain with Isopropyl alcohol
Use your brush to scrub until the paint is no longer visible. (if needed, add a little more alcohol while scrubbing) you will see the paint break down and crumble.
Place garment in the washer and launder according to the label.
That’s it!!
It should look as good as new!
Remember, unexpected painting accidents don’t have to mean disaster. As long as you act quickly and follow the instructions on the garment care tag, these handy tips should help you remove paint from your favorite clothes in no time at all.
I’m a big fan of anything that will save clothes and money. Especially when they’re a favorite jacket or sweatshirt!
He’s a happy man again!……and you get a little sneak peek at my beautiful gray walls! 😉
UPDATE:
See how the perfect gray paint looks in our home!
Transitioning to Spring in the Family Room
It’s been four years since we painted the family room and I still love the color!! See all the updates to our family room decor by clicking the image below.
Like this tip on How to Get Paint Out of Clothes? PIN IT!
Happy painting!
Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
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I was wondering if paint could be removed from a leather coat. Please?
I honestly have no idea. If it’s a good coat, I would try a place that does shoe repair, because I know most of them will work on other leather items. Good luck
Grey ( the colour) is spelt with an E
Nope it’s Coventry Gray http://m.benjaminmoore.com/paint-colors/color/coventry-gray
and this from someone who spelled “spelt”, lol
So I washed my jacket already thinking the paint would come off but it didn’t and was super upset. Ha so I looked up how to get rid of paint. Do you think this rubbing alcohol trick will still work??
Thanks!!
This worked great. I got the paint stain off of my daughter’s coat and it looks brand new!!! Thank you!
Also, if you people don’t like the spelling don’t read the blog and save your rude comments. I’m sure you tried this trick and it worked great how about you at least say thanks for the tip.
Great solution! This even worked on a paint stained jacket that had been washed and dried before the rubbing alcohol treatment. I recommend a stiff bristle brush over a tooth brush (too soft). THANK YOU!
Quick question..I have a small paint stain on a dry clean only comforter. Is it necessary to wash or launder the comforter after cleaning it with alcohol ?
Tried this on a polyester hoody.
Did not work 🙁
Will 91% Isopropyl alcohol also get our vanish?
Didn’t work on dried paint
sorry, worked on dried paid on my husband’s jacket.
Thank you, thank you for posting this! My husband also somehow got paint on his coat and we didn’t notice it until it had dried. We all thought it was a lost cause but this took it right out!! Very, very grateful!
Will this work on cotton clothing?
Such a great tip! I’m trying it right now. Scrolling down to comments and saw this post by, “No”
I sure hope you don’t have many people like that who choose to write you. I enjoy all your tips and I know your methods work. I bought your book and have has great. Success!!!
Thank you for the tip , all tips for that matter !!
Will try this !!!
Awesome! Thanks for the tip. I am so bad about getting paint on my clothes. I’m so trying this today! I have to ask. I love the color of your walls. I’m trying to find a gray cope to paint our living room. Do you mind sharing what the brand and name of the color? Please and thank you! Have a great day
Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray
I dont know what brand she used, but I know she the color was “Coventry Gray” I also love this color and will be on the look out for it next time I paint!
Benjamin Moore
Tidy mom don’t let the trolls get you down. Some people can only momentarily escape misery by trying to drag the rest of us down.
Thanks for the advice can’t wait to see how my green hoodie comes out!
Fingernail polish remover takes out paint stains too, atleast latex paint.
Fingernail polish remover works on latex paint t stains of any age. 🙂 I’m surprised this doesn’t get mentioned more often. (I’m not sure how much I. alcohol is in fingernail polish remover)
Same as acetone it disolves it but dont know if different fabrics can handle it. Do handyman work and it works wonders.
Does the alcohol rub to get paint off work with both oil and latex paints?
Thanks!
I’m going to give this a try!
Didnt work for me uuuug
Hello!
Do you think 99% isopropyl alcohol will do as well? I can’t get 91% here where I live.
Thank you for your advice and have a beautiful day!
Thanks for the tip, my daughter has an expensive sweater that I tried this on, it worked without even fading the fabric. I ciuld kick myself when I think of all.of the clothes I’ve tossed out because they had paint dried on them. Well, you learn something every day.
I hope this works, I have a shirt and tennis shoes.
I tried nail polish remover and it didn’t work
How can I reach thru a personal email. I lived in St.Louis and I am desperate for a recipe I received while living there.
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for saving my new pair of pants. I’m so happy 🙂
I’m so late to the party but you gotta give credit where credit is due! My daughter’s camp didn’t think to put a smock on a 6-year-old and she had on a new first day of camp outfit 🙁 The shirt was bad and the shorts had splatters. Now I had to use more than a little and a scrubber instead of a toothbrush, but the outfit has been saved! Thank you very much for this tip and I now have a new blog to follow!
What I bought at WalMart was only 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol – do I need the 91% to get out paint or will this work with a little more scrubbing?
I’ve only used the 91% so I’m not sure. Let us know how it goes with the 70%
Works Great!! Spilled white paint on my nike running shorts and was so disappointed. I am so glad the stain came out, I can finally wear them again!
yay!! so glad it worked for you too!
It didn’t work for me and I don’t know if that is because I used it on denim pants for if its because of something else. Got any tips if I try it again?
some stains are more tough and might take more than one treatment.
I wore my super comfy knock-around jeans while painting my whole house his summer. Needless to say, I got quite a bit of paint on them – flat and semi gloss. I’ve really been missing those pants but don’t dare wear them for fear of being caught! LOL. I took a chance and googled how to get paint out clothes and found your page. I’ve just finished scrubbing – close to an hour – and they’re in the wash now. I can’t wait to wear them again. Your tip worked great!
yay!! so glad it worked for you!!!
Hallelujah ! This got out 31 year old “Hot Pink ” paint out of my daughter’s baptismal gown! I didn’t see this til about 2 days ago and before I soaked for about 5 days n scrubbing with my trusty degreaser/cleaner Krud Kutter that usually gets paint out . But it still didn’t get some out, so I googled and your blog post on getting paint out popped up. Thankful with persistence of using your tip over and over , soaking it and scrubbing many times throughout the day loosened more off. Just the color was still there, so I washed in on soak cycle with OxiClean and it’s beautifully white! Thanks so much, now my 1st Granddaughter will be able to wear on her baptismal day! Thankful Oma here!
Thanks! Saved my new jeans.. I was close to throwing them away after trying several methods.
I’ve been known to wait till all of the painting is done and treat all of the clothes I’ve worn during painting at same time. I’ve ALWAYS have been able to get ANY paint, or grease out with a product called Lestoil. It’s an old school product that I get at ACE Hardware. Sadly today I ran out and don’t have time to get some, but I do have the alcohol so I’m going to give it a try! So thanks for the tip!!
Thank you so much : ) I bought a beautiful white top for my hols & couldn’t resist wearing it beforehand. I’d been decorating earlier & took a used tin of paint to the dustbin & somehow managed to get paint on my top! I never noticed until the next day when it was dried on. I was gutted as the top was part of a two-piece outfit. I found your site & it was so simple – worked like a dream 1st time. Yayyyy!
I tried this on an under armor shirt that had washable paint on it. Not only did it NOT touch the paint it bled the black design of the shirt onto the green fabric. Thanks for making my shirt worse.
If it was *washable* paint then why didn’t you just *wash* the shirt?!!!
Ok I’ve read the comments and imma try it so i hope it works.
my son has a pair of regular knit gloves that are hard to replace since they are his favorite fluorescent yellow color. At Cub Scout camping he decided to wear them while using black paint to decorate pumpkins. Couldn’t use a toothbrush to rub since it would obviously ruin the gloves. I soaked the gloves in alcohol in a plastic food container and shook it for about ten minutes. It worked!!! Thank you!
My apartment complex came and painted my front door today while I was at work. I came home to see they got blue paint on the arm of a red couch/settee I had sitting by the door. I’m so disappointed, but I’m going to try this and hope it comes out! If it doesn’t work, I’m going to try the Lestoil someone mentioned in a comment. I just don’t want to fade the fabric.
Some people don’t have anything better to do with their lives :(. Sorry the hate found you @tidymom, not everyone in the world is like that. I had a rather rude Monday 2 weeks ago and I just laughed it off. Went on a girls night to painting with a twist amd got paint on my shirt, trying your trick now while babied are napping!
I just want to thank you for this! Through a comedy of errors, I ended up with a LOT of paint on my favorite jeans, I thought they were ruined forever! Then I found this post and put the alcohol on them; while they are still drying, I think it all came out.
So thank you, thank you, thank you!!
You saved two new pairs of little girl jeans! Thank you so much for this great tip!
Thank you for this tip! I got paint on a very nice work suit. I kept it, but can’t wear it since it’s dark and the paint is a light color. I hope it works. You’re right-it’s worth a try!
Works like magic!! I would have never thought about using alcohol!!
Worked like a charm. My husband got paint on a new shirt while carrying the cans to the basement. White paint was all over the lower front (belly) of his shirt. He didn’t realize till after the paint dried. I soaked the stains with rubbing alcohol and let it sit a minute. I took a nail brush and scrubbed hard. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the paint lifting. I put the shirt in a regular wash and it’s as good as new. Thank you
It didn’t work for me. I don’t know if it was because the paint had already set in or what. Any other ideas? I’m open to anything.
My daughter somehow got silver paint on her black ski jacket. It was just a tiny amount but she didn’t even want the jacket anymore! I kept it because it’s brand new. Saw this post, pulled out my alcohol and bam, worked like a charm. Guess what, “I” have a brand new ski jacket!
Thanks
I have tried both the hairspray and alcohol method, to no avail on various clothes. I am not sure if I’m doing something wrong or what, but I have seen VERY little change…. (note: all clothes have gone through a wash and dry cycle and still no change, either)
For the hairspray I will spray a very, very good amount and then start to vigorously scrub with both a toothbrush and Scotch-Brite Scrub Sponge, sometimes use my nail. In between I will wash super hot water over the area and re-spray. I did this more than 20 times and saw VERY little, if any change.
For the alcohol I poor a very good amount until the paint stain is soaked in it and let it sit a bit, after I scrub with the same tools as I did for the hairspray. Alcohol was applied MANY times and little came off, if any paint.
As a last resort I tried both hairspray and alcohol at the same time, spraying hairspray and then pouring alcohol on, still little to no change…. (when both were applied the pants had been soaked in very hot water thinking it may create a stronger reaction of removal, nope)
Two things: 1. Hairspray and alcohol are the same thing – just use the rubbing alcohol – it’s cheaper. 2. If you have dried the paint in the dryer – give up – the paint has set and will not come out. If you haven’t done that yet, I have had some luck using Behr wood stain and finish remover. It’s sold in hardware and home improvement stores. It smells almost as bad as turpentine so use it outdoors. Then rinse the clothing well before putting in your washer.
Hot Water sets the stain/paint that was on the clothing – it would probably be better for you to just purchase the same thing over agian. I hope this helped.
– Malia?
Using hot water sets stains in. You should have been using cold water!
I got pain ton 4 of my paints and now i want to get them out
Do you have to laundry the clothing? I got a drop of paint on our new sofa.
Thanks and I love the gray wall.
Thanks, this worked like a charm, even after I had washed and dried twice!!